Saturday, January 15, 2022

Leskow easily wins men's We Are Houston 5K while Sorensen edges Schrader for women's title


Embracing the cooler weather and windy conditions - as if it were a home course advantage - to win Saturday's We Are Houston 5K in downtown Houston was Conshohocken, Pennsylvania native Aaron Leskow.

The 30-year-old, who was a middle distance specialist at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, easily grabbed the title over Sugar Land resident J.P. Machemel with a commanding 39-second advantage in 15:27.



Machemel, 37, the former Texas A&M Aggie who like Leskow ran the middle distances there, finished in 16:06 with more of advantage - namely a minute and seven seconds - over third place finisher Zachary Madsen, 14, of Houston.

Madsen is a freshman at Clear Lake High School where he won the UIL 6A District 24 junior varsity cross country title in a similar time of 17:14 -- a second slower than today's showing.

Former University of Houston Cougar cross country and track athlete Meredith Sorensen, 24, held off former Baylor Bear Bree Schrader, 28, by two seconds to take the women's title in 17:55.

Third overall in a time of 18:21 was 35-year-old New York City resident Jessica Chichester, who is running tomorrow's Aramco Houston Half Marathon.

Fifth overall at the 2018 Boston Marathon, Chichester qualified for and finished the 2020 United States Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta, Georgia in 2:45:49.

Wheelchair division winners were Kingwood's Jacob Allen, 20, and Tucson, Arizona's Chelsea Stein, 18, in times of 12:39 and 17:11, respectively.  Both athletes will be competing in tomorrow's Chevron Houston Marathon.

Winning the Handcyclist division were Cypress' Jeff Chaffin, 41, and League City's Alyssa Brodeur, 24, with marks of 12:16 and 20:53.  Chaffin is entered in the handcycle division of the Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday.

Athletes with Disabilities with Guide winning athletes were Jackson, Michigan's Lucas Crisanti, 24, and Houston's Briana Fuller, 33, in 21:40 and 28:38.  Crisanti will be in the marathon on Sunday while Fuller will compete in the half marathon.

The Mobility Impaired athlete division was won by Saratoga Springs, Utah's Jeff Waldmuller, 37, and Houston's Sagirah Ahmed Norris, 32, in 21:39 and 33:27.  Waldmuller will be in the marathon while Norris will be in the half marathon tomorrow.

St. Louis, Missouri's Nick Silver, 36, and Houston's Kellie Dewveall, 54, won the Visually Impaired athlete divisions in 25:12 and 32:32, respectively.  Silver will run the half marathon tomorrow while Dewveall will compete in the marathon.

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