By Kim J. Harmon

Like much of network television these days, the 27th annual Rockin’ Rooster Run last Saturday was a repeat.

Well, it was for Sergio Ribeiro and Laura Helmig. Just like last year, Ribeiro and Helmig were the first male and female runners to cross the finish line at the Newtown Middle School  . . . but this time under the veil of a persistent light rain.

A field of some 190 runners tested themselves on the five-kilometer tract that started at the middle school and then took them along Queen Street and then along Wasserman Way, up and around the Fairfield Hills complex, and back.

And not that it mattered much, but Ribeiro – a four-time winner of the Rooster Run, sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department – won despite running a slightly slower pace than he did last year.

“I just felt like I had a race (Sunday) and another race next week,” said Ribeiro, “so there was no reason to push myself too hard.”

Ribeiro – who, as usual, had few challengers – crossed the finish line in 16:45.59, a little over 54 seconds ahead of Michael McAleer of Danbury (who probably aimed to push Ribeiro, but said, “He’s just too fast.”) and almost 96 seconds ahead of Tim Milenkevich of Ansonia.

Ribeiro won the race in 16:10.56 last year.

Helmig – drawing on her early morning workouts (anyone interested in joining her can usually find her around 5:30 in the morning up around the flagpole) – finished first in the women’s division and 17th overall at 21:08.41.

“I’m a marathoner,” said Helmig, who just recently performed in her first triathlon. “I do Boston and I do New York and I do this to get stronger for the marathons. It’s still hard, because it hurts more than a marathon. This is an all-out sprint.”

While the race was a success for Ribeiro and Helmig, it was also a rousing success for Girls on the Run®, an experiential learning program for girls in grades three through five. A national program, Girls on the Run® was founded by Molly Barker, MSW, back in 1996 at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Through a 24-session curriculum, the goals of the group are to have each participant complete a one-mile or 3.1-mile running event, develop a stronger sense of identity, understand the value of getting along within a group, have an improved body image, stand up for herself in a healthy manner, and (with the help of teammates) design and deliver a community project.

Tory Beauchemin of Newtown runs the new local chapter, sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department, and she got together some 25 girls from groups in Danbury (Morris Street School), Brookfield (Greenknoll YMCA) and Newtown to complete their 2001 program at the Rooster Run.

“This was a really nice way to work it,” said Ms Beauchemin. “It was so nice to see their faces when they crossed the line. Some of them didn’t think they could do it – but they did.”

Coaches are needed to grow Girls on the Run® of Connecticut. Check the website at www.girlsontherun.com or call Ms Beauchemin at 364-0461.

The results are as follows:

1. Sergio Ribeiro (Danbury) 16:45.59, 2. Michael McAleer (Danbury) 17:40.41, 3. Tim Milenkevich (Ansonia) 18:21.80, 4. Keith Ratcliff (Newtown) 18:40.52, 5. Kenneth Rodbell (Sandy Hook) 18:50.02, 6. Daniel Maxwell (Newtown) 19:15.10, 7. Ted Kish (Jackson, North Carolina) 19:18.16, 8. Brian Hennesset (Newtown) 19:22.32, 9. Chris Dinoto (Newtown) 19:29.93, 10. Alex Kay (Sandy Hook) 19:37.09.

11. Mark Dennen (Sandy Hook) 19:47.03, 12. Kevin Markowski (Middletown) 20:08.39, 13. Donald Smith (Watertown) 20:18.92, 14. Dan Germain (Newtown) 20:24.87, 15. Greg Ritzinger (Newtown) 20:38.44, 16. Robert Davis (Naugatuck) 21:05.45, 17. Laura Helmig (Newtown) 21:08.41, 18. Vincent Melita (Southbury) 21:29.64, 19. Joe Blanchard (Newtown) 21:34.44, 20. Darlene Gillotti (Danbury) 21:53.14.

21. Liam McKeown (Monroe) 22:00.07, 22. Alister Ratcliff (Newtown) 22:02.98, 23. Bernie Yemc (Newtown) 22:07.12, 24. Phil Dincelli (Newtown) 22:17.94, 25. Peter Anderov (Sandy Hook) 22:25.32, 26. Louis Ritzinger (Newtown) 22:37.01, 27. Brandon Kirch (Newtown) 22:37.43, 28. Rich Zurich (Danbury) 22:43.80, 29. David Lapp (Sandy Hook) 22:48.85, 30. Thomas Rodbell (Sandy Hook) 23:00.74.

31. Wendy Stouffer (Redding) 23:17.15, 32. Sean Ryan (Sandy Hook) 23:19.68, 33. Phyllis Bartolli (Brookfield) 23:31.66, 34. Frank Lang (Seymour) 23:32.49, 35. Michael Scarpa (Sandy Hook) 23:39.36, 36. Lean Begg (Newtown) 23:40.93, 37. Rebecca Parry (Newtown) 23:47.13, 38. Rocco Guerrera (Waterbury) 23:50.59, 39. Matt Cole (Newtown) 23:54.50, 40. Lee Sandberg (Newtown) 23:56.77.

41. Christine Manfredonia (Sandy Hook) 23:59.10, 42. Colin O’Connor (Newtown) 24:00.07, 43. William Korth (Newtown) 24:08.95, 44. Ken Sullivan (Newtown) 24:27.31, 45. Karen Finlayson (Sandy Hook) 24:38.01, 46. Eric Dreher (Newtown) 24:48.99, 47. Dan Curtis (Sandy Hook) 24:51.38, 48. Jack Zamary (Newtown) 24:54.49, 49. Glenn Nanavaty (Southbury) 24:58.66, 50. Ski Faust (Bethel) 24:59.46.

51. Kelly Conte (Sandy Hook) 25:08.16, 52. Karl Eilers (Danbury) 25:20.18, 53. Mollie Lyman (Westminster, Pennsylvania) 25:25.10, 54. Jackson Blawie (Sandy Hook) 25:28.17, 55. Scott Nichols (Newtown) 25:48.21, 56. Tommy Brown (Sandy Hook) 25:49.03, 57. Christine Glenn (Oxford) 25:30.39, 58. Caitlin Weber (Newtown) 25:54.50, 59. Jack Weber (Newtown) 25:57.19, 60. Eileen Strom (Newtown) 26:01.26.

61. James Maguire (Sandy Hook) 26:02.44, 62. Diane Petruney (Newtown) 26:09.52, 63. Kate Mayer (Newtown) 26:16.23, 64. Jennifer Tarabulski (Brewster, New York) 26:23.79, 65. Kate Osborne (Sandy Hook) 26:24.13, 66. Ray Ditoto (Oxford) 26:32.19, 67. Richard Schnee (Danbury) 26:36.45, 68. Shelley Northrop (Sandy Hook) 26:38.72, 69. Lisa Leifels (Newtown) 26:48.33, 70. Jon Lambo (Sandy Hook) 26:44.34.

71. Gretchen Davenson (Southbury) 26:45.66, 72. Tracey King (Sandy Hook) 26:49.60, 73. Susan Chouinard (Newtown) 26:51.51, 74. Arang Cistulli (Sandy Hook) 27:03.11, 75. Bob Morehouse (Newtown) 27:21.67, 76. Eric Myhill (New Milford) 27:23.89, 77. Jessica Mrczyszak (Seymour) 27:32.00, 78. John Drescher (Lakeside) 27:33.56, 79. Liz Gugino (Newtown) 27:42.07, 80. Jeffrey Hansen (Sandy Hook) 27:43.61.

81. William Culligan (Newtown) 27:46.90, 82. Steve Stolfi (Newtown) 27:58.22, 83. Marsha Moskowitz (Newtown) 27:59.00, 84. Loanne Morris (Newtown) 28:00.42, 85. Neil Culligan (Newtown) 28:08.62, 86. Kim Weber (Newtown) 28:29.62, 87. Dan Cohen (Newtown) 28:30.87, 88. Mindy Powlishmen (Fairfield) 28:32.83, 89. Kara Whipkey (Newtown) 28:41.15, 90. Donna Cramord (Monroe) 28:43.00.

91. Andrew Mangold (Newtown) 28:44.06, 92. Bill Mangold (Newtown) 28:55.98, 93. Justina Hansen (Sandy Hook) 29:05.17, 94. Mary Andreotta (Sandy Hook) 29:05.65, 95. Cindy Lapp (Sandy Hook) 29:24.82, 96. Colleen Thornberg (Newtown) 29:25.41, 97. Christopher Thornberg (Newtown) 29:26.08, 98. Heather Librizzi (Newtown) 29:27.25, 99. Elizabeth Robilotti (New York, New York) 29:28.55, 100. Michael Portnoy (Newtown) 29:30.99.

101. Mark Fries (Sandy Hook) 29:50.10, 102. Edward Marczyszak (Seymour) 29:52.03, 103. Jim Manville (Newtown) 30:04.83, 104. Cathy Cognato (Southbury) 30:08.56, 105. unavailable, 106. Chas Perry (Newtown) 30:16.14, 107. William Hotman (Newtown) 30:20.37, 108. Felix Almentero (Newtown) 30:25.15, 109. Alex Thomson (New Fairfield) 30:25.83, 110. Thomas Cognato (Southbury) 30:33.85.

111. Cheri Ross (Sandy Hook) 30:51.09, 112. Anthony Cramond (Monroe) 31:05.05, 113. Emily Burk (Brookfield) 31:05.40, 114. Tiffany Brown (Newtown) 31:06.55, 115. Natalia Kerler (Sandy Hook) 31:10.87, 116. Chuck Brooks (Newtown) 31:28.21, 117. Kimberly Thomson (Sherman) 31:37.88, 118. Elise Zimmerman (Brookfield) 32:02.82, 119. Rich Zimmerman (Brookfield) 32:07.45, 120. Kayla Hoffman (Sandy Hook) 32:08.23.

121. Stephen Hoffman (Sandy Hook) 32:09.50, 122. Viola Walberg (Brookfield) 32:12.48, 123. Anna Salo (Newtown) 32:13.43, 124. Ashley Smith (Brookfield) 32:22.43, 125. Paul Schriever (Sandy Hook) 32:27.22, 126. unavailable, 127. unavailable, 128. unavailable, 129. Dorothy French (Flushing, Michigan) 35:10.88, 130. Rachel Taback (Newtown) 36:33.10.

131. Janet Hovious (Sandy Hook) 36:33.54, 132. Deborah Hoffman (Sandy Hook) 36:34.16, 133. unavailable, 134. Becky Lipnick (Newtown) 36:34.55, 135. Carol Lipnick (Newtown) 36:41.16, 136. Patricia Ryan (Sandy Hook) 36:42.82, 137. Lynn Detrick (Sandy Hook) 36:52.11, 138. Alice Dreher (Botsford) 37:14.27, 139. unavailable, 140. Katherine Kelleher (Sandy Hook) 37:49.42.

141. Sherri Baggett (Newtown) 37:52.42, 142. Meredith Letso (Sandy Hook) 38:32.67, 143. Suzanne Letso (Sandy Hook) 38:34.04, 144. Amanda Aloney (Danbury) 38:52.55, 145. Quinn Austermann (Bethel) 38:52.83, 146. Adrena Austerm (Bethel) 39:11.53, 147. Jaime Smith (Brookfield) 39:12.70, 148. Charlene Colandro (Sandy Hook) 39:14.04, 149. Liz Curtis (Sandy Hook) 39:17.61, 150. Fran Peters (Newtown) 39:20.28.

151. unavailable, 152. Jack Ryan (Sandy Hook) 39:20.77, 153. Chelsea Boggs (Newtown) 39:27.86, 154. Joseph Boggs (Newtown) 39:28.25, 155. Denise Boggs (Newtown) 39:58.41, 156. Jillian D’Eramo (Newtown) 39:54.97, 157. Suzanne D’Eramo (Newtown) 39:55.38, 158. Libby Feltch (Newtown) 39:55.77, 159. Ann Feltch (Newtown) 40:14.83, 160. Erin Begg (Newtown) 40:20.48.

161. Bill Begg (Newtown) 40:47.39, 162. Kathryn Hart (Branford) 40:48.30, 163. Lynn Prendergast (Guilford) 40:50.77, 164. Ashley Soucar (Sandy Hook) 41:08.42, 165. Gina Wygonik (Madison) 41:12.13, 166. Steven Soucar (Sandy Hook) 41:12.76, 167. Katie Burk (Brookfield) 41:26.93, 168. Robert Burk (Brookfield) 41:27.44, 169. Billy Begg (Newtown) 41:27.59, 170. Laura Miller Kurtz (Sandy Hook) 41:40.85.

171. Alpana Dholakia (Sandy Hook) 41:45.46, 172. Virginia Early (Bethel) 42:03.56, 173. Kayla Moonry (Danbury) 42:06.51, 174. Larissa Cole (Danbury) 42:06.59, 175. Janine Deering (Norwalk) 42:15.71, 176. unavailable, 177. Shelly Kappauf (Sandy Hook) 42:16.96, 178. Cor McNerney (Sandy Hook) 42:52.03, 179. Janet Richardson (Sandy Hook) 42:52.40, 180. Deborah Osborne (Sandy Hook) 42:55.02.

181. Elsa Kay (Sandy Hook) 43:51.76, 182. Kathryn Maguire (Sandy Hook) 44:40.77, 183. Maryann Fisher (Newtown) 44:41.06, 184. Meghan Dawley (Newtown) 44:41.35, 185. Mark Dawley (Newtown) 44:41.64, 186. Tara Dawley (Newtown) 44:44.03, 187. Brooke Untiedt (Sandy Hook) 44:44.36, 188. Dave Untiedt (Norwalk) 45:37.71, 189. Cassandra Cortes (Danbury) 45:36.08, 190. Samantha Conklin (Danbury) 45:40.25.