Westhampton - Shawn Pollard barreled down Library Avenue; all the motivation he needed to finish strong was right in front of him, a few hundred yards away. On a toasty Saturday morning, the Westhampton Beach Fire Department used a fire truck to hose down all finishers of the 19th Annual Joe Koziarz 5K, a reward for a job well done.

Hampton Bays' Marisa Long finished 37th with a solid time of 21:02, which put her at pace of 6:47 per mile.

Nobody ran better than Pollard, whose time of 16 minutes, 15 seconds, put him nearly a half-minute ahead of the nearest challenger. The race champ said the conditions were toasty and, despite the quick time, they took their toll on his body. "I'm not used to the humidity, so that was kind of killer," Pollard said. "It was rough. I'm trying to train for [the Great Cow Harbor 10K in Northport on Sept. 26] so I'm in the middle of running a 90-mile week. My legs felt weak the whole time today."

On the women's side, Westhampton's own Laura Brown set the pace by completing the race in 19 minutes, 15 seconds. As is the case for Pollard, that gives Brown the edge in the Westhampton Triple Crown, a race series that also includes the Quogue Hudsy 5K in October and the Hurricane 5K a week afterward. Pollard said he would take the Crown races into consideration when mapping out his calendar for the fall.

Pollard ran cross country and track at Linfield College in his hometown of McMinnville, OR. In 2007, he took eighth in the Northwest Conference championships, 10th at regionals, and then placed 118th at nationals to become the highest-finishing Wildcat runner in history. He earned All-Academic honors that year as a physics and math major before heading east to Stony Brook.

Rockville Centre's Brian Riley completed the course in 16:42 to take second place, a few strides ahead of Riverhead's Drew Dillingham (16:46). Denis Hurley finished fourth overall in 17:05 and James Johnston of Middle Island cruised in just ahead of three others to take fifth in 17:12.

Left: Sag Harbor's Blaire Stauffer (right) won his age group, posting a time of 26:30 to lead all of those 70-and-over. Right: Westhampton cross country and track star Molly Bennett hit the finish line in 23 minutes flat.

Brown won the Koziarz and Hurricane 5Ks but did not participate in the Hudsy and thus was ruled out of the Triple Crown running. Her Koziarz time this year was eight seconds quicker than the time she registered a year ago at the same event. Kristen Wojtuniak of Shirley came in second in the women's division with a time of 19:36; Southampton's Lauren Laviola took third in 20:51, and she was followed by Hampton Bays' Marisa Long (21:02) and Westhampton's Jennifer Nicolau (21:07). Nicolau's time was good enough to win the 30-34 female age group.

Marianna Pimienta of Water Mill kicks into high gear down the final stretch at the Koziarz 5K.

Many in the local community were division winners, including Blaire Bossung of East Quogue who won the male age group and finished 12th overall (18:53), just ahead of Westhampton's Brandon Penn, the fastest 16-18 runner and 13th place finisher (18:56). Hampton Bays' Tommy Koehler (male 40-49; 19:07), Nathan Friedman (male 60-64; 21:39) and Sag Harbor's Blaire Stauffer (male 70-74; 26:30) also won their divisions.

For the women, Westhampton's Molly Bennett won the female 16-18 age group in a time of 23 minutes flat. Also reeling in top honors were Westhampton's Melissa Herber (age 12-and-under; 29:27), Christa Kearns (age 13-15; 24:44) and Laura Hartman (age 50-59; 26:00), as well as Remsenburg's Carol Smith (age 70-89; 50:40).

The race commemorated the life of Joe Koziarz, a funeral director at the McFarland & Koziarz Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach. Koziarz, an avid runner, died in 1995. Race organizers donate all proceeds to area charities, including Southampton Town PAL, the Koziarz Hurricane Scholarship Fund and the Peconic Bay Medical Center Emergency Room.