Barresi wins race for the 19th time
By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
On the night before the Spirit Run and the Lake Swim it rained significantly. However, by 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 2, when the runners were gathering at the Bunker ball field the weather was gorgeous. The 5K race (3.1 miles) starts at 7 a.m. and is run mostly on the cart paths of the Lake Monticello golf course. The run finishes at the ball field where it started.
This year’s winner on the men’s side was no surprise. Matt Barresi won the race for the 19th time. He is a long-distance runner, who ran in college for American University. He runs marathons regularly, so a 5K is not taxing for him. Only somewhat surprising was his time. In 2022 he finished well ahead of the field with a time of 17:30. This year he cut 36 seconds off that time, finishing in an impressive 16:54. Again, no one was near him at the finish line.
Every year it seems like there is a new winner in the women’s 5K. That may be due to change. This year the first-time winner was Julie Patterson with a time of 19:48. Patterson ran in college for the University of Richmond, and she still lives in Richmond. She said that her parents have recently moved to the Lake, so she may be a regular competitor in the Spirit Run. Like Barresi, Patterson is an elite distance runner, describing herself as a Tri-Athlon competitor. Spirit Run winners by age group were for the men, age 7 and under, no one, 8-12 Cole Miller, 13-17 Jesse Woolstenhun, 18-30 Nick Gardella, 31-40 Chris Aldrich, 41-50 Jeff Hafer, 51-65 Steve Welch and 66 and over Paul Sick.
For women the winners were: age 7 and under Gabriella Barresi, 8-12 Allison Krogh, 13-17 Sophie Farley, 18-30 Jessica Drews, 31-40 Margaret Aldrich, 41-50 Jessica Schmitz, 51-65 Deb Lugar, 66 and over Gina Quigley. About 130 runners pre-registered and with late sign-ups there were around 150 runners. As usual, John Platt and a host of other volunteers made sure that the Spirit 5K run went smoothly.
The across the Lake swim was held in the morning this year rather than in the sweltering afternoon as has traditionally been the case. The Lake swim consists of an open water dash from Beach 3 to the main beach. For the third year in a row, the Dillman family from Richmond was dominant. In 2022 the first three swimmers out of the water were Cooper, Shannah and Carleigh Dillman. This year Cooper was first again, but his sisters came in third and fifth. Breaking into the Dillman dominance were Charlie Barker in second and Jaxon Brooks in fourth. A total of 122 swimmers finished the race. The swim was coordinated by the Lake police department, the Lake Volunteer Water Rescue team, the Water Safety Patrol, LMOA staff and the Sharks swim team.
In other sports events on the Fourth of July weekend the results were as follows: in the kids’ putting contest, the winners in three age groups were 5-7 Saxon Johnson, 8-9 Lucas Dunaway and 10-12 Princess Heuser, In the horseshoe tournament the winners were Sam Rochester and Mark Post and in the cornhole tournament the winners Jay Cauyer and Trey DeLoach.
