Simonaitis, Mosqueda take USA Masters 10 km titles

PASO ROBLES, Calif. - Dennis Simonaitis (Draper, Utah) won his second USA Masters 10 km Championship and Sylvia Mosqueda (Resemead, Calif.) captured her first masters championship at Sunday's USA Maters 10 km Championships in Paso Robles. The Championships were hosted for the fourth consecutive year by the Heritage Oaks Bank 10K.

Two-time 10 km national champion Simonaitis, 44, successfully defended his title, running 30:31 to win by 13 seconds over Paul Aufdemberge, 41 (Redford, Mich.). Danny Martinez, 44, (Alhambra, Calif.) was third in 31:34.

In the women's race, Mosqueda's, 40, time of 34:36 was good for a 29-second victory over Michelle Simonaitis, 40, (Draper, Utah), while Lynn Mentzer, 47, (Sparks, Nev.) rounded out the top three in 36:08.

Winning masters in other age divisions in the national championship include:

40 -44

Sylvia Mosqueda (Resemead, Calif.), 34:36; Dennis Simonaitis (Draper, Utah), 30:31

45 - 49

Lynn Mentzer (Sparks, Nev.), 36:08; Ivan Huff (Pas Robles, Calif.), 32:36

50 - 54

Nancy Fiddler (Crowley Lakes, Calif.), 38:29; Fletcher Lesley (San Francisco, Calif.), 35:46

55 - 59

Debbie Dorney (Arroyo Grande, Calif.), 52:41:58; Gary Romesser (Indianapolis, Ind.), 33:59

60-64

Nelly Wright (Pacific Grove, Calif.), 48:06; Perry Hayden (Reno, Nev.), 39:22

65 - 69

Melody-Anne Schultz (Ross, Calif.) 47:08; Neal Chappell (Stateline, Nev.), 42:26

70-74

Giovanna Schaefer (Grover Beach, Calif.), 1:16:23; Bernie Hollander (Novato, Calif.), 53:39

75-79

Ed Reyna (Sunnyvale, Calif.), 58:34

The 8th annual Heritage Oaks Bank 10K featured $26,000 in masters prize money with $1800 each for the overall national champions and $2500 for each men's and women's top age-graded runner. The age-graded tables provide a relative way to compare times for runners of different ages.

Source USATF