Steve Burwick
Reporter
October 26, 2004
“It was fun,” said Andrew Ross, who was the first to cross the finish line in Milligan College’s 5-kilometer Homecoming run which took place Saturday morning.
“The main goal was just to have fun. I’d like to do it again,” Ross said.
The Second Annual Scholarship 5K Run/2.5K Walk was sponsored by the Association of Ladies for Milligan, State of Franklin Savings Bank and Saratoga Technologies.
“The money goes to a student scholarship fund,” said ALM President Clarinda Jeanes. “We raised $20,000 last year.” She said the same number of runners, 37, competed this year, but that included more students. Twenty-two people participated in the 2.5-kilometer walk, which followed the same course.
“The Associated Ladies of Milligan Scholarship benefits a new student each fall,” said David Mee, vice president for enrollment management. “It generally goes to a young lady who is coming to Milligan from an area high school. Most of the activities organized by ALM each year benefit their ongoing scholarship fund.”
Pioneer Food Services organized food and drink refreshments for the runners, according to John Simonsen, associate professor of human performance and exercise science, who helped organize the event and record the runners’ times. “God provided the good weather,” he said.
Ross, a sophomore history major, was the winner in the men’s over-20 age bracket with a time of 20:18 and also the top overall male winner.
“It was a good workout,” said Tom Umbanhowar, 62, from Brownsburg, Ind. Umbanhowar, who has been running for the last 16 years, came in first in the men’s over-60 category with a time of 31:40. He shared that time with his daughter Terri Leach, 32, who was the winner in the women’s over-30 group.
“The last hill was hard. It was very steep,” said Leach.
The course began at the fieldhouse, wound down the hill, turned right on Toll Branch Road behind the campus, past the soccer fields and went up Buffalo Creek Road to the Milligan Highway. From there the runners continued back through the campus, up the hill past Seeger Chapel and the dorms to the fieldhouse, where they circled around and followed the same course a second time.
“It was a lot of fun. That hill was tough, especially the second time around,” said Jerry Hale, 53, of Kingsport. “This is a wonderful campus; it’s beautiful. It reminds me of Berea College (Ky.).”
Other winners included Zach Sheppard who finished first in the under-20 bracket at 20:57; Rachel Bennett, women’s over-20 at 26:34; Jeff Bloomer, men’s over-30 at 22:33; Larry Free, men’s over-40 at 22:39; Bruce Bittenbender, men’s over-50 at 26:13; and Helen Gray, women’s over-60 at 36:15. Karen Seiferth, from Johnson City, finished first in the women’s over-40 bracket with a time of 23:06 and was the top female runner.