Sachtleben, Germano crowned 2019 Collegiate 10k Road Race Champions
Richmond welcomed nearly 2,000 college students for 10K Championships
View as .pdf: RESULTS
April 13, 2019 - RICHMOND, VA – Wet conditions did not slow the field down at the 2019 Collegiate 10k Road Race Championship, as 2018 champion Bethany Sachtleben (Northern Virginia College) defended her title and ran the fastest women’s time in the history of the six-year old collegiate championship event, 32:39. Runner-up Shannon Malone (Blue Ridge Community College) finished just four seconds back in 32:43, which is the second-fastest time ever run at the collegiate championship. Philo Germano (Blue Ridge Community College) ran the second-fastest time in men’s race history, 29:34, just ten seconds slower than 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist Paul Chelimo’s 29:24 performance back in 2014.
Over 25,000 runners participated in the 2019 Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k presented by Kroger, including nearly 2,000 college students that were participating in the Collegiate Running Association’s 10k Road Race Championship. While the roads were wet due to on-and-off rain, both the men’s and women’s field ran aggressively and were rewarded with some of the fastest times in the last five years. The top ten male and female collegiate finishers also earned a piece of a $10,000 prize purse, with the event winners taking home $2,000 each.
In the women’s race, defending champion and 2020 Olympic Trials qualifier Bethany Sachtleben entered as the pre-race favorite, having recently run 15:46 for 5k and 53:40 for 10 miles. However, at the 5k mark, Sachtleben found herself in 2nd place behind Shannon Malone (Reebok Boston Track Club), who was pushing the pace hard from the start. Crossing 5k in 16:15 and 16:17, the two would trade leads all the way to six miles, where finally Sachtleben was finally able to distance herself by a mere four seconds at the finish. Malone’s effort and aggressive racing led both women to smash the previous Collegiate 10k Road Race record of 33:18, which was set back in 2014 by Kellyn Taylor. Sachtleben’s time of 32:39 was the 4th fastest winning time in the 20-year history of the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k. Rounding out the top-5 on the women’s side were three local runners, Keira D’Amato (33:37), Emily Mulhern (34:56), and Maggie Drazba (35:28).
“The women’s field was incredible up front this year,” said Collegiate Running Association co-founder Jon Molz. “We are thrilled that Bethany Sachtleben keeps coming back to Richmond to compete in, and win, our city’s showcase races. She is somebody to keep an eye on as the 2020 Olympic Trials approach; she has now won this race twice in addition to the half-marathon and marathon in the fall here as well. Shannon Malone also deserves a ton of praise as she was pushing the pace throughout the race, which ultimately led our top five finishers to run the fastest times we’ve had since 2014.”
In the men’s race, Philo Germano (Blue Ridge Community College) took home top honors, finishing the 10k race in 29:34, over thirty seconds in front of collegiate runner-up Jack Bruce (University of Arkansas). Germano reached the 5k mark in 14:47, leading a pack of four men that were within four seconds of each other at the halfway point. Germano’s second 5k split, also 14:47, resulted in the 2nd fastest winning time since 2014, not too far off the 29:24 mark set by 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist in the 5k, Paul Chelimo. While Germano was able to pull away by a large margin, the next three collegiate men to cross the line were only separated by 11 seconds. Jack Bruce (30:08), Daniel Jaskowak (Virginia Tech, 30:12), and Miles Clikeman (University of Richmond, 30:19) finished 2nd – 4th; Clikeman’s time was easily the fastest 4th place finishing time in the history of the event. Germano’s Reebok Boston Track Club teammates Tim Young (2nd overall – non-collegiate) and Chase Weaverling (5th collegiate, 30:51) also pushed the pace during the race ensuring that like the women’s field, the men’s also had some of the fastest marks since the first collegiate championships held in 2014.
“The men’s race was our most competitive up front since 2014, led by a very impressive run by Philo Germano,” said Collegiate Running Association co-founder, Steve Taylor. “We’ve not had four men run under 30:20 before in this race, so they were getting after it today, especially given the wet conditions. We are excited to see where the men and women that competed so hard today end up in the rest of their careers. One of our favorite parts about putting on these events is that many of these runners continue on to do amazing things at national and international levels down the road, and many of them gain invaluable experience at this race to prepare them for the future.”
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