The derby was part of Tonganoxie Days. Other competitions on the agenda for last weekend’s festivities were two road races and a sand volleyball tournament.

Each of the events was unique in its own way.

The sand volleyball tournament was unique because it didn’t happen. It was cancelled due to a lack of entries.

In the other two events, age took a backseat to participation.

In the both the five- and 10-kilometer races, runners in their teens ran with runners over 60.

In the demolition derby, a 16-year-old girl smashed her car into cars driven by men who have had a driver’s license since before she was born.

In the end most had a good time.

Demolition derby
Forty-nine cars in two different competitions collided, literally, at 1 p.m. Saturday, when the first heat of cars backed into each other, kicking off this year’s demolition derby.

In the derby there were two events, one for full-sized cars and the other for four-cylinder cars.

There were 35 cars entered in the full-sized event. The cars were divided into four heats with the top two drivers in each event qualifying for the evening’s feature event.

Putting on a helmet and climbing into a beat up station wagon to smash ’em up with the big boys was 16-year-old Leavenworth girl Melissa Sawyer.

Though she didn’t make it to the feature, the layers of steel made everyone equal. Once the derby started, she was just another driver to wreck out.

“I smashed her around a couple of times,” said Tonganoxie driver Kyle Lux. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know she was a girl until after the heat.”

Lux, who was in the same heat as Sawyer, was injured during the event.

“The steering wheel came off and smashed into my chest,” Lux said.

Lux received several broken ribs.

Winning the full-sized event was Tonganoxie’s Kenny Patterson. Linwood driver Chris DeMaranville won the four-cylinder event.

The next demolition derby will be in mid-August as part of the Leavenworth County fair.

Library run
Forty-five people turned out in front of the Tonganoxie Library Saturday morning to take part in the Library Run, now in its 13th year as part of Tonganoxie Days.

The event included both a 10- and a five-kilometer race.

In the 10-kilometer race, the men were led by Jay O’Neill, who turned in a time of 35 minutes, 41 seconds.

Matt Brisch finished only seven seconds behind, running 35:48 Steve Riley took third with a time of 36:04.

Julie Angello won the women’s race, running 47:30. She was followed by Becky McClure, who ran a 52:59. Diane Waltho finished in third with a time of 53:38.

In the 5-kilometer event, Shawna Gilmore was the fastest woman, turning in a time of 24:58. Kerry Martinez took second, running 25:37. The third-place finisher was Kathleen Punduski, who ran 26:11.

The men’s five-kilometer champ was Justin Riley, who ran the 3.1 miles in 17:26. Second-place finisher Henry Devereaux turned in a time of 18:18. Mark Schmitt took third with a time of 18:30.

In the 60 and over category, Myron Feverburn ran the 10-kilometer run in 56 minutes, five seconds and Larry Keeler ran the 5-kilometer race in 29 minutes, 40 seconds. Ferry Evans ran it in 46:47.

Sand volleyball
The four-on-four co-ed sand volleyball tournament which was supposed to take basketball’s spot in Tonganoxie Days was cancelled because only two teams signed up for the event.

“Obviously you can’t have a tournament with that many teams,” said Mark Zerrer, Tonganoxie Recreation Commission director.

Instead, Zerrer said, the commission decided to form a four-on-four sand volleyball league beginning in mid-July.

“We had a lot of interest and got a lot of calls,” he said. “But we only had two teams actually sign up, so we had to drop it.”

Zerrer said that teams should begin signing up immediately for the league, which will cost $40 per team. The league is for adults out of high school, but Zerrer said that rule might change if more teams are needed.

All games will be played on the recently finished Tonganoxie sand volleyball court near Community National Bank.