Bartels, Midgett win Homecomers 5K race

By Marty Mishow ~ Southeast Missourian

Kevin Bartels and Sheila Midgett are not exactly veterans of local 5-kilometer races.

But that didn't prevent the two from being the top overall finishers during Tuesday evening's Jackson Homecomers event. The 3.1-mile course started and finished at the American Legion baseball field in Jackson City Park.

Bartels, who is about to enter his senior year at Delta High School, led all male runners with a time of 18 minutes, 54 seconds. Midgett, a teacher and assistant girls' basketball coach at Jackson High School, topped female runners by clocking 22:03.

"I've been running a lot, but this is my first race around here this summer," Bartels said. "My time wasn't very good, but I came in first, so I'm happy."

Bartels finished 23rd in the Class 1 state meet last season as a Delta junior and he's hoping to fare considerably better this year. He spent about two weeks last month in Australia as part of a trip to not only compete in cross country but also see the country and meet runners from different parts of the world.

"I trained a lot for the Australian trip. It was a lot of fun, and I ran in two meets there," Bartels said. "Hopefully I'll have a good season this year."

Bartels finished ahead of runner-up Mark Hosler, the defending champion and one of the area's more accomplished runners for a number of years. Hosler timed 19:29 to place second overall as he captured the 50-59 age division.

"The course was good, a little tough but not too bad," Bartels said. "The weather could have been a little cooler, but it was pretty good."

Midgett, 39, said she hasn't run many 5-K races, particularly in this area, where she hasn't lived all that long. She's in the process of training for a marathon and thought Tuesday's race would do well to break up some of the monotony.

"I didn't know what to expect. I've only lived in the area a little over two years so I don't know a lot of the runners around here," Midgett said. "I'm hoping to run a marathon soon and I thought this would be good for me."

Sue Richmond, winner of the 40-44 age division, was the second overall female finisher in 23:19.

About 100 combined participants took part in the main race and a one-mile youth run. Shane West Anderson, Jackson's Parks & Recreation director, termed the event a major success.

"The weather was great and I think we had a really good turnout," Anderson said. "Everything went well."

Winners of the one-mile youth run were Trevor Mabuce in 6:04 and Natalie Miller in 8:41.

Complete results are in Scoreboard on Page 2B.