Porter wins Highlands Hospital 5K going away
CONNELLSVILLE — Mount Pleasant’s Eric Porter had little trouble in winning the 25th annual Highlands Hospital Bud Murphy 5K Run for Autism Wednesday night.
The Saint Vincent sophomore breezed through the course in 16:24. Dunbar’s Nicholas Miller was second in the men’s race at 17:17 and North Huntingdon’s Eric Rankin was third in 17:20.
“I pretty much had the lead from the start,” Porter said. “I train with Wade Schnorr, who usually runs this, but he didn’t this year.”
Porter, who runs cross country for the Bearcats, enjoyed the changes in the course.
“It was a pretty easy course,” Porter said. “When you are out in front like that, sometimes it can be tough to stay focused, but I just ran my race. It would have been nice to have Wade here to push me. I ran this race two years ago and I was second.”
Irwin’s Roberta Groner was the top female and the second overall finisher in 17:10. North Huntingdon’s Abby Pristas was second in 19:23 and Dunbar’s Debbie Conner took third in 19:34.
“I just came out here and ran,” Groner said. “There wasn’t any secret. I have some friends in Connellsville so I decided to give it a shot.
“I felt the course was a tad on the harder side, but not too bad. I wish they would have had mile markers, but other than that, it was great.”
Monroeville’s Don Slusser continued his dominance in the walk with his fourth victory in a row at 27:10.
Connellsville’s Matt Ptacek and Jason Soltis finished second and third with times of 27:19 and 30:14.
“This was one of the tougher ones,” Slusser said. “Matt really pushed me. He got out quick and I’m usually a slower starter. I really didn’t think I had it. I knew it was going to be tough. It was a great day to race.
“I’m happy with the effort today. We really pushed each other.”
Connellsville’s Leanne Kurpiel won the women’s walk in 28:50. Dunbar’s Debbie McGee was second in 30:14 and Uniontown’s Dana Griffith took third in 31:09.
“I won it last year, so I was a little nervous coming into it this year,” Kurpiel said. “The course was just as difficult as last year in my opinion. I try to do either walking or running every day. I do about one race a week.”