Impellitteri, Liking reset event speed records; LaVesser, Duncan join elite company For the second straight stair race, Milwaukee-area runner Sal Impellitteri lined up first at the start line with no one slowing his path to the top of the US Bank Center. And for the second straight stair race, he came within mere seconds of the vaunted sub-5-minute club.
The 36-year-old Impellitteri had to settle for a 5:02 finish at the American Lung Association in Wisconsin’s March 18 Fight For Air Climb—good enough for his fifth straight event win, his sixth overall US Bank Center stair race win, and a new Milwaukee FFA event record. Impellitteri’s time, which is the sixth fastest in the recorded history of all races at the US Bank Center (since 2002), bested the previous FFA event record of 5:12, which he set in 2015. His win also topped former Chicago-area competitive stair climber Bridget (Collins) Carlson for total general US Bank Center climb wins by either gender. Total building wins include both the Fight For Air Climb and the yearly November Cystic Fibrosis Climb. While Impellitteri, who set a PR of 5:00-flat at last November’s CF Climb, hadn’t discovered stairwell success—or even stairwell races—until his 30s, the ever-improving Chicago-area towerrunning prodigy Robert Liking is notching his name in the record books at the tender age of 14. With seven total climbs, not only did Liking take home first place at the Milwaukee FFA’s Ultimate Climb “power hour,” where participants scale the 47 stories and 981 steps to the top as many times as they can in an hour, his total net time of 47:32 lowered the event record by 50 seconds over fellow Chicago-area runner/climber Liz Ruvalcaba, who totaled 48:22 for her 7 climbs in 2015. Liking’s first climb finish of 6:05 was good enough for fourth fastest overall on the day—from both single climb and Ultimate Climb participants. For overall finish standings purposes, power hour participants’ first climb times are included among single climb participants’ results. Second place on the day was a 5:09 finish by Chicago towerrunning legend Jesse Berg. The 44-year-old Berg has mounted somewhat of a comeback tour in the last couple months after a few years away from the sport. He had never before competed at the Milwaukee FFA, but stands as the only person to have recorded multiple sub-5 US Bank Center finishes, all at the November CF Climb (4:51 in 2011, 4:54.8 in 2009, and 4:59.6 in 2010). Justin Stewart of Springfield, Ill., who holds the 4:50 building record, is the only other person on record to finish in less than 5 minutes. West Allis triathlete Adam Bruss, 35, rounded out the FFA podium, notching a 5:45 finish—a 5-second PR. Like Berg, this was Bruss’ first FFA Climb. However, he’s placed second and third at the last two respective CF Climbs. Impellitteri, Berg, and Bruss combined to make this the first-ever Milwaukee FFA with three sub-6-minute finishes. On the women’s side of things, it was Milwaukee FFA veteran Holly LaVesser finishing as the fastest female on the day, as well as finishing first among all women in the power hour. It was LaVesser’s second straight win in each category, and her third overall in the power hour. LaVesser banged out six climbs in a total of 45:03, with her first coming in 6:53. The sub-7 finish makes her the sixth woman ever to reach the top of the US Bank Center in less than 7 minutes, joining Collins-Carlson, Ruvalcaba, Spartan Pro Becca Clifford, and towerrunning legends Cindy Harris and Kristen Frey. The win also makes her the sixth woman to have won multiple US Bank Center individual climbs, joining Collins-Carlson, Frey, Clifford, Ruvalcaba, and longtime Milwaukee-area multisport athlete Sheryl Leonard-Schneck. LaVesser’s power hour win, which makes three in four attempts for her, stands as the most among anyone of either gender—ahead of Liking and Minneapolis-area towerrunner Jason Larson, who each have two power hour wins. The overall women’s field was rather strong on the day, as six women total reached the top of the US Bank Center in less than 8 minutes. The overall top three was rounded out by locals Kristen Strother, 46, who finished in 7:22, and Erin Smith, 43, who made her way to the top in 7:27. Among all Fight For Air Climbs put on by various chapters of the American Lung Association all across the nation, the Milwaukee climb consistently boasts the largest participation and fundraising totals. This year’s climb included more than 2,700 registered participants, and has raised approximately $620,000 (as of 3/21). DUNCAN JOINS SEVEN-CLIMB CLUB After an unlucky elevator delay cost him entry into the power hour’s seven-climb club in 2015, Carpentersville, Ill., towerrunner Josh Duncan, 39, made it a lucky no. 7 at this year’s climb. Duncan’s net total of 50:13 ranks sixth all time among the 11 times participants have successfully achieved seven climbs in the hour, and makes him the ninth person to notch seven climbs. His first climb of 6:15 ranked as the fifth fastest climb on the day. TEAM RECORDS RESET This year’s FFA general team competitions—both the Friends & Family and Corporate competitions—reverted back to a four-person scoring format, where the four fastest members of a team count for scoring purposes. The Milwaukee FFA has toggled back and forth between five team members counting for scoring (2009-’11, 2015-'16) and four team members (2012-’14, 2017). Stair Club Milwaukee, competing in the Friends & Family division, smashed the previous four-person record by any team in any division, previously held by the Northwestern Mutual corporate division team in 2012. Led by Impellitteri’s 5:02 and Bruss’ 5:45, the Stair Club Milwaukee team’s top four was rounded out by Jean-Roch Grenetier (6:33) and Josh Jackett (6:54). Their net time of 24:14—a 6:04 per-person average—was more than six minutes faster than 2012 Northwestern Mutual’s 30:55—a 7:44 average. Second place on the day also beat the prior Northwestern Mutual record. The 30:14 net time from Chicagoland-based Family & Friends team Half-Fast Climbing Society was a 7:34 per-person average. The team was led by Liking’s 6:05 and rounded out by his older brother Tom Liking’s 7:29, as well as an 8:16 from Andy Hanson and 8:24 from Harish Nambiar. In the Corporate team division, LaVesser’s 6:54 helped BSG Health Matters to a 3-second win over Milwaukee Tool. BSG netted 32:40—an 8:10 average—with the help of LaVesser’s husband, Chris (7:58), Schuyler File (8:47), and Erik Hausmann (9:01). Milwaukee Tool’s 32:43 (8:11 average) consisted of Brandon Miller (7:43), Hans Banholer (8:04), Thomas Neary (8:22), and Michael Evans (8:34).
0 Comments
Having last played spoiler in 2015 to the West Allis Fire Department's Milwaukee Fight For Air Climb dynasty with not only a win, but also by setting an all-time firefighter team event record, the Sheboygan Fire Department outdid its effort from two years ago with another win and by obliterating its own team record.
Netting a total time of 41:21 for its top five fastest finishers at the March 18 event—an average of 8:17 per person—the Sheboygan FD joined the West Allis FD as the only fire department to win more than one team challenge. The Sheboygan FD lopped more than two minutes off its prior record of 43:37, which was a per-person average of 8:44. While the West Allis FD has made a name for itself as a stair racing powerhouse with six team titles (2009-’10, 2012-’14, and 2016), the Sheboygan FD has come on strong in recent years. In addition to its two team wins now, Sheboygan has notched second place finishes in 2014 and 2016, as well as a third-place finish in 2013. This year's second-place team was the Wauwatosa Fire Department, which netted 44:33 for its five fastest firefigthers, a per-person average of 8:55. The FFA's firefighter climb utilizes an alternate 42-story, 899-step stairwell that begins at the US Bank Center’s Galleria Level. Firefighters participating in this challenge wear full gear, estimated to weigh between 40-60 lbs. Gear weight made no difference for the Fitchburg Fire Department’s Ryan Kundy, who took home his second individual firefighter win and his third-ever sub-8-minute full gear climb. Kundy scaled his way to the top of the US Bank Center in 7:14, the second-fastest FFA Firefighter Climb finish in event history. Then racing as Ryan Kundert, Kundy won the 2013 event with a 7:55, and finished third in 2016 with a 7:27. He joins West Allis firefighter Zeke Dombrowski—who set the event record of 6:54 in 2016—with two FFA wins. They both trail West Allis firefighter Joe Gapinski, who has three FFA wins to his credit. Prior to this year, Kundy, Dombrowski, and Gapinski were the only three firefighters to dip below the 8-minute mark in the firefighter climb; they were joined this year by Sheboygan’s Efrem Capetillo (7:26) and Tyler Schmitt (7:50). |