Roba Wins Newport 5000, but Doesn’t Set a Record

NEWPORT BEACH — It may have been caused by a brief skirmish just past the one-mile mark. Whatever the reason, no records were broken in the open division of the eighth annual Newport 5000 5K race Sunday.

With a talent-packed men’s field, race coordinator Bill Sumner expected the course record of 13 minutes 58 seconds, set by Wes Ashford in 1993, to easily be broken. But Sumner said some pushing and shoving probably kept winner Tesfaye Roba of Redlands from narrowly missing a record by four seconds (14:02).

“There were a lot of big egos out there today,” Sumner said. “[There were] a lot of guys who don’t want to lose and that caused a little battle at 1 1/2 miles. A couple of guys in the lead pack started pushing each other and that is probably the reason no record was broken.”

Roba, 19, originally from Ethiopia, crossed the line three seconds ahead of La Mesa’s Joao N’Tyamba, 29, who finished in 14:10. Riverside’s Cosmas Musyoka, 25, the rabbit in this year’s Los Angeles Marathon, took third in 14:10. Danny Gonzalez, 32, of Rancho Santa Margarita, was the top county runner, finishing fourth at 14:27. Gonzalez’s time placed him first in the 30-34 division.

A course record was broken, however, in the master’s race (40-over) by Newport Beach’s John Koningh. A former All-American cross-country runner at UC Irvine, Koningh, 40, won in 15:07, two seconds faster than the previous record (15:09) set by Pasadena’s Nolan Smith in 1993.

Keith Witthauer, 41, of Apple Valley, finished second (15:22) and Nolan Shaheed, 47, took third (15:45).

In the women’s open race, Karen Ouderkerk, 30, of San Diego, won with a time of 16:22. Alhambra’s Carmen Martinez, 30, was second (16:42) and Jeanne Lasee Johnson, 39, of Chula Vista, was third (16:52). Kelly Flathers, 25, of Huntington Beach, was the top finisher from the county, finishing fourth in 17:01. Flathers’ time was tops in the 25-29 division.

In the women’s master race, San Diego’s Marcella Teran, 42, easily outdistanced the field, winning in 17:39. Irvine’s Yayoi Liu, 40, crossed the line just under a minute later, at 18:23. La Mesa’s Sue McCarthy, 41, took third in 19:00.

Notes

* Daniel Mejia (15:52), 15, and Juan Casas (15:55), 16, of Anaheim, finished first and second in the 15-18 division. Ross Venook, 18, of Irvine, took third in 16:12.

* In the girls’ 11-and-under division, Kristen Berglas, 11, of Irvine, took first in 20:06. Katie Strachan, 11, of Santa Ana, finished second (22:21).

* Placentia’s Jill Santibanez, 17, took first in the girls’ 15-18 division (18:35). Anaheim’s Jonalyn Smith, 16, was second (19:35) and Cristal Hernandez, 16, of Anaheim, was third (20:20).

* Newport Beach had three top division winners in the masters. Robert Kay, 71, won the 70-74 division in 22:41, Earl Rippee, 77, won the 75-79 division (28:03) and Bill Nice, 82, took first in the 80-and-over division (26.08).