Three Generations from One Family at MVTC ... - Colorado Runner

USATF New Mexico...
Three Generations from One
Family at MVTC Triathlon
MVTC Triathlon
5K Run/25K Bike/500m Swim
April 2, 2006
Las Cruces, NM
Three generations from one family in
the same event… that must certainly say something
about the popularity of the event; its good
reputation, well established, well managed, etc.
But it says much more about the participants.
And there is a pattern. Most of today’s older
by NM LDR Chair Don Shepan
athletes made a dramatic change
in lifestyle somewhere in the
past. They were not the best athletes
in any one sport, but mediocre
in many of them. And not
in best of shape at the time they
made a monumental decision to
get involved.
Jim Lilley, (78) from Roswell,
NM, admits to all of the
above. As advice to others, he
says to start the good life sooner.
Do not start at four packs of cigarettes
per day. Train regularly.
Train diligently. Find others to
join you. Form a club. Hold a
competitive event. (Sounds like
a coach.) He was one of those,
too.
Seven of Jim’s ten offspring
are runners today. It is small
wonder that a son and grandson
joined Jim at the Mesilla Valley
Track Club Triathlon on April 2,
a sprint triathlon consisting of a
5K Run, 25K Bike, and 500 meter
Swim. Jim was at the club’s
inaugural event. Jim was at the
inaugural event of the Burn Lake
Triathlon, another Las Cruces
event. His presence has been
noted in the early history of most local events.
The picture says the rest: Jim, (78),
1st in his 75-79 age-group, a time of 2:08:32;
son, Jess (39), 6th in his 35-39 age-group, with a
time of 1:20:08; and grandson, Joshua, (13), 3rd
place finisher in his 16 & under age-group with
a time of 1:47:26.
The second photo shows the highly
competitive 30-34 Male Age-group: Left: Alberto
Lugo (34) El Paso TX, 1st with a time
of 1:06:27; Center: Danny Montoya (33) Las
Cruces NM, 2nd with a time of 1:06:33; Right:
Esteban Lopez (31) El Paso TX, with a time
1:09:40. No other age-group finished so tightly
packed together.
1:25:11. 60-64: 1. Barry Field, 61, Albuquerque, NM, 1:22:20; 2.
Flip Lyle, 61, El Paso, TX, 1:24:42; 3. Richard Kelly, 60, El Paso,
TX, 1:35:46. 65-69: 1. John LeRoy, 69, Las Cruces, NM, 1:21:13.
70-74: 1. J Mack Adams, 73, Las Cruces, NM, 1:39:26. 75-79: 1.
Jim Lilley, 78, Roswell, NM, 2:08:31. Clydesdale Less Than 40:
1. Brian Steinbach, 35, El Paso, TX, 1:20:47; 2. Cody Hanson,
31, Santa Fe, NM, 1:22:06; 3. Shea Dawson, 23, Las Cruces,
NM, 1:22:26. Clydesdale 40 & Over: 1. Brian Pilgrim, 40, Rio
Rancho, NM, 1:16:49; 2. Felix Hinojosa, 48, El Paso, TX, 1:20:53;
3. Allison Stout, 49, Las Cruces, NM, 1:46:54. Female (Overall):
1. Kristin Moriarty, 28, Albuquerque, NM, 1:14:54.37. 20-24: 1.
Amber Miller, 23, Las Cruces, NM, 1:17:32; 2. Perla Retana, 22,
El Paso, TX, 1:24:10; 3. Lauren Thompson, 20, Albuquerque, NM,
1:26:50. 25-29: 1. Liz Jaramillo, 27, Las Cruces, NM, 1:22:57; 2.
Jayne Margolin, 25, Socorro, NM, 1:28:13; 3. Carolina Carreon,
27, El Paso, TX, 1:29:30. 30-34: 1. Julie Ford, 33, Socorro, NM,
1:22:09; 2. Shannon Pederson, 32, Las Cruces, NM, 1:35:10; 3.
Aysegul Birand, 32, Las Cruces, NM, 1:37:12. 35-39: 1. Brittany
Strobel, 35, Albuquerque, NM, 1:26:15; 2. Kerry Buehler, 37, Albuquerque,
NM, 1:28:21; 3. Terry Hijar, 38, Albuquerque, NM,
1:37:22. 40-44: 1. Cristina Macias, 41, El Paso, TX, 1:19:20; 2.
Laura Bernal, 44, El Paso, TX, 1:25:36. 45-49: 1. Dorothy Dare,
46, Silver City, NM, 1:28:23; 2. Naomi Finson, 46, Albuquerque,
NM, 1:29:02; 3. Mary Wells, 46, Las Cruces, NM, 1:29:42. 50-
54: 1. Terry Latham, 51, Albuquerque, NM, 1:18:57; 2. Barbara
Rivers, 53, Albuquerque, NM, 1:29:47; 3. Jill Janss, 53, El Paso,
TX, 1:35:06. 55-59: 1. Colleen Burns, 57, McIntosh, NM, 1:27:25;
2. Mariana Vilorio, 55, El Paso, TX, 1:43:23; 3. Rheda Brown,
55, Socorro, NM, 1:58:03. 60-64: 1. Carole Cook, 62, El Paso,
TX, 1:41:35; 2. Colette Meltzer, 60, Las Cruces, NM, 1:42:28.13.
Athena 40 & Over: 1. Helen Crane, 48, Alpine, TX, 1:39:31; 2.
Misty Pilgrim, 41, Rio Rancho, NM, 1:56:38.54. Relay Male 39 &
Under: 1. Ronny Eckles, 17, El Paso, TX & Patrick Gailey, 16, El
Paso, TX, 1:20:37.49. Female 39 & Under: 1. Savannah Pierson,
22, Las Cruces, NM & Leah Geer, 21, Las Cruces, NM, 1:38:57;
2. Darcy Riley, 31, Las Cruces, NM & Gabriela Perez, 16, Las
Cruces, NM, 1:57:31. Female 40 & Ove:r 1. Lynn Bagwell, 40,
Dona Ana, NM & Corinne Steele, 51, Las Cruces, NM, 1:35:37.
CoEd 39 & Under: 1. Shannon Applegate, 23, Las Cruces, NM
& Katrina Mackrain, 34, Las Cruces, NM, 1:40:45. CoEd 40 &
Over: 1. Jason Strauch, 42, Albuquerque, NM & Karen Soloman,
38, Albuquerque, NM, 1:10:21; 2. Luis Martinez, 51, Las Cruces,
NM & Jane Greek, 51, Las Cruces, NM, 1:46:35.
Male (Overall): 1. Shaun Burns, 28, Albuquerque, NM, 1:06:05.09.
16 & Under: 1. Enrique Garibay, 16, Juarez, Chih., Mex,
1:20:57.36; 2. Josh Thomson, 15, Mesilla Pk, NM, 1:23:34.95; 3.
Joshua Lilley, 13, Las Cruces, NM, 1:47:25.75. 17-19: 1. Robert
Mercer, 19, Las Cruces, NM, 1:20:27; 2. Owen Boberg, 18, Las
Cruces, NM, 1:35:52; 3. Raul Carrillo III, 18, Las Cruces, NM,
1:35:56. 20-24: 1. Francisco Perez, 23, Santa Fe, NM, 1:09:08;
2. Sergio Garcia, 23, Albuquerque, NM, 1:11:08; 3. Adrian Wagner,
20, Albuquerque, NM, 1:13:06. 25-29: 1. Jason Atkinson, 25,
Alamogordo, NM, 1:08:30; 2. Steven Montoya, 29, Las Cruces,
NM, 1:09:11; 3. Adam Meade, 27, Albuquerque, NM, 1:12:22. 30-
34: 1. Alberto Lugo, 34, El Paso, TX, 1:06:26; 2. Danny Montoya,
33, Las Cruces, NM, 1:06:32; 3. Esteban Lopez, 31, El Paso, TX,
1:09:39. 35-39: 1. Cid Lopez, 38, EL Paso, TX, 1:07:49; 2. Mark
Trejtnar, 35, Albuquerque, NM, 1:14:37; 3. John Himes, 36, El
Paso, TX, 1:15:10. 40-44: 1. Leonard Piazza, 40, Anthony, NM,
1:14:15; 2. Mark Liesse, 44, Rio Rancho, NM, 1:14:31; 3. Mark
MacKenzie, 44, Albuquerque, NM, 1:15:14. 45-49: 1. Paul Zetocha,
45, Albuquerque, NM, 1:15:38; 2. Mike Torneby, 47, Albuquerque,
NM, 1:25:18; 3. Jorge Alonzo, 49, El Paso, TX, 1:31:03. 50-
54: 1. Randy Mattila, 51, Grants, NM, 1:21:07; 2. Kevin Lovell, 52,
El Paso, TX, 1:22:23; 3. Scott Darling, 54, El Paso, TX, 1:22:31.
55-59: 1. Miguel Sanchez, 57, Albuquerque, NM, 1:16:52; 2. Jose
Ortiz, 57, El Paso, TX, 1:24:51; 3. Robert Welo, 55, WSMR, NM,
Brandon Leslie of Albuquerque
finished seventh in the Bolder Boulder
International Team Challenge Race.

A Tribute to John Stermer
Photo from the Stermer Family, Opposite - Top and Bootm Left: Don Shepan, Bottom Right: Derek Griffiths
John Stermer, 53, was a father, grandfather,
brother, and son. He was also a history
teacher, counselor, administrator, referee
and coach in New Mexico and Colorado high
schools. His concern was to encourage young
people to strive for excellence. He was state
president of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention
Group and chair of Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
Running was John’s joy
and led him to triathlon
and ironman competitions
throughout the
Southwest.
John was diagnosed
with ALS (Lou
Gehrigs’s Disease) in
September of 2004.
When John was selected
for the 2005 Annual
Southwest Challenge
Series Sportsmanship
award, it was remarked
of him, “John has found
the elusive secret to defeating
the fear of our
own earthly demise – to
embrace life. He is testimony
to the fact that
all times are good ones
if we but know what to
do with them. John’s
echo already is resonating
with all who knew
him. If we’ll let it in, it
will carry us all upwards
in our desire to beat the
trees to the sky. John Stermer is a friend. John
Stermer is an attitude to live by.”
John cherished the life he was given
and left it with courage and dignity.
Mentor, amigo, and athlete are also
among the list of John’s titles.
Denver’s Channel 9 television news
aired a story and video of John on November
11, 2004. The story conveyed John’s desire to
run as long as he could. And he and his close
friend, Annie Schneider, were observed to run,
bike or swim daily in spite of ALS.
In January, 2005, John’s friend, Mark
Balsiger, described John’s last event, the Polar
Bear Triathlon at White Sands Missile Range
on December 11, 2004. John had said that he
wanted to complete one more triathlon. Mark
wrote:
“There he was on race day morning,
smiling broadly, albeit thin as a reed, legs a bit
shaky, and speech slurred almost beyond comprehension.
But John raced. He ran every step
of the run, pedaled every stroke of the bike, and
made every lap of the swim. It took him over
two hours, but I think I’ve never seen a finer
race, a more courageous effort, a greater inspiration.
John Stermer, an attitude to live by.”
John finished that triathlon in 2:02:52,
5th in his age-group, but still a very commendable
performance. He finished ahead of many
who did not have an affliction. The event was a
7K Run/ 30K Bike/ 400m Swim. As you have
noted, Mark repeated the words he used to describe
John’s last triathlon as he used twelve
months later at the SW Challenge Series award
banquet.
Two events have since been presented
in his honor: February, 2005, Soledad Canyon
Run for John, Las Cruces, NM; February, 2006,
First Annual John Stermer Duathlon (5K Run/
30K Bike), WSMR, NM.
John was living in Wheatridge, Colorado
at the time of his death.
USATF Foundation Grants Help Youth and Elite Programs
The USATF Foundation has awarded
two grants that will benefit the sport of track and
field in the United States. These grants will support
a group of emerging elite distance runners
and enhance the Mark Springer Youth Travel
Program. The Foundation depends on donations
from its board of directors and from generous
fans of track & field.
The USA Track & Field Foundation
awarded a $15,000 grant to support emerging
elite athletes on a three-week European Track
Circuit program this summer. Based on a grant
request from Team USA Minnesota, this program
will focus on “up and coming” American
distance runners who have demonstrated worldclass
performance potential and have financial
need.
A highly lauded program that provides
travel support to young athletes has received
a $20,000 grant from the USATF Foundation.
Named for the former USATF Director of Grass
Roots Programs and originator of the program,
the Mark Springer Youth Travel Program is supported
by USATF and the USA Track & Field
Foundation. The Mark Springer Youth Travel
Grant Program offers travel assistance grants
to eligible youth clubs across the country. Since
2000, the grants have helped clubs offset expenses
related to bringing athletes to USATF
national championships, specifically the USA
Junior Outdoor Championships, USA Youth
Outdoor Championships, and USATF National
Junior Olympic Track & Field and Cross Country
Championships. It’s one of the most popular
grass roots efforts and a direct benefit of USATF
Club membership.
USATF New Mexico thanks the following local sponsors for their support:
505-299-8922
www.fleetfeetalbuquerque.com
Heart &
Sole
505-884-5300
www.heartnsolesports.com
505-856-9377
www.the-athletes-edge.com
505-837-9400
www.sportzoutdoor.com
July/August 2006 coloradorunnermag.com 25