Category: Professional

By David Rogers. ORLANDO, Fla. — Running a good part of the women’s OUC Orlando Half Marathon seemingly by herself, Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team member Amanda Vestri toppled the distaff field by running the fourth fastest half marathon by an American woman in 2024, to capture the title in 1:08:12, more than two minutes ahead of her nearest distaff rival, Katie Izzo (Flagstaff, Ariz., 1:10.28). It was Vestri’s first race at the half marathon distance (13.1 miles).

“This was an impressive debut by Amanda,” said ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea following the race. “She won the women’s race but was also the seventh fastest overall. Her time was also the 13th fastest all-time by an American woman.”

VIDEO: ScreenRecording_12-07-2024 06-36-08_1

With the win, Vestri picked up the first place winner’s check for $6,000.

Running against other professional runners, too, ZAP Endurance veteran Josh Izewski finished No. 4 out of the 2,600 athletes taking on the nearly 80-degree Orlando heat and humidity.

Kenya-born American Sam Chelanga, of Fayetteville, N.C., captured the men’s title in 1:02:13, followed by James Quattlebaum (Greenville, S.C., 1:02:26) and Reid Buchanon (Kansas City, Mo., 103:51). Izewski’s No. 4 time was 105:15.

“This was also a good rebound race for Izewski,” said Rea, “running his first race since the New York City Marathon.”

The USATF-certified Orlando course winds through scenic downtown Orlando streets before finishing in Lake Eola Park. In addition to the normal water stations (every 1.5 miles), there is live music along the course, local beer and a post-race, lakeside party.

By David Rogers. Manchester, Conn. — More than 12,000 runners braved the cold and rain on Nov. 28, in the 88th year of the Manchester Road Race — and Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team member Andrew Colley bested a strong field that included 2024 Olympians

It is hard to call the Manchester Road Race a “turkey trot” even if run every year on Thanksgiving Day. The 4.7 mile course historically attracts a strong field of professionals to toe the line near the front at the start, this year including Colley, as well as other top athletes like 28-yearold Edwin Kurgat, who finished No. 7 at the Paris Olympics at the 5,000 meters’ distance. Kurgat finished No. 3 in Manchester, nipped at the tape by another professional, Eduardo Herrera, the 2024 Mexico national champion at 1500 meters (3:43.73).

Colley, 33, trailed Kurgat by a step with almost two minutes to go in the race but showed off some of his mountain training by going past the now U.S. athlete born in Kenya on a down, then uphill finishing segment. Once past, he continued to gain separation.

Colley’s winning time was 21:09, a 4:28 mile pace. Herrera finished six seconds later, in 21:15 (4:30 pace), just ahead of Kurgat’s 21:19 (also a 4:30 pace).

The last almost two minutes of the 2024 Manchester Road Race, courtesy of ZAP Endurance

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By David Rogers. NEW YORK, N.Y. — By all accounts, ZAP Endurance professional running team member Ryan Ford had one of history’s best marathon debuts, finishing his first race over the 26.2 miles’ distance through the five boroughs (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan) at No. 11, in 2:11:08.

Ford’s time around the grueling NYC course was roughly seven minutes faster than the time of 2:18 needed to run in last February’s U.S. Olympic Trials, in Orlando, where Connor Mantz ran just two minutes faster to win the Olympic Trials event. Not bad for a “rookie.”

“That was a terrific race,” said Sam Grotewold of Ford’s performance, in a text to ZAP endurance head coach Pete Rea. “One of the best marathon debuts ever by an American.”

As the race coordinator of the professional and elite athletes program for New York Road Runners (the NY Marathon’s organizer), Grotewold knows a thing or two about the professionals who choose to run one of the world’s most iconic marathon races.

“Ryan ran a really good race,” said Rea, “and pretty much according to our plan going into it. That plan was to run fairly conservatively the first half of the race and then see how many people he could pass in the last half. Well, he did just that. In fact, he ran the second half of the race 22 seconds faster than he ran the first half, which is quite an accomplishment because the second half is harder, with more ups and downs and turns. At the halfway point running with the wave of elite professional marathoners, Ryan was No. 24.  Going into the last 100 yards, he had moved up to No. 12, but sprinted past a very experienced Colin Bennie to beat him by eight seconds and grab the No. 11 spot and the No. 4 American prize money.”

ZAP Endurance’s lone female representative in the race this year was Tristin (Van Ord) Colley, who finished a respectable No. 13 in the women’s division.

“Tristin faced a pretty deep field of athletes in the women’s division this year,” said Rea, “so No. 13 overall and the No. 5 American runner is pretty good. She has faced some adversity this year, so today’s really good performance reinvigorated her career probably for the next few years.”

The Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team’s third athlete in the New York Marathon this year battled through pain to finish No. 24.

“For Josh, it was nothing short of a courageous race,” said Rea. “He came into the week in tremendous shape and poised for a breakthrough performance, so what he had to endure to even finish the race is remarkable, even if the overall result was not what he was aiming for.”

Sheila Chepkirui, or Kenya and running for adidas, was the top women’s performer at 2:2449. Tristin Colley’s 2:30:02 was just over two minutes outside of the top 10, overall, for the women’s race.

Abdi Nageeye of The Netherlands won the men’s race on behalf of NIKE, running the course in 2:07:39. Ford was just 11 seconds out of a top 10 finish.

By David Rogers. VALENCIA, Spain — Advertised as one of the fastest half marathon courses in the world, the Valencia Half Marathon lived up to its reputation on Oct. 27.

Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia smashed the the men’s world record, running the 13.1 miles in under an hour, in 57:30. He pulled along a brigade of the world’s top distance runners, including seven others from Kenya, Ethiopia, Bahrain, Spain and France all running under an hour.

Among those enjoying the fast pace was Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team member, Andrew Colley, who crossed the finish line No. 18 (out of more than 20,000 runners) and set a new ZAP Endurance club record for the half marathon, in 1:01:35, just 27 seconds behind the top finisher from the USA, Morgan Pearson (No. 13) and 15 seconds behind the second American, Hillary Bor (No. 14).

Not too coincidentally, Colley’s previous personal best at the half marathon distance came  a time of 1:01:39, in Houston, Texas, this past January and establishing the previous club record.

Underlining how fast the field was for the Valencia race, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich won the women’s division in 1:03:04, just 12 seconds slower than the women’s world record of 1:02:52, set by Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, in the 2021 Valencia race.

“We had a plan for Andrew’s race and he executed it very well,” said ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea. “At 33 years old, Andrew is having the best year of his racing career. This was his eighth personal best established just in 2024. He’ll run in Houston this coming January and we are targeting his going under 1:01, possibly lower.”

This is a busy week for the ZAP Endurance head coach, boarding a plane within the next day for New York City where four members of the Blowing Rock-based professional running team will be competing on the weekend.

Middle distance specialist Dan Shaffer will run on Saturday, Nov. 2, in the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, the runners zipping through the the streets of Midtown Manhattan to the famed finish line of the New York Marathon in Central Park.

ZAP Endurance longer distance specialists Tristan Van Ord, Josh Izewski and Ryan Ford are entered in the New York Marathon, slated for Sunday, Nov. 3.

 

By David Rogers. HARTFORD, Conn. — Seven weeks out from her next full marathon race, Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance team member Annmarie Tuxbury (1:13:24) had a nice “warmup” outing on Oct. 19, winning the women’s division of the Eversource Hartford Half Marathon, crossing the finish line 63 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Anna Oeser (No. 2, 1:14:27) of Brookline, Mass.

Tuxbury wasn’t the only ZAP pedigreed athlete among the top performers. Former team member Whitney Macon, now an assistant distant running coach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), finished No. 3 (1:14:57).

“It was a good performance by Annmarie today,” said ZAP Endurance head coach Pete Rea. “She is tuning up for the California International Marathon in Sacramento, on Dec. 8. This was a good test for her against a strong field of runners, mostly from the New England area.”

Among the most impressive notes about Tuxbury’s race is that while she finished No. 1 among a field of almost 2,000 women, but she finished No. 25 among the total field of almost 4,000 distance running athletes, including the men.

While Tuxbury ran a good part of the race alone, without anyone pushing her, the finishing time of 1:13:24 for the 13+ miles was only 86 seconds off this past year’s 1:12 women’s qualifying time for a half marathon pointing to the U.S. Olympic Trials-Marathon.

By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A four-headed offensive monster attacked Carolina on Oct. 13, with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins in the driver’s seat. The Atlanta Falcons swept past the Panthers, 38-20.

Bijan Robinson rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns, while teammate Tyler Allgeier added 105 yards running and a TD of his own. The tandem with a 1-2 punch accounted for all of the Falcons’ net yards rushing.

 

Meanwhile, Cousins completed 19 of 30 passes for 225 yards and a TD. Well over half of his aerial production saw wide receiver Drake London (6 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD) and tight end Kyle Pitts (3 catches, 70 yards) on the receiving end.

There were bright spots for Carolina, including a game-opening drive that kept Atlanta’s offense off the field for 6:33 in 12 plays, covering 67 yards, and ending with a touchdown to take an early lead. The score came with QB Andy Dalton finding veteran wide receiver Diontae Johnson for a 10-yard completion in the end zone.

With Dalton holding the reins of the Carolina offense, the Panthers continue to show promise. Nicknamed the “Red Rifle” for his earlier high school (Katy, Texas), college (TCU) and nine seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, Dalton completed 26 of 38 passes for 221 yards and two TDs, but also hurled two pass interceptions that short-circuited promising scoring opportunities.

Panther running back Chuba Hubbard continues to show why the Panthers drafted him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State, carrying the ball 18 times for 92 yards against the Falcons. Since Dalton became the QB starter in Week 3 at Las Vegas, this marks the fourth consecutive game that Hubbard has been over or just under the 100-yard mark, rushing.

Also with Dalton pulling the trigger, Johnson is also living up to Panther Nation’s expectations when the club signed him in free agency after five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Against the Falcons, he pulled in six passes for 78 yards, including one TD, building on the momentum he started building in Week 3 with Dalton (122 receiving yards and a TD at the Raiders) and Week 4 (83 yards and a TD vs. the Cincinnati Bengals).

Carolina kept the game close through the first half, going into intermission with just a 22-17 deficit. But three Atlanta scoring drives at the end of the third quarter and through the final stanza without a response from the Panthers proved to be too much to overcome. The loss to their NFC South Division rivals drops the Queen City side to 1-5 on the season so far while, at 4-2, Atlanta remains atop the NFC South tied with Tampa Bay, a 51-27 winner in New Orleans in Week 6.

SCORING SUMMARY

TEAM STATS

INDIVIDUAL STATS

DEFENSIVE STATS

DRIVE CHART

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS

 

 

By David Rogers. LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Folks in North and South Carolina might want to start putting M.D., or at least EMT behind Andy Dalton’s name. That’s because the 14-year veteran NFL quarterback resuscitated a near-dead Carolina offense on Sept. 22, and revived the region’s hopes for the 2024 professional football season in leading the Panthers to a dominant, 36-22 road win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Benching Bryce Young, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and inserting the 36-yearold Dalton to lead the Carolina offense may have been a difficult, even controversial decision for head coach Dave Canales and his assistant decision-makers, but there is no question that the guy once nicknamed, “The Red Rifle,” proved them right. He riddled the Raiders’ defense, completing 26 of 37 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns vs. no interceptions.

On the receiving end of Dalton’s aerials, wide receiver Diontae Johnson finally showed why the Panthers went after him in free agency, catching 8 of 14 targets for 122 yards and a TD, his first as a Panther after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019 and spending five years as one of the “Steel City” go-to wide receivers.

Now the Panthers’ featured running back, Chuba Hubbard caught all five passes on which he was targeted, for 55 yards and a TD — and, oh yeah, carried the ball 21 times for 114 yards rushing.

Carolina’s longtime veteran WR Adam Thielen made the most of his time on the field before having to leave with a hamstring injury after a 31-yard TD pass. He caught three Dalton passes for 40 yards, along with the TD. Of note, it was Thielen’s 60th receiving touchdown, just the third undrafted player in NFL history with 60 receiving TDs, joining Antonio Gates (116) and Rod Smith (68). Before joining Carolina a year ago, the UDFA got a shot with Minnesota in 2013, made the team and enjoyed a 10-year stint with the Vikings before becoming available as a free agent.

The early back and forth — that didn’t last

Las Vegas and Carolina traded TDs in the first quarter, in front of paid attendance reported as 62,417 packing Allegiant Stadium, with Hubbard catching Dalton’s first TD pass, from six yards out, to cap a 9-play, 70-yard drive that took 4:47 off the game clock.

Not to be outdone, the Raiders forged a 10-play, 97-yard drive that kept the Panthers offense off the field for 5:24, finished off with a 2-yard plunge by running back Alexander Mattison to even things up (with the PAT kicks).

From there, though, Carolina was the only team able to put points on the board until the outcome was all but out of reach.

Early in the second quarter, Johnson hauled in a 5-yard pass from Dalton to put an exclamation point on a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Then, after the Raiders were unable to convert on 4th down from the Carolina 39-yard line and the two teams traded possessions a couple of times, with just 33 seconds remaining in the half, Dalton found Thielen for a 31-yard TD. Eddie Pineiro’s third PAT kick of the afternoon gave Carolina a 21-7 lead going into intermission.

In the third quarter, both defenses seem to dig in, but Carolina was able to capitalize and put the game a little more out of reach with field goals by Pineiro of 43 and 35 yards. The Piedmont’s favorite sons earned some insurance with former Penn State running back Miles Sanders’ 1-yard carry to paydirt early in the fourth quarter, completing an 11-play, 84-yard drive that kept the Las Vegas offense off the field for yet another, almost five minutes. A few plays later, the Raiders’ QB, Gardner Minshew, connected with wide receiver Jacobi Meyers for a 13-yard TD pass on the left side, capping an efficient, 7-play, 70-yard drive that took only 2:37 off the clock, with 10:56 remaining in the game.

But for the rest of that almost 11 minutes, the only scoring was another field goal by Carolina’s Pineiro, this one from 26 yards out when the 7-play drive stalled after 28 yards gained. The Raiders’ backup QB, Aidan O’Connell, made the loss to Carolina a little less embarrassing with a an 8-yard pass to wide receiver Tre Tucker, in his second year after playing college ball at Cincinnati.

After the game, Canales opened his press conference predictably upbeat.

“Great game. Really a group that dove into the process, the fundamentals, the work we are looking for,” said Canales. “Starting off this week, just stacking up three great days of practice, the coaches challenging guys and the guys challenging each other.

“Sunday is about the players and putting them in position to have success. They took advantage of that in different ways. It was just a great picture of Panthers football — being able to run the ball, stopping the run, playing complementary football on third down, taking advantage of red zone opportunities, the whole thing. The coverage units just flying around with great energy and chasing,” Canales added.

For his part after the game, Dalton was feeling it, too.

” I mean, it felt great. Obviously, for me to get an opportunity to be out there and for it to go the way it did, it couldn’t have been drawn up any better,” said Dalton. “I thought our guys came out with the right attitude, the right mentality from the start and we never slowed down. That was the fun part of it. We didn’t just put one drive together. We were able to do it the whole game. Played complementary football, and guys were having a ton of fun, and that’s how it should be.”

Next, the Panthers return home to host a Sept. 29 encounter with the Cincinnati Bengals at Bank of America Stadium before an Oct. 6 date at the legendary Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.

The Raiders stay at home to host the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 29.

All game stats compiled and distributed by NFLGSIS.

 

By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Limiting the Carolina Panthers to only seven first downs and a mere 159 yards of total offense, the Los Angeles Chargers pounded to a convincing, 26-3 win on Sept. 15 at Bank of America Stadium.

The Chargers jumped out to a 20-0 lead by halftime, thanks in large part to a balanced, ball control offense and punishing defense. The Chargers’ second year wide receiver Quentin Johnston seemed to shake off all criticism of his rookie year performances with three receptions on three targets, including two of them for TDs. He opened the day’s scoring with a 29-yard catch and run to paydirt in the first quarter, then got the Chargers on the board again with a 5-yard TD catch just over four minutes before halftime. The TCU alum was selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft (the 21st pick overall), but has been widely criticized for a disappointing rookie season in which he didn’t catch a TD pass until Week 10 and, season-long, only 38 receptions for 431 yards and two TDs.

In the first score of the game, the Chargers faced 3rd-and-long when QB Justin Herbert dropped back and spotted Johnston a step ahead of the Panthers’ defensive back Jaycee Horn, racing down the left sideline. Although Horn was providing close coverage, Johnston was able to come down with the perfectly placed spiral at the goal line for the TD. Of note, LA placekicker Cameron Dicker missed the PAT kick, his first after 60 consecutive good ones to open his professional career.

On Johnston’s second TD, Herbert found his man wide open in the end zone to complete a an 11-play, 65-yard drive that took 6:01 off the clock.

Charger head coach Jim Harbaugh and the offensive coordinator he brought with him, Greg Roman, are known to favor a grinding, running attack that rolls up time of possession as well as yards. In this game, they hardly disappointed.

Running back J.K. Dobbins renewed his role as the feature back in the Chargers’ run-heavy offense, rolling up 131 yards on 17 carries, including a 43-yard TD run. On the run, he took the handoff from Herbert, bounced left to the outside, outrunning all defenders down the sidelines before somersaulting into the end zone.

With his rushing total in Week 2 (131 yards), Dobbins became the first Chargers player in team history to run for 100 yards in back to back games, according to statistics kept by ESPN.

The Panthers had only a few bright moments. They didn’t earn even a first down until well into the second quarter on a nice run by Chuba Hubbard — and that was almost immediately negated when QB Bryce Young was intercepted, passing into tight coverage.

Now 0-2, Carolina will look to rebound next week on Sept. 22, at the Las Vegas Raiders. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET, on CBS. The Raiders are 1-1, after a 26-23 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.

The Chargers have started 2024 on a positive note, 2-0, and stay on the road for a Sept. 22 tilt against the Pittsburgh Steelers (1 p.m. kickoff, CBS). The Steelers are 2-0 after Week 2, coming off a 13-6 win over the Denver Broncos.

SCORING SUMMARY

 

 

By David Rogers. PITTSTON, Pa. — Blowing Rock’s Josh Izewski was nowhere to be seen at the start of the Wyoming Valley 10-Mile Run on Sept. 1, but then no one was in sight of him as he crossed the finish line No.1, successfully defending the champion’s title he won a year ago.

Izewski is a member of Blowing Rock-based ZAP Endurance, an elite professional team of cross country, track and road racing runners, with specialists ranging from 1500 meters to the marathon, men and women.

This was just the second edition of the Allied Services hosted Wyoming Valley Run. For the elite runners, first place earned Izewski not only bragging rights of owning the title after winning for the second straight year, but also a cash prize of $2,000, according to event information.

Although hundreds of runners from the northwestern Pennsylvania region participated in the event, Izewski’s winning time of 48 minutes, 18 seconds in the rainy, sloshy conditions was almost five minutes ahead of the No. 2 finisher, Alex Monroe (53:06) and almost three minutes more than No. 3 Brendan Turowski (55:57).

Race organizers advertise the Wyoming Valley course as “the flattest and fastest” in Pennsylvania, with an elevation change of only about 60 feet.

 

By David Rogers. BUFFALO, N.C. — Touchdown passes to three different receivers helped visiting Carolina roll up 414 yards of total offense on Aug. 24, propelling the Panthers to a 31-26 win over the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 season’s third and final preseason game.

In his first game action of the preseason, second year quarterback Bryce Young directed a 12 play, 85-yard TD-scoring drive that took almost seven minutes off the game clock in the opening drive of the contest. Carolina’s first team starters didn’t play much in this game but made the best of it. Young completed 6 of 8 passes for 70 yards and was sacked once in what turned out to be the Panthers’ only offensive possession of the first quarter. Young hit Jordan Matthews for an 8-yard scoring pass open the game, before backup QB Jack Plummer took over for the rest of the way. Plummer completed 21 of 29 passes for 278 yards and two TDs. He was sacked once for an 8-yard loss.

Being on the receiving end of a 36-yard TD pass from Plummer in the fourth quarter allowed Jalen Coker to finish among the pass reception leaders among the 16 Panthers receivers catching at least one pass. Wide receiver Terrace Marshall, Jr. caught a 15 yard TD pass from Plummer midway through the third quarter, finishing with 3 catches for 39 yards. Tight end Jesper Horstad was the big play workhorse on this day, hauling in a pair of passes for a game-high 63 yards.

In evaluating Young after the game, Panthers head coach Dave Canales was understandably excited about what he saw.

“It was great, right?,” The Panthers’ first year head coach asked, rhetorically. “Couldn’t have dreamt it better. A nice long drive, 12 plays to get the guys some good work, get them tired in the drive. A fourth down conversion in there, but saw [Bryce Young] extend plays with his legs, keeping his eyes down the field, finding guys. You can see the carry-over from practice to the game of people creating space, the play after the play. Those are the things that are so critical for us. He handled the run game with great expertise and got us to the right runs in those situations. So, I felt great about it.”

The decision to play Plummer the rest of the way after Young’s opening series also meant that the primary reserve, veteran Andy Dalton, also had to sit.

“He (Dalton) felt ready. It was really me. I just saw putting Andy [Dalton] in a competitive situation after we’ve gotten him completely healthy (as counterproductive). He had a great week of practice, and I thought, ‘If I put him in a competitive situation, he’s going to go win.’ He’s going to take off. I just really thought this is a great opportunity to give Jack Plummer another chance to be evaluated. He took full advantage of that, which was awesome,” said Canales.

Of local interest, former Appalachian State star running back Darrynton Evans recorded the Bills’ first TD of the day, coming out of the backfield to catch a pass QB Ben DiNucci on the left side, near the line of scrimmage. He shook off a would-be tackler along the sidelines, then sprinted into the end zone to complete the 18 yard TD-scoring play. Evans is competing with several other running backs to potentially make the 53-man active roster. All 32 NFL teams will be active during the next three days to make the necessary cuts, to get their respective rosters down to 53 by 4 p.m, Eastern time, on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

The Panthers open the regular season on Sept. 8 in New Orleans (1 p.m. kickoff), then face the Los Angeles Chargers in Bank of America Stadium for the Week 2 matchup on Sept. 15 (also 1 p.m. kickoff).