Corley and Terranova win USATF 100 km Trail Championships

Written by USATF Championship Liaison Roy Pirrung. Tejas Trails is an American Trail Running Association member.

The USA Track & Field 100 km Trail Championship, hosted by the Tejas Trails J&J race produced two Texans as national champions. The race, held at Camp Eagle, Rocksprings, TX started at 7 P.M., on Friday, September 27, and concluded with the imposed time limit of 26 hours. $2000 in USATF prize money was awarded.

The women’s race was won by 45 year old Nyleva Corley (Austin, TX), who also won the masters 45-49 age group division in 16:11:55. She was followed by 33 year old Shandra Moore (Tyler, TX) and 32 year old Avery Lewis (Houston, TX) who struggled during the third and final loop, in 16:33:32 and 19:16:59, respectively.

Nyleva, a former Ironman triathlete for seven years, said, “I found my passion for running trails, in 2012.” The software architect, coached by legendary ultra runner Liza Howard (San Antonio, TX), is contemplating running the Cactus Rose 100-mile, but will leave it up to her coach to see how to proceed.

Men’s race winner and masters 45-49 age group champion was 45 year old Paul Terranova (Austin, TX) who is no stranger to Texas Hill Country or winning trail running national championships. Paul has won the USATF 100 mile Trail Championships twice, once in 2015 and again in 2016, both on Texas courses. He has also won the masters race at the USATF 100 km Trail Championship. Terranova has finished 9th overall at HURT 100 Mile, 1st at Cruel Jewell 100 Mile and a month ago was the 4th American at the legendary Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) in France.

Terranova is planning to run Tor de Geants in 2020 and if Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run selects J&J to be a Golden Ticket race, meaning the male and female winners are invited to compete at the iconic trail race, he will pass it on as he has set other goals.

Terranova serves as a mentor to the group, Band of Runners, a non-profit supporting and encouraging veterans to join the trail running community.

His time of 11:18:59, broke the previous J&J course record of 12:24:35, set by Joe Schmal in 2017.

Ultrarunning newcomer 27 year old Francis Steib (Baton Rouge, LA) finished second in 12:31:55. He had completed his first 100 km trail race at 2017 Bandera 100K and this year finished 7th at the USATF 100 km Road Championships at Mad City 100K in Madison, Wisconsin. He made several trips to Texas over the past few months to train in the Hill Country, both at Camp Eagle and Bandera, so was not surprised by the difficult and technical trails.

A NAPA Auto Parts associate, Steib felt he had a great 1st and 2nd loop. He said, “I suffered in the 3rd loop, with a dozen falls, rolled my ankles, cut my knees and was bothered by the still, warm air between 4 and 7 in the morning, especially in the valleys and creeks.” He considered this to be his redemption race after being disappointed at his first trail 100K experience.

Third place went to 47 year old Chad Lasater (Houston, TX) a tech manager for Schlumberger Oil and Gas Service, said his 1st loop went really well and that he had stayed on the heels of Terranova over the first 5 miles. “From that point things went bad when stomach issues caused me to walk for 3 miles.” Clearly, the situation improved after his stomach issues were resolved. Lasater posted a time of 12:50:02.

Lasater said, “The Tejas Trails staff and volunteers were the best, the course was great and I had no falls.”

This race was part of his training for the upcoming Pinhoti 100 mile race on November 2nd, in Alabama.

USATF National Championship Results:

USATF Masters Age Group Results:

M40-44
1st – Joel Olivares, 43 (Mission, TX) South Texas Association – 14:41:43
2nd – Jeremy Ruple, 41 (Leander, TX) South Texas Association – 16:32:50

M45-49
1st – Paul Terranova, 45 (Austin, TX) South Texas Association – 11:18:59
2nd – Chad Lasater, 47 (Houston, TX) South Texas Association – 12:50:02

M50-54
1st – Scott Rabb, 50 (San Antonio, TX) South Texas Association – 14:37:16

M60-64
1st – Joe Prusaitis, 64 (Austin, TX) South Texas Association – 20:55:17
2nd – Stanley Berry, 60 (Norman, OK) Oklahoma Association – 25:05:49

M45-49
1st – Nyleva Corley, 45 (Austin, TX) South Texas Association – 16:11:55

Editor’s Note: There were no USATF masters women finishers.

See overall J&J race results on the Tejas Trails website.

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