On a hot and humid Independence Day, runners celebrated America's birthday by competing in the annual Firecracker 4 Miler in Cranford. Participants traveled from as close as Cranford and as far as Australia to take part in the event.
Of the 1,196 runners, the top finisher was Solomon Too. Hailing from New Milford, NJ, the 26 year-old completed the course in 20 minutes, 42 seconds, and 37 hundredths of a second, good for a pace of 5:10 per mile.
Westfield native Chris Tafelski, a Garwood resident who teaches and coaches track at Westfield High School, finished sixth with a time of 21:44.84, and finished first in the men's 30-plus age group, becoming the top ranking finisher with a Westfield connection. From a coaching perspective, Tafelski can be encouraged by the performance of 15 year-old Eric Sokol, a Westfield resident who ran a 23:40.08 and finished 21st overall, higher than anyone his age.
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The highest finisher from Westfield was David Craig, who ran a 22:34.33. Craig finished tenth overall and first in the men's 40-plus age group. Topping the women's field was Dana Guglielmo from Basking Ridge, who finished 39th overall by running a 25:16.26.
In all, 111 Westfield residents participated in the event, with placement and finishing times as follows:
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10. David Craig 22:34.33
21. Eric Sokol 23:40.08
29. Vincent Corso 24:49.81
45. Jason Isbit 25:32.97
57. Chris Henkel 26:24.86
60. Thomas Edwards 26:34.15
62. Timothy Brennan 26:54.88
63. John Gimblette 26:58.17
72. Nicholas Rizzi 27:22.19
74. Sheila Courter 27:26.28
76. Jerry Livesey 27:33.06
85. Dalton Herzog 27:45.74
91. Debby Hall 27:59.63
94. Tom Gockel 28:05.55
116. Gerald Richards 28:41.44
125. Paul Sawina 28:57.66
128. Rachel Louie 29:00.92
131. Casey Brennan 29:04.56
171. Jack Meagher Jr. 30:08.97
174. Timothy Shields 30:12.92
180. Cindy Harris 30:21.80
187. Tim Player 30:28.86
189. Richard Freundlich 30:30.44
191. Jeanette Cuisana 30:32.43
209. Richard Knoet 30:52.75
223. Philippe Barbarat 31:12.72
235. Tom Cysimano 31:27.84
264. Stephen Edwards 31:56.13
277. Joan Pulliam 32:06.68
285. Peter Warren 32:15.72
307. Linda Richards 32:44.41
312. Michael Ainge 32:52.98
313. Mary Doyle 32:53.49
315. Elizabeth Reilly 32:54.60
316. Michael Reilly 32:54.70
331. Maria Henkel 33:09.16
346. Caroline Angel 33:23.06
360. Jeannine Forbes 33:39.41
381. Robert Davis 34:00.79
385. Steven Le Warn 34:03.97
389. Cindy Sullivan 34:06.94
419. Peter Hrinewski 34:32.87
421. Joseph Actavilla 34:34.24
441. Erin Livesey 34:55.05
464. J.D. Karabas 35:18.77
468. Steve Fogel 35:20.45
482. Ju-young Kim 35:32.54
483. Jack Meagher 35:32.61
522. Mark Kaplan 36:12.21
564. Kent Diamond 36:56.78
588. Brenda Malfatto 37:24.82
589. Christina Kenney 37:24.99
605. Christina Menares 37:39.79
607. Christophe Stivala 37:40.40
617. David Chan 37:47.74
625. Jim Yeatts 37:51.86
634. Shawn Heron 38:01.88
647. William Higgins 38:14.91
655. Kristina Bangs 38:21.71
661. Diane Naughton 38:29.28
663. Bill Fallon 38:31.01
673. Eileen Mcgovern 38:38.98
678. Lynne Ainge 38:46.10
687. Lisa Ripperger 38:50.49
704. Allison Koenke 39:04.17
710. Cathy Ferrara 39:09.13
714. Casey Woodruff 39:13.75
725. Bruce Einhorn 39:20.37
727. Martin Cronin 39:23.81
729. Roy Konray 39:25.92
730. Kirsten Fallon 39:26.15
735. Frank Krack 39:26.76
743. Brian Pollock 39:32.92
744. Richie Scialabba 39:33.95
746. Gabrielle Brennan 39:34.70
750. Jim Brucia 39:41.73
766. Rob Mignemi 39:53.69
767. Amy Anderson 39:57.40
773. John Mchugh 40:01.48
775. Abigail Donington 40:01.95
788. Nancy Freundlich 40:27.62
789. Jennifer Pantow 40:27.93
791. Joseph Bruno 40:32.44
806. April Springer 40:45.96
817. Craig Bass 41:09.88
821. Christy Callinan 41:14.12
830. Erin Scialabba 41:27.66
835. Sabetay Zavaro 41:33.53
851. Ron Mcgovern 41:54.04
859. Marcus Kantz 42:00.47
860. Karen Mclane 42:00.80
861. Tricia Brown 42:00.91
866. Joyce Petritsch 42:02.06
885. Diane Carl 42:31.57
889. Alan Langer 42:36.43
891. Marty Griffith 42:39.25
896. Gideon Lee 42:51.19
905. Shannon Llewellyn Jo 42:58.51
947. Rob Toth 43:48.75
964. Eileen Doherty 44:14.30
968. Jeanne Gladis 44:26.65
1054. Judy Brucia 48:03.42
1077. Wayne Baker 49:23.80
1087. Carolyn Diamond 50:07.14
1089. Trey Mcauliffe 50:16.95
1091. Paul Shyposh 50:25.24
1092. Tim Mcauliffe 50:25.60
1101. Chrissy Stivala 51:15.81
1116. Carol Splaine 52:13.15
1142. Howard Adams 53:45.90
1178. Denis Kelly 1:02:18.16
