Rodney Stoker, Amanda Tate win Chickamauga Chase 15k

Rodney Stoker
Rodney Stoker
photo Amanda Tate

Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga running teammates Rodney Stoker and Amanda (Lynch) Tate could have been the masters winners of the Chickamauga Chase 15k on Saturday.

Except they were the overall winners, each at least five years since earning that distinction before. In Stoker's case, it was more like 15, but at 42 he is in his best running shape in years and has won other races recently.

The McCallie School staff member won the 50th running of the main spring race in the Chickamauga Battlefield in 51 minutes, 52 seconds - three minutes faster than his fifth-place finish last year. Tate, 40, was 12th overall and the first female in 59:50, one spot and six seconds ahead of Sara Gibson, 33.

Rachel Mason was 14th overall, 19 seconds behind Gibson.

"I didn't win it until the last quarter mile. It was close," said Tate, who couldn't remember her last individual win.

"Maybe this race," she said, referring to her victory in 59:52 in 2013. In her only other time in the Chickamauga Chase, she was second in 2006 to Kathleen Turchin's course record.

"I've finished second a lot," Tate said, "and I've won a lot of masters."

Nicholas McCormick, 22, was second overall Saturday in 53:39, and Zack Jordan, 24, and Robby Jourdan, 30, were third and fourth in 54:45 and 55:19. Jeremy Miller, 41, was the masters winner and sixth overall in 56:32, three seconds behind Ken Curran. Emily Cooper was the female masters winner in 1:05:11. There were 308 15k finishers.

Jether English of Flintstone won the 8-mile trail race in 46:13, holding off Bob Adams by five seconds. Michael Conkel was third out of 149 finishers in 50:06. Kiersten Boyd was the female winner and 13th overall in 1:02:07, with Melissa Ledford the runner-up in 1:03:04 and Maria Hernandez the third woman in 1:06:57.

Joshua Stanley and Derek Gallardo led the 406 finishers in the 5k with times of 17:24 and 17:52, and 13-year-old Helen Webb was the first female and 11th overall in 20:56, one spot and 21 seconds in front of Laura Wagner.

English, 25, led the first mile and last mile in the RRCA state-championship trail race and was mostly second in between.

"I set my mind to winning, but I had doubts a few times," he said. "Even when I thought I had pulled away enough near the end, (Adams) came at me again."

As for Stoker, he was mildly concerned about a tight Achilles' tendon but felt fine after a good night's sleep and breezed to victory on the spectacular course in perfect running weather.

"What a day!" he exclaimed. "I felt good. Last year I kind of tanked it here, but I'm fitter now and I held it together better."

Tate was "pleasantly surprised" at her success in a race she usually has had to miss because of her sons' baseball games. She "didn't run too well" in a race at Charleston, S.C., a couple of weeks earlier and has had little chance for speed work lately, she said.

The local Intersign plant had about 45 percent of its work force in the Chase events, including the scenic walk. Co-owners Hank McMahon (trail race) and Jim Roides (5k) were second and seventh, respectively, in their age groups, and Marian Roides was the 5k female senior grandmasters winner.

"We had 83 signed up, out of about 200 employees. Volkswagen had 103, but they have a lot more workers," said Jim Roides, noting that Intersign's total Saturday was the most in its "eight or nine years" of paying entry fees to various races, now about eight a year.

"We believe in fitness. We just want to see people be active," Roides said.

Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.

Running

CHICKAMAUGA CHASE

Saturday at Chickamauga Battlefield

15-KILOMETER LEADERS

Overall winners: Rodney Stoker 51:52; Amanda Tate (12) 59:50. Masters winners: Jeremy Miller (6) 56:32; Emily Cooper (24) 1:05:11. Grand masters winners: Robert Barnes (19) 1:03:49; Janet Jordan 1:12:36. Senior grand masters winners: David Roberts (20) 1:03:52; Kathi Wagner 1:22:05.

Top 3 per age group (& 25 overall)

Females

19-under: Emma Henderson 1:31:00. 20-24: McKenzie Carlisi 1:31:16, Megan James 1:31:17, Alex Taylor 1:32:28. 25-29: Morgan Olson 1:08:15, Kajsa Swanson 1:11:43, Jennifer Keenan 1:17:05. 30-34: Sara Gibson (13) 59:56, Rachel Mason (14) 1:00:15, Alicyne Marley 1:08:12. 35-39: Christy Woodard 1:07:40, Sandy Brewer 1:09:59, Susan Eckelmann 1:14:15. 40-44: Rachel Negron 1:11:32, Kristen Curtis 1:14:21, Erin Reade 1:18:44. 45-49: Lisa Logan 1:09:56, Amie Gabriel 1:16:52, Teri Henderson 1:18:18. 50-54: Laurie McGuire 1:13:32, Sharon Baxter 1:20:10, Cynthia Hoeng 1:20:55. 55-59: Karen Johnson 1:18:19, Karen Leavitt 1:19:08, Carmen Hodnett 1:25:02. 60-64: Cathy Gracey 1:34:26, Rebecca Mietzner 1:53:31, Miriam Niemira 1:55:00. 65-69: Victoria Berghel 1:38:42, Kathy Welch 1:41:03, Kristine Johnson 1:41:14. 70-over: Sue Anne Brown 1:41:51.

Males

19-under: Jasper Wilson (11) 58:18, Hayden Apps (15) 1:00:25, Mason Burkett 1:06:08. 20-24: Nicholas McCormick (2) 53:59, Zack Jordan (3) 54:45, Scott King 1:09:07. 25-29: Ken Curran (5) 56:29, Joel Long (23) 1:04:42, David Wagner 1:07:10. 30-34: Robby Jourdan (4) 55:19, Kendrick Gibson (7) 56:42, Adam Veron (8) 56:57, Ryan Davis (17) 1:01:33, James Young (22) 1:04:22. 35-39: Ryan McGinnis (9) 57:03, Andrew Scharff 1:07:54, Seth Brewer 1:03:13. 40-44: Jason Webb (16) 1:01:12, Matthew Amick (18) 1:03:03, Billy Barton (25) 1:05:43. 45-49: Tripp McCallie (10) 57:40, David Hartman 1:07:46, Scott Hamby 1:08:15. 50-54: Michael McCawley 1:10:16, David Moghani 1:10:43, Scott Jordan 1:12:36. 55-59: John McCusker 1:06:15, Stephen Ruffin 1:08:51, Dwight Gardenhire 1:12:52. 60-64: Mayes Starke (21) 1:04:13, Jeff Stracener 1:11:05, Mike Usher 1:14:44. 65-69: John Crawley 1:18:05, Thomas R. Smith 1:30:12, Stephen Bennett 1:36:57. 70-over: Sergio Bianchini 1:21:18, Larry Ballard 1:39:30, Weldon Glockzin 2:02:44.

8-MILE TRAIL LEADERS

Overall top three: Jether English 46:13, Bob Adams 46:18, Michael Conkel 50:06; Kiersten Boyd (13) 1:02:07, Melissa Ledford (15) 1:03:04, Maria Hernandez (22) 1:06:57.

Age-group winners (top 15 overall)

Females

19-under: Emmy Holliday 1:17:01. 20-24: McKinzie Hummel 1:08:34. 25-29: Boyd (13), Ledford (15), Emily Elliott 1:10:09. 30-34: Hernandez (3), Cara Cincere 1:14:02. 35-39: Megan Whitley 1:07:15. 40-44: Maria Salaises 1:11:06. 45-49: Melissa Kroll 1:16:08. 50-54: Maricela Rodriguez 1:21:36. 55-59: Ruth Vanzandt 1:13:22.

Males

19-under: Ben Prentice 1:18:36. 20-24: Conkel (3), Joseph Wilson (4) 52:50, James Sullivan (8) 59:32, Tyler Todd (14) 1:02:17. 25-29: English (1), Jay Boyd 1:07:54. 30-34: Joshua Cole (5) 53:46, Jeff Barry (12) 1:02:03. 35-39: Adams (2), Lyn Williams (6) 54:59, Colin Heenan (9) 59:43. 40-44: James Hintz (7) 55:13. 45-49: Mark Brooks (10) 1:01:02. 50-54: Larry Aulich 1:06:30. 55-59: Mike Berry (11) 1:01:44. 60-over: Don Gregg 1:16:43.

5-KILOMETER LEADERS

Overall winners: Joshua Stanley 17:24; Helen Webb (11) 20:59. Masters winners: Mark Lorello (7) 19:51; Criscilla Tyler 25:35. Grand masters winners: Bill Wright 23:30; Dayna Smith 27:10. Senior grand masters winners: Steve Ferguson 24:35; Marian Roides 29:41.

Age-group winners (& 16 overall)

Females

14-under: Caroline Curtis 26:24. 15-19: Malia Drumeller 29:43. 20-24: Allix Birkey 23:26. 25-29: Laura Wagner (12) 21:17. 30-34: Shannon Rominger 26:27. 35-39: Mindy Freeman 23:27. 40-44: Myra Heptinstall 26:10. 45-49: Melanie Hollis 27:07. 50-54: Miriam Dial 28:13. 55-59: Brenda Zorca 30:50. 60-64: Sue Connor 32:35. 65-69: Judy Hulsey 35:39. 70-over: Beth Dial 38:32.

Males

14-under: Henry Webb 20:29. 15-19: Derek Gallardo (2) 17:52, Jerryd Tennyson (3) 18:31, Forrest Webb (10) 20:32. 20-24: Marcos Salazar 23:22. 25-29: Kevin Harman (14) 21:46, Ed Prok (16) 21:50. 30-34: Adam Dodson (4) 18:59, Joseph Holbrook (15) 19:23, Michael Young (9) 20:39. 35-39: Jim Foster (6) 19:30. 40-44: Tim Willis (13) 21:42. 45-49: Erik Jerman (15) 22:03. 50-54: Jerry Mocahbee 23:42. 55-59: Doug Murphy 23:39. 60-64: Rick Watson 25:56. 65-69: Gene Hodge 26:38. 70-over: Hans Van Velze 26:08

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