While her University of Tennessee at Chattanooga teammates were in Birmingham trying for Southern Conference medals, Teghan Henderson ran for a different SC championship Saturday morning in Chattanooga.
Henderson was the women’s winner by five and a half minutes in the longest race she’s ever run, the Scenic City Half Marathon. But it was basically just a training run for the 20-year-old UTC star from Pickering, Ontario, who was fifth overall in 1 hour, 18 minutes, 56 seconds for the 13.1 miles that began and ended at Finley Stadium.
Cristhian Villavicencio from Nicaragua by way of Manchester, Tenn., held off Red Bank Middle School teacher and coach Geno Phillips in a duel of 40-somethings for the overall victory, 1:14:18 to 1:14:20. Jack Findley, 28, ran out front early with Villavicencio, 42, and wound up third in 1:15:16. Dean Thompson, 49, was fifth in 1:18:45.
“Man, that was frustrating,” said Phillips, 43. “But it was fun. That was the fastest I’ve ever run on this course. It’s good to have a race like this in Chattanooga.”
Geno Phillips“I chased (Villavicencio) the first eight miles — him and Jack — and I caught him about mile 10. We ran together the last 5k. I tried to gap him when we ran under the overpass, and I thought I had enough, but he caught me when we came into the stadium.”