Annual Awards
Annual Awards
Criteria for Club Awards
History: The first annual award presented by the club was the Outstanding Club Member Award in 1991. That year an award was also presented to Lew Gibb for his myriad of contributions to our sport. The concept of this latter award led to the Lew Gibb Award. At that time it was also felt that there should be various awards presented by our club to recognize both club members and others involved in the sport for their contributions and/or achievements.
Criteria: Listed below are the criteria that have been developed for the various awards. In order to retain the integrity and prominence of these awards, we should utilize the criteria developed and avoid politics and personal prejudices.
The Awards Selection Committee shall be formed of the Banquet Director(s), President of RVRR and the Team Captains. Membership will nominate individuals for consideration through an open poll. The Awards Selection Committee will select award winners with upmost regard for the award criteria. There is no requirement that an award be given every year.
It is recommended that recognition order is as follows: Board Recognition, Newsletter/Web Master recognition, Race Directors recognition, Team Captains and Award recognition and then individual recognition
2023 Award Winners
Winners received Awards for 2023 at the RVRR Banquet on January 27, 2024.
Award Recipient
Most Outstanding Runner Award: Katherine Sutton
Most Outstanding Runner Award: Michael Loenser
Multi-Sport/Ultra Award: Bryan Llumiquinga
Comeback of the Year Award: Ryan Camales
Volunteer Award: Evan Koblentz
President's Citation Award: Charles Wellman
Most Improved Runner: Jill Polilli
Rookie of the Year: Cassandra Raia
Club Spirit Award: Sierra Swords
Outstanding Club Member: Matthew Geibel
Allen Paul Award: Brendan Maher
Lew Gibb Award: Patrick Silverio (Road Runner Sports North Brunswick)
Historic Award Winners By Category
Historic Note: Due to COVID-19, no RVRR Awards Banquets occurred in 2021 or 2022. Winners received Awards for 2020 -2022 at the RVRR Banquet on February 4, 2023.
Most Outstanding Runner Award (club member)
Recognizes a club member who has shown or maintained great success in running competitions over a number of years.
2003 – Greg Mullins
2005 – Roger Price
2006 – Rich Myers
2008 – Mike Dixon
2009 – Imme Dyson
2010 – Mike Dixon
2011 – Doug Brown
2012 – Kavitha Manley & Michael Anis
2013 – Elaine Acosta
2014 – Jo Ann Coffee
2015 – Kathy Rocker
2016 – Ken Ellis
2017 – Drew Pennyfeather
2018 - Wendy Reed
2019 - Michael Carr
2020 -2022* - RJ Palladino & Taylor Rehe
Multi-Sport/Ultra Award (club member)
Recognizes a club member for marked success or contributions to competition outside long-distance running, including but not limited to triathalons, duathalons, and ultramarathons.
2001 – Mike Czech
2002 – Bob Townley
2003 – Kathy Rocker
2004 – Amy Rappaport
2005 – Jen Davis
2006 – Herm Richards
2008 – Sherrie Felton
2009 – Kristin Althausen
2010 – Rosemarie Strawn; David Allara
2011 – Jay Kolb; Mike Dixon
2012 – Laura Swift (ultra); Tom
Yakawenko (multi)
2013 – Peter Priolo
2014 – Gail Komm (multi);
David Allara (ultra)
2015 – Elaine Acosta
2016 – Lorraine McPhillips
(multi); Ron Russo (ultra)
2017 - Lauren Santonastasso
2018 - Gene Gugliotta
2019 - Glenn Brinks
2020 -2022* - Nicole Prorock
Comeback of the Year Award (club member)
Recognizes a club member for success and dedication to the sport of running despite recent setbacks, obstacles, or hardship.
2001 – Ken Vercammen
2002 – Doug Brown
2003 – Mark Zamek
2005 – Chris Lehman
2006 – Patricia O’Hanlon
2007 – Annette Johnson
2008 – Tara Zimlicki
2009 – Roger Price
2010 – Kathy Rocker
2011 – Lesley Wassef
2012 – Mike Carr
2014 – Eric Saurer
2015 -Marcia Hodulik
2016 – Alex Clark
2017 – Marcia Hodulik
2018 - Chris Lehman
2019 - Mike Durning
2020 -2022* - Jessi Clark
Volunteer Award (club member)
You can count on this club member to do any task. Special consideration will go to those who organize a major event and additional individuals who show exemplary participation and enthusiasm. Will exclude all current board members.
1992 – Allen Paul & Doug Brown
1993 – Bruce Nadler & Janice Reid
1994 – John McGillivray
1995 – Steve Kornstein
1996 – Peter Fama &
John Pretzell
1996 – Doug Brown, Dave
Hoch, & Roger Price
1997 – Jim Bethea
1998 – Sam Bianca
1999 – Judi Cox & Pete Priolo
2001 – Bob Townley
2002 – Ray Petit
2003 – Doug Brown, Janice Reid, Ed Levy, Ray Petit, Pete Priolo, Cheryl Scher
2007 – Ken Mangin, Stacey Kaplan, Kathy Rocker, John Reickhoff, Ray Petit, Rose Hopkins, Cheryl Scher
2008 – Rosemarie Strawn & Joel Simpson
2009 – Annette Johnson
2010 – Dennis McGale
2011 – Joel Simpson, Kelly DiGian
2012 – Anne McCarthy
2013 – Lester Helfman
2014 – Kay Hallenbeck
2015 – Barney Ward
2016 – Tim Morgan
2017 – Rick Siemon
2018 - Tom O'Reilly
2019 - Matt Reed
2020 -2022* - Kelly O'Neill
President’s Citation Award (club member)
1991 – Lew Gibb
1996 – Rick Boyle
1997 – Gene Gugliotta
1998 – Gene Gugliotta & Chris Lehman
1999 – Sam Bianca, Ed Levy, & Mary Chervenak
2001 – Bob Townley
2002 – Gene Gugliotta
2003 – Peter Onufryk & Peter Priolo
2007 – Ray Petit
2008 – Bill Hulbert
2009 – Erin D’heron Varga & Robert Tona
2012 – Alberto Artasanchez
2013 – Heather Buonocore
2014 – Jayson Kolb
2015 – Christine Prorock-Rogers
2016 – Bonnie Brunish & Wendy Reed
2017 – Jack Livesey
2020 -2022* - Matthew Geibel & Marc Alterman
Most Improved Runner (club member)
Recognizes an individual club member’s improvement in the current year over the previous year.
1992 – Marty Dolphin
1993 – Louise Narciso Fama
1994 – Tom Crochunis
1995 – Julian Zammit, Andrea Orlando
1996 – Bob Price, Stacey Graham, Jen Stachula, Russ Lazarek
1997 – Spook Handy
1998 – Rolf Arands
1999 – Myrna Rosel
2001 – Ken Ellis
2002 – Bob Townley, Jill Knorr
2003 – Ken Ellis
2005 – Sergio P. Cano
2006 – Lesley Wassef
2007 – Jody Stevens
2008 – Cheryl Scher
2009 – Laura Swift
2010 – Bob Jorrisen
2011 – Michael Carr
2012 – Lou Piffer
2013 – Bonnie Brunish
2014 – Alex Clark
2015 – Marvin Pilande
2016 – Drew Pennyfeather
2017 – Carol Richiusa
2018 - Female: Taylor Rehe, Male: Kevin Nedza
2019 - Charles Wellman
2020 -2022* - Alan Matusiewicz
Rookie of the Year (club member)
Recognizes a club member who recently started running or started running more competitively with RVRR and has increased their speed, race distances and/or frequency of racing.
2017 – Ann Siglam
2018 - Matthew Reed
2019 - Rachel Engelson
2020 -2022* - Bryan Llumiquinga
Outstanding Journalistic Service to the Sport of Running (any person)
This is not intended to be an annual award. Rather, it is intended to recognize a public journalist who has consistently covered and publicized the sport of running in our area for several years in a manner beneficial to the sport and our club. Therefore, it should only be given out when there is an individual who has fulfilled the spirit of the award.
1991 – Frank Bourke (The News Tribune)
1994 – Paul Fiorilla (The News Tribune)
1995 – Madeline Bost (Freelance)
2006 – Vera Stek (Home News Tribune)
2009 – Gina Kolata
2010 – Amby Burfoot
2017 – Dave Schatz
Club Spirit Recognition a.k.a. Sunshine Award (club member)
This is intended to recognize a member who has shown a great dedication to improving the morale and spirit of the club, whose efforts have helped make the club more enjoyable for the members who otherwise have not received recognition directly from the club for his/her contributions. It does not have to be an annual award and should be given only when it is truly merited and the individual has not otherwise received a major club award for their efforts. This award is totally at the President’s discretion.
1992 – Mark Zamek
1994 – Steve Kornstein
1995 – Dave & Vivian Hoch
1996 – John Sanzone
1997 – Janice Reid
1999 – Ray Petit
2001 – Pam Huggins
2002 – Patricia O’Hanlon
2003 – Paul Krentar
2005 – John Greico
2006 – Cheryl Scher
2007 – Mike Anis
2008 – Lesley Wassef
2009 – Dennis McGale
2010 – Lianne Price
2011 – Shannon Sweeney
2012 – Bob Tona
2013 – Drew Pennyfeather
2014 – Lauren Clark
2015 – Ray Petit
2016 – Lauren Merenda
2017 – Jennifer Montemurro
2018 - Anne Siglam
2019 - Tom O'Reilly
2020 -2022* - Lauren Horvath
Outstanding Club Member (club member)
This award is to recognize a club member who has been a consistent and dedicated volunteer to our club and who has had a significant impact on the success of the club. The recipient should be someone who is both currently involved and has been contributing for several years prior and continues to serve a valuable role in the club. In summary, the award is neither intended to solely recognize past achievements nor to recognize a
new comer who has been highly visible.
1990 – Doug Brown
1991 – Bruce Nadler & Janice Reid
1992 – Louise Fama
1993 – Paul Grassie
1994 – John Pretzell
1995 – Marty Dolphin
1996 – Steve Kornstein
1997 – Yevette Hendler
1998 – Janice Reid, Doug Brown
2002 – Roger Price
2005 – Cheryl Scher
2006 – Ray Petit
2007 – Chris Lehman
2008 – Ken Mangin
2009 – Ed Levy
2010 – Mike Anis
2011 – Bill Hulbert
2012 – Lianne Price
2013 – Eric Sauer
2014 – Gene Gugliotta
2015 – John Kane
2016 – Neil Hume
2017 – Christine Prorock-Rogers
2018 - Jeremy Urbach
2019 - Bob Tona
2020 -2022* - RJ Palladino
Allen Paul Award (club/board member)
This award would recognize one board member each year for his/her outstanding contributions to the club as a member of the Board of Directors. It should take into account the level of dedication, commitment, altruism and integrity of the member in furthering the mission and goals of the club. Important aspects of the award would include implementation of new programs that help the club pursue our mission, and promoting an environment conducive to unity and growth of the club. Naming the award after our most worthy founding President and one of our most outstanding past board members is a fitting tribute to a person having the vision, courage and determination to be most responsible for the establishment of the Raritan Valley Road Runners.
Board members receive so little recognition in comparison to the great efforts that most directors give to the club. This would hopefully give the general member a better insight and appreciation to the importance of dedicated board members. In order to maintain objectivity and assure that a truly worthy recipient is chosen, this award would best be administered by the Nominations Committee, with a polling of the current board for their preference.
1995 – Mark Rogalski
1996 – Mark Rogalski
1998 – Ray Petit
1999 – Allen Paul
2000 – Gene Gugliotta
2001 – Dave Hoch
2002 – Gene Gugliotta
2003 – Dana Gross
2005 – Lois Brown-Klein
2006 – Ed Levy
2007 – Mark Strawn
2008 – Gene Gugliotta
2009 – Bill Hulbert
2010 – Laura Swift
2011 – Tom O’Reilly
2012 – Shannon Sweeney
2013 – Angela Hynek
2014 – Mike Carr
2015 – Neil Hume
2016 – Eric Saurer
2017 – Wendy Reed
2019 - Madison Csizmadia
2020 -2022* - Wendy Rieger (Reed)
Lew Gibb Award (any person)
This award recognizes an individual who has made a significant and dedicated contribution to the sport of running in New Jersey in the spirit of Lew Gibb. An independent committee selects this award.
Criteria (developed Jan 25, 2004):
Geographic scope
Nominees should be a “member of the New Jersey running community”.
The merits of a nominee should be judged based on their impact on RVRR and its membership,
regardless of the nominee’s place of residence.
Qualifications
We agreed that nominees should be judged based on the following qualifications (in addition to those listed under 1. Geographic Scope):
Nominees can be judged based on contributions to any aspect of running, but preference should be given to contributions to long distance running.
Nominees should have made contributions continuously for several years.
A nominee should not be disqualified due to a financial interest in the sport (i.e. if they make a living from the sport)
Process
The award shall be presented yearly, according to the following process:
A committee shall be appointed by the board at the November board meeting. The committee shall consist of at least 5 members, and after appointment by the board may enlarge itself according to the following rules:
A majority of its members shall consist of members of the previous year’s Lew Gibb committee.
It may consist of former awardees, former and current board members, prominent members of the running community, and whomever else the committee sees fit to include.
Nominations for the award may be submitted by anyone, and shall be accompanied by a description of their qualifications (e.g. a paragraph).
A short list of nominees shall be constructed, based on a simple majority vote to approve each of the nominees.
At this point, if appropriate, the ability of the short list nominees to attend the banquet may be determined.
A recipient of the award shall be chosen, based on a majority vote, with the hope that the entire committee will stand behind the recipient.
The recipient must be able to attend the banquet, and shall be notified in advance. Their ability to attend should be determined before they are told they will receive the award – i.e. they should not be told they have won the award, and subsequently asked if they are able to receive it.
Skipping the award, although possible in rare circumstances, should be avoided.
1992 – Dean Shonts
1993 – Jeff Decker
1994 – Harry Brown
1995 – John Pretzell
1996 – John Haulenbeek
1997 – Madeline Bost
1998 – Roger Price
1999 – Dave Siconolfi
2000 – Janice Reid
2001 – Dan Brannen
2003 – Larry Baldasari
2004 – Mark Zenobia
2005 – Andy Boyajian
2006 – Amby Burfoot
2008 – Pam Fales
2009 – Ray Petit
2011 – Gene Gugliotta
2014 – Bob Tona
2015 – Tom O’Reilly
2016 – Jane Parks
2017 – Dan Murphy
2019 - Albert Siuta
2020 -2022* - Staci Siconolfi Lymperopoulos (CompuScore)
Miscellaneous Awards:
Silver Sneaker Award
1998 – Ray Petit
2008 – Jorge Rivera
Golden Penguin Award
1998 – Julian Zammit
Short-Shorts Award
2001 – Graeme Ackland
Outstanding Achievement Award
2008 – Doug Brown, Jorge Rivera
2009 – Patricia O’Hanlon
Philippedes Award
2014 – Marvin Pilande, Christine Appel
Plain Pizza Award
2014 – Drew Pennyfeather
Incredible Feet
2015 – Lauren Santonastaso
Back on the Road
2017 – Chris Lehman
Love of the sport
2018 - Yoi Ohsako
Hash Award
2018 - Marc Alterman
IVP Award
2018 - Drew Pennyfeather
Abs of Steel
2018 - Alex Clark
National Star Award
2019 - Christine Prorock-Rogers
Fearless Award
2019 - Yoshiko Jo
Jack of All Trades
2019 - Mark Hinkeldey
Joe of All Clubs
2019 - Joe Urbanik
Homecoming King
2019 - Mike Loenser
Most Valuable Recruit:
2020 -2022* - Josh Peterson
Humble Hero Award:
2020 -2022* Mengmeng Yu
Host with the Most:
2020 -2022* - Bhalchandra Bhosale