Jordan Cole and Shannon LeVangie win Harrison 5K by the Lake

Jordan Cole cruises home to win the 13th annual Harrison 5K over Dom Sclafani

Remarkable finish by 13-year-old Shannon LeVangie earned her the top spot for the women.

(Harrison ME) It wasn’t advertised as a kiddie run but the younger folks dominated the 13^th annual Harrison Recreation Department 5K by the Lake on Wednesday night in Harrison, Maine.

Teenagers Jordan Cole (17) and Dom Sclafani (15) were the top two finishers.

Two more teenagers, Shannon LeVangie (13) and Jillian Davis (13) claimed the top spots on the women’s side.

Jordan (18:49) and Dom (19:13) separated from the pack quickly and left little doubt that they would be the top two finishers.

Jordan will be a senior at Lisbon High School and has been very successful versus high school competition. He finished 4^th in the Maine state meet in June in the 3200 meter race.

Dom will be a junior at Oxford Hills High School.

Erik Martin (19:40) and Arno Bommer (19:44) duked it out along Route 117 with Erik holding the lead.

Arno, from nearby (?) Houston TX, took second last year at 18:51. A time like that in 2015 would have given Jordan Cole plenty to think about. Last year’s winner David Krall ran the race in 18:11.

Arno also was the only returning top ten finisher from 2014. The turnover in participants in the Harrison 5K continues to amaze me.

Teenager Nick Hoch (14) coasted to 5^th over Christopher Hayes of Raymond.

The battle for 7th was a close one. Brian Ladd finished very strong to get the spot.

The battle for 7^th was very competitive. Four runners (Michael Mayetes, Zachary Hoexter, Brian Ladd, and David Brooks) were seen jockeying for position near the Gateway Marina and that jockeying continues past the Grange to the Post Office finish. Brian Ladd got the job done for 7^th.

From my Long Lake Park vantage point, I was quite sure that Jillian Davis would be the girls’ winner. But that is not the way it turned out. Somewhere between Long Lake Park and the finish, Shannon LeVangie (Hanover, MA) gained ground at a remarkable rate to nip Jillian by two seconds.

Misty Brown of Wilmington, North Carolina finished 3^rd in the women’s division.

The weather was pleasant: low 70’s with a little breeze.

Good idea by those in charge of the race to limit the amount of time the runners interfered with traffic. Once the runners got down to the Harrison Boat Launch they were limited to the well-marked breakdown lane (on the Route 117 part) the rest of the race. Only problem? The limited space made it tough for runners trying to pass other runners especially near the end of the race on 117.

Official race stats – http://www.coolrunning.com/results/15/me/Jul8_Harris_set1.shtml

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)