Whitehorse’s Lauren Whyte produced her fastest five-kilometre time in a year on Tuesday.
Racing at the Yukon Five Kilometre Road Race Championships, Whyte was the fastest female with a time of 19 minutes, 26 seconds at the Athletics Yukon event beginning and ending at F.H. Collins Secondary.
It’s her fastest five-kilometre times since the previous championships, which she also won.
“This year, compared to last year, had much harder competition because Maura Sullivan was here and she’s really fast,” said Whyte. “Actually, I had to push it last year because I was racing Tom (Ullyett). But it’s always fun when you have some competition. You have to try a little harder or else you get lazy and dog it.”
Whyte, who won the five-kilometre distance at the Quebec University Cross-Country Championships while on the track team at McGill University in 2007, finished last year’s championship in 20:02.
“I used to compete in university, so (my time) was a lot faster back then,” said Whyte. “Compared to those times, (Tuesday’s time is) not so good, but for not training very hard, excellent.”
Sullivan, who is the current Yukon cross-country champion for women, took second at 19:49. Sue Bogle was third fastest at 21:12.
A pair of runners who will compete at the Canada Summer Games in Quebec next month topped the men’s results.
Logan Boehmer, 21, took first with a time of 16:58.
“The wind was awesome,” said Boehmer, sarcastically. “It was pretty windy. But all and all, I thought it was a good race.
“It is my second best time, exactly the same as the one I ran two weeks ago. It’s good to be consistent.”
Boehmer ran a 16:33 for a personal at the Jack Brow Memorial Track and Field Meet over the weekend in Kelowna, B.C., taking second behind Yukon teammate Logan Roots.
Kieran Halliday, 17, placed second and won the men’s 16-17 division for the second year in a row with a time of 17:25.
“It’s not a PB (personal best), it’s not even close,” said Halliday, who will compete in athletics and tennis at the Games next month. “It was really windy today. It was awful, it was really windy.
“But I’m happy with it, it was a solid time. I felt good about my race, it was just a little tough sometimes. I tried my best and that’s what I came up with.”
Rodney Hulstein, last year’s overall winner, placed third for men overall.
Results
Men under-11
1st Thomas Bakica - 29:43
Men 12-13
1st Darby McIntyre - 20:40
2nd Luke Bakica - 36:01
Men 16-17
1st Kieran Halliday - 17:25
2nd Brody Smith - 20:09
Open men 20-39
1st Logan Boehmer - 16:58
2nd Rodney Hulstein - 18:48
3rd Pat Brunet - 26:08
4th Ben Yu-Schott - 27:13
5th Owen Monroe - 27:15
6th Derek Klassen - 27:16
Masters men 40-49
1st Jerome McIntyre - 21:48
Masters men 50-59
1st Tom Ullyett - 20:07
Masters men 60-69
1st Don White - 20:36
2nd Ross Knox - 23:10
Masters 70-79
1st Dave Keller - 28:26
2.5km under-10
1st Luke Cozens - 15:56
Open women 20-34
1st Lauren Whyte - 19:26
2nd Julie Gerlach - 22:58
3rd Sarah Johnson - 23:12
Masters women 35-44
1st Maura Sullivan - 19:49
2nd Haley Henderson - 24:21
3rd Melissa Yu-Schott - 27:52
Masters women 45-49
1st Sue Bogle - 21:12
Masters women 50-59
1st Laurie Drummond - 25:36
2nd Nicole Hulstein - 27:50
Masters women 60-69
1st Elise Maltinsky - 28:12
5km walkers masters 50-59
1st Tanya Astika - 34:15
2nd Bonnie Love - 34:17
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com