REESER AND JOHNSTON MAKE THEIR MOOVES AT GREAT COW HARBOR 10K
Jacobs Moves Up From 8th to Take 4th
By John Hanc, Newsday
   NORTHPORT, NY - (September 17, 2000)- All things considered, they would
 have rather been in Sydney than in Suffolk County, New York on Sunday.
 Still, the Great Cow Harbor 10K--held in Northport, a quaint town on Long
 Island's North Shore--is a prestigious race. So although they didn't get
 gold for their respective victories in the men's and women's division, Todd
 Reeser of Canandaigua, New York and Kristy Johnston of Shepherdstown, West
 Virginia, did earn $3,000 each-plus the satisfaction of beating a national
 -class field on a notoriously challenging course. And for one morning a
 least, they could both forget how their Olympic dreams were dashed.
    "I watched the Opening Ceremonies last night," said Reeser, 26. "Then I
 went to bed, determined to win this race." Reeser, who DNFed in the Olympic
 Trials Marathon in May, did finish here and in convincing fashion, taking
 the lead at mile five from defending Cow Harbor champ Phillimon Hanneck and
 Eric Polonski. The three had been running stride for stride since the first
 mile, and Reeser wanted to avoid a sprint to the finish. "I didn't want
 them on my shoulder," said Reeser after the race. "Those guys are way
 faster than I am."
    Reeser's strategy worked: He pulled ahead on Waterside Avenue, and as he
 made the turn on to Main Street and the last, downhill mile of the race, he
 looked behind twice. No sign of Hanneck or Polonski. Reeser--the top
 American at the New Haven 20K and USA champion--crossed the line alone in
 a time of 29:17 seconds, savoring the first big win in his road-racing
 career. "I wasn't sure what to do with the (finish line) banner," he joked
 afterwards. "I thought about diving over it." Hanneck was second in 29:36,
 Polonski took third in 29:42.
    Jeff Jacobs of Roscoe, Illinois, is a step or two slower than when he
 set the course record here of 28:44 here in 1991. Now 36, the four-time 
 Cow Harbor champ still ran courageously, coming from eighth place early
 on to take fourth (29:59). "I came here to win," said a disappointed
 Jacobs. "I'm expected to win...It's really time to move on."
    Kristy Johnston has been trying to move on with her running career
 since the U.S. Women's Olympic Trials Marathon in February. Johnston
 finished second in that race, held in the winter heat of Columbia, South
 Carolina, but because of the Byzantine U.S. qualifying procedures, she
 didn't make the team-despite having run the sub-2:33 "A" standard
 qualifying time at an earlier marathon. Johnston, 35, has tried to put
 the controversy behind her. "There are lots of worse things that could
 happen in your life than getting screwed out of the Olympics," she said
 wryly, after her Cow Harbor victory. Unlike Reeser, Johnston made her move
 early and at the most difficult point of the course, the long, steep James
 Street Hill at two miles. There, she surged ahead of defending champion
 Christine McNamara, and continued running until she crossed the finish
 line, in 34:07. Kate Fonshell was second (34:47) and McNamara, who 
 also won here in 1997, was third (34:52).
    Johnston-whose husband, Chris Fox, was the first master's finisher--said
 she had no idea how close to her any of the other women were. Unlike
 Reeser, she never turned around. "I don't like to look back," she said.
 "It scares me."  She will run The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on Oct. 22.
Great Cow Harbor 10K
Northport, NY, September 17
Men
1) Todd Reeser, Canandaigua, NY 29:17
2) Phillimon Hanneck, Clackamas, OR 29:36
3) Eric Polonski, Austin, TX        29:42
4) Jeff Jacobs, Roscoe, ILL     29:59
5) Peter Sherry, Great Falls, VA    30:04
6) Ryan Kirkpatrick, Cornwall, NY   30:20
7) Terrence Mahon, Haverford, PA    30:22
8) Michael Mykytok, Ramsey, NJ  30:48
9) Jamie Hibell, Bethlehem, PA  31:15
10) Chris Fox, Shepherdstown, WV    31:32
Women
1) Kristy Johnston, Shepherdstown, WV   34:07
2) Kate Fonshell, Ardmore, PA       34:47
3) Chris McNamara, Portland, OR 34:52
4) Gladees Prieur, New York, NY 35:07
5) Kristin Coogan, Boulder, CO  35:15
6) Betsy Kempter, Chapel Hill, NC   35:34
7) Gordon Bakoulis, New York, NY    35:54
8) Laura Lamena-Coll, Eugene, OR    36:29
9) Lee Di Pietro, Ruxton, MD        36:49
10) Donna McMahon, Farmingdale, NY  36:55
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