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Florida Striders Memorial Day 5K

Near tie highlights Memorial Day 5K

By Ray Dimonda Correspondent
Posted 6/1/23

ORANGE PARK - A split second let up in his finishing surge was costly to Matthew Taddeo who was leading the Florida Striders Memorial Day 5K as he and Jordon Garman were sprinting to the finish …

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Florida Striders Memorial Day 5K

Near tie highlights Memorial Day 5K


Posted

ORANGE PARK - A split second let up in his finishing surge was costly to Matthew Taddeo who was leading the Florida Striders Memorial Day 5K as he and Jordon Garman were sprinting to the finish line.

As Taddeo seemed unaware of Garman’s last 10 yard blitze, Garman was able to get his torso across the finish line just head of Taddeo to take the overall title in 15 minutes, 34 seconds. Taddeo, 28, was clocked just a second off Garman’s mark.

Nearly 700 runners competed in the annual event staged by 1st Place Sports of Jacksonville.

In third place for the males was former area golf instructor Tim Cooper in 16:20.

In the women’s race, 31 year old Kelsey Pontius won decisively in 17:00 with a sixth place overall finish over a local field that included area runner Crystal Davis, 29, who high-kneed her way in at 18:08. Haley Hasty, 26, was third in 18:26.

For the master’s, former area stalward Michelle Krueger, 47, and a former coach at Episcopal High School, won for the females in20:14 with Lester Stevenson, Jr., winning top master’s male in 16:52.

In another battle of high school stalwarts, in the females 14-19, Fleming Island senior Katelyn Thompson edged Clay High’s Kaygen Williamson by a second in 22:10 to Williamson’s 22:11.

Upcoming races include the Pink Ribbon Symposium 8th annual Butterfly 5K in Orange Park on Sat., June 3 and the always competitive Run for the Pies 5K on Sat., June 10 in downtown Jacksonville.