Posted: September 26, 2005

Athletics: Simonaitis, De Reuck Win USA Masters 10K Titles at Heritage Oaks Bank 10K

By Mark Winitz

Dennis Simonaitis, 43, of Draper, Utah and Colleen De Reuck, 41, of Boulder, Colo. emerged as victors Sunday morning at the USA Masters 10K Championship hosted by the Heritage Oaks Bank 10K in Paso Robles, Calif.

On a cool morning (about 50 degrees F), Simonaitis negotiated the flat and fast, two loop course in 31 minutes. De Reuck posted a winning 33:33 among masters women (40 and older). Both runners easily out-distanced their competition as Simonaitis tuned up for the Twin Cities Marathon next Sunday and De Reuck prepped for the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in two weeks. Both national champions earned $3900 shares of the $12,000 total masters prize purse - for their overall victories and top age-graded performances.

"I tried to push it a little hard early, just to get out there in the lead," Simonaitis related. "And the age group victory was something that I wanted, too." Simonaitis successfully defended his USA Masters 10K crown.

"I've started my taper for Chicago," four-time Olympian De Reuck said about her upcoming marathon. "I thought I'd run 33:30, so it's about what I expected. This was the first time that I've run in a masters-only race."

The event also served as the Pacific Association/USATF 10K Championship for Open and Masters divisions. In the separate Open race, Peter Gilmore, 28, of San Mateo, Calif. recorded the Pacific Association men's title in 30:22. Elissa Riedy, 28, of Oakland, Calif. was the women's Open winner in 35:59. A total of $5050 was awarded to top Pacific Association athletes and clubs.

Full results will be available on the Pacific Association website at: PAUSATF.org or at the race website: HoBFunRun.com.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org.