By David Freeze

For the Salisbury Post

A warm and beautiful Sunday afternoon was the perfect setting at Catawba College for the fifth annual Rowan Rotary Spooky Sprint 5K. Almost 200 runners took part in the 5K and ½-mile fun run. All proceeds for the event will provide funding for the Rowan Rotary youth programs.

Jason Bryan, Catawba College cross-country coach, was the overall winner with a time of 17 minutes and 21 seconds. Bryan recently moved here from the Charleston area and ran his first race in Salisbury. He easily outdistanced the field, ahead of Adam Cornelius in second at 18:21 and third place Jonathan Martin in 18:29.   

Returning to action to take top honors for the women was Kelly Lowman with her time of 20 minutes and 46 seconds. Lowman, one of the top female runners in the area, had battled injuries over the last year and had seldom raced during that time. She said, “I just wanted to see what these 40-year-old legs had in them. I was really pleased to run this well today.”

Second place for the women went to Kelly Reid in 21:14 and third was Adalie Harrison in 21:15, with just one second separating those two places.

Jack Ryan won the fun run with a time of 3:06 and MacKenzie Chabala led the girls in 3:20.

Primary sponsors for the Spooky Sprint 5K were Mike J. Wright, CFP, Gary Morgan, CPA, Catawba College Ketner School of Business, Powles Funeral Home, Huffman Law Firm, Sandison Law Firm, Novant Health, CIMS$ Fundraising and The Dover Team.

Complete results are at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.