Local Ritter preps for Olympic trials

Emily Ritter has come a long way since she was running hurdles and the mile and 800 on the Beacon track team. From Beacon Middle, Ritter went on to high school at Sussex Tech and became an all-state runner under the watchful eye of coach Lou Nicoletti. Ritter was recruited and recently graduated from Rider University where she was an All-American in the NCAA steeplechase event where she ran 9:54.

Ritter now runs for the New Jersey/New York Track Club under the direction of well-known Frank “Gags” Gagliano. When I took a look at the list of staff for the club, I noticed assistant coach and team therapist Tommy Nohilly. Nohilly is a frequent visitor to Rehoboth Beach where he competes in a few Seashore Striders events each summer he visits the beach.

Another assistant and one of my all-time favorite runners in high school and college on the staff is John Trautmann, a standout distance runner who dominated in cross country and brought the crowd of thousands to their feet at the Penn Relays while in high school and college.

“Emma Coburn [Colorado/New Balance] should be the favorite in the trials, and she is very capable of going in the 9:20s or faster,” said Ritter.

Ritter lowered her 9:54 personal best down to the 9:48, which placed her seventh in the field of 24 women in a race in California last week called the Hoka Middle Distance Classic.

The trials standard is 9:52, which Ritter has reached, and the Olympic standard is 9:45. Ritter will race the first weekend of June in likely a 1,500-meter race as a rabbit or she will race a 1,500/3,000 as another option.

“I meet with the team on Mondays and Fridays for speed, and on Wednesday we have a tempo run on our own,” said Ritter as she explained her weekly routine.

The first round of the steeplechase is on the 4th of July in Eugene, Ore., and if Ritter makes the final it will be held Thursday, July 7.

We will miss Larry

The road racing world lost one of the best this past week as Larry Windsor of Laurel passed away, losing his fight with cancer. Larry was a weekly racer with the Seashore Striders and wherever the Striders trailer stopped on Saturday and Sunday mornings, Larry and his training buddy, Alan Quillen, were sure to follow. Larry could run anything from a mile to a marathon, and he was happiest when he was competing with his friends. I saw Larry early this spring and said to him, “Larry, tell me how you are doing.” He answered “I’m OK, but tell me about this Beacon track team you coach. Can you get to 100 wins before you retire?”

Larry simply did not want to dwell on himself, but rather turn a negative to a positive and talk about an achievement or honor or time or place besides himself. That was Larry. Larry ran 22 marathons and completed Boston four times in his career. His last 5K was in August 2015 at the Dam Mill 5K in Millsboro, a course Larry enjoyed. The one thing I always liked about Larry is that he spoke his mind, and if he did not agree with something he was not afraid to give you an earful. I use to get handwritten letters from Larry every few years mailed to my home address and sometimes they were just “Congrats and thank you” or “Let's try a different award or a different shirt this week.” I will never forget a two-page letter I received that he sent me with the pros and cons of chip timing for the finish line. This was when chip timing was just getting popular and I was purchasing equipment, and he wanted me to explain to him the difference on gun time, chip time, net time and any other timing there would be. The bottom line, he said to me, was, “If I cross the finish line ahead of another runner in my age group then I want the award, and I don’t care if he starts in the back of the pack or on the first row. If I beat him then I beat him.”

At the end of the letter he thanked me for letting him rant and get it off his chest and said he would see me that weekend, and he ended by saying to me “The road racing world loves you.” I shook Larry’s hand at the next race and said, “Larry, the road racing world loves you, and you better line up on the front line because we are chip timing.” The Striders family will miss Larry Windsor.

Upcoming races

• Saturday, May 28, Justin’s Beach House 5K Run, 7:30 a.m., Bethany Beach, www.justinjennings.org

• Sunday, May 29, 23rd Masser 5 Miler, Cape H.S., 7:30 a.m., Lewes, www.seashorestriders.com

• Monday, May 30, 14th Highway One Pictures 5K, 8 a.m., Dewey Beach, races2run.com.