Speed search: High Street Mile draws top field, woman breaks 11-year-old record

Winning the High Street Mile got a lot more difficult yesterday morning. Breaking the four-minute barrier might be borderline impossible.

The 18th running of The Mile, on both the men and women's sides, was a who's who of regionally and nationally renown milers, marathoners and former champions, one of which was mere seconds away from going to Beijing.

That's what The Mile has become.

"I think the big thing is that it has changed from a mostly high caliber local and Northeast Massachusetts field into a New England and Northeast elite-type of an event," said Chris Kealey, in his fourth year as race director. "I couldn't hope for anything better than this, really.

"My hope is that it is the shape of things to come, to grow the event and make it more successful," Kealey added.

The spectacular Amy Mortimer — who fell just short of qualifying for the Olympics in the 1,500 meters on July 6 — coasted to the women's title and a new course record in 4:32. Kurt Benninger, a former All-American middle distance standout at Notre Dame, captured the men's title in 4:04 yesterday morning.

Mortimer, who placed fifth in the 1,500 meters (4:14.98) at the US Olympic Trails earlier in July (falling short by two places and 6.50 seconds), would rather be in Beijing, but her memories of Newburyport will be nothing but fond.

"I was hoping for under 4:30, but I didn't know much about the course," Mortimer said. "But I'm happy with my time today. The crowd really helped out a lot, with everyone cheering the whole way. I don't do a ton of road miles."

Mortimer, 26, broke free of the pack about 800 meters in and finished with a comfortable 16-second lead on 2006 champion Claudia Camargo, who took second place in 4:48.

"I had the time, and I knew I had to pick it up a little if I wanted to break the record," Mortimer said. "Plus Claudia was putting up a pretty good fight."

Along with the $400 purse for winning the women's title, Mortimer pocketed an additional $400 for eclipsing the record. She bested the previous record of 4:37 set in 1997 by Kathy Franey.

Camargo, 37, who won the 2006 High Street Mile (4:45) and the 2007 Yankee Homecoming 5K, established a 20-second lead on third-place Melissa Donais (5:08), who edged 2000 HSM champion Brett Ely (5:08) at the finish line.

Placing fifth, and perhaps stunning the remainder of the field, was 16-year-old Alanna Poretta, who posted a time of 5:10. It was only a year ago that the Pentucket junior won the Youth Race — boys and girls combined — in 5:20.

Following what he deemed a senior year of "mixed emotions" at Notre Dame, Benninger handily earned his first title on the pro circuit, establishing a six-second cushion over 2007 champion Abyiot Endale.

Benninger's goal was to break 4:00 — he ran a 3:58 mile once in 2005 — but instead he became the closest to threaten the record of 4:03 set by Eric Nadeau in 1995.

"My first goal was to win, and then hopefully break 4:00 and pick up some money," Benninger said. "It was a real good field," added Benninger, 23, a native of Chepstaw, Ontario. "I wasn't sure what to expect, and I think I underestimated it a little bit before I got here. Once I got here, I had to get my mind into it a little bit more because it was a better field than what I was anticipating."

Benninger emerged the leader just past the halfway point and cruised to the finish line, leaving behind a clustered field that included a pair of former champions.

Endale, 22, was the runner-up in 4:10, while Kenya native Shadrack Kijai, 24, placed third in 4:12, and two-time champion Kevin Alliette, 27, of Methuen, took fourth in 4:14. Alliette won titles in 2004 and 2005. Lowell resident Benjamin Ndaya capped the top five in 4:18.

Sylvester, Seites-Rundlett capture youth races

Age prevailed in the youth girls race as 15-year-old Danielle Sylvester of Amesbury used a late kick to rally past 11-year-old Molly Thomas and capture the title in 6:10.

Sylvester and Thomas emerged among the pack at the halfway point. Thomas carried a short lead until the final 50 meters, when Sylvester kicked and won by four seconds.

"I knew I could out-sprint her in the end," said Sylvester, who specializes in the 2-mile at Amesbury High. Thomas posted a time of 6:14, while 11-year-old Derrin Thomas placed third in 6:27. Twelve-year-old Ali Peffer placed fourth in 6:32, while 14-year-old Meghan Corbett took fifth in 6:38.

In the youth boys division, 15-year-old Zachary Seites-Rundlett of North Kingstown, RI, recovered from an early fall but emerged to capture the boys youth title in 4:49 — 11 seconds faster than Newburyport's Brian Morse, who took second in 5:00.

"In the beginning, everyone kind of bottlenecked, plus I've got this plastic on my shoes, and I kind of slipped," said Seites-Rundlett, who was in town visiting his brother. "I don't know any of the kids in this race because I'm a Rhode Island runner, but I definitely wanted to win it."

After getting up and weaving through the slew of youngsters, Seites-Rundlett decided to go for broke. He assumed the lead just past the midway point and never slowed.

"I wanted to go fast," he said. "Once I got out, I wanted to push the pace. I just kept at it without looking back. It was kind of a sprint from the beginning."

Morse edged Cam Kelly, who also posted a time of 5:00, at the finish line in a mad dash for second place. Chris Wood placed fourth in 5:20, and Jason Cox rounded out the top five in 5:22.

Top 5

High Street Mile

Men

Place Name Time

1. Kurt Benninger 4:04

2. Abyiot Endale 4:10

3. Shadrack Kijai 4:12

4. Kevin Alliette 4:14

5. Benjamin Ndaya 4:18

Women

Place Name Time

1. Amy Mortimer 4:32

2. Claudia Camargo 4:48

3. Melissa Donais 5:08

4. Brett Ely 5:08

5. Alanna Poretta 5:10

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