Bates, Roma repeat as champs at Star Spangled Night Run 5K

Published 12:45 am Sunday, June 22, 2025

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Runners and walkers take off from the starting line for the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Nearly 100 people participated in the eighth edition of the summer event, which is a fundraiser for the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Will Bates rounds the final turn toward the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Bates won the race for the second year in a row, with a time of 17:22. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Ron Roma crosses the finish line to win the Star Spangled Night Run 5K race walk championship. Roma won for the fourth time in five years, with a time of 32:03. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sarah Grace Kittrell heads for the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Kittrell won the women's championship and finished eighth overall, with a time of 25:01. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Teresa Schlosser crosses the finish line to win the Star Spangled Night Run 5K women's race walk championship. Schlosser won with a time of 35:37. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Korben Breeland, right, has his face painted by Kennedy Smith before the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Donna and Paul Ingram hang out with their dogs Buddy and Holly before the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Holly hangs out on Crawford Street waiting for the start of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Four-year-old Kye Frazier embarks on the Star Spangled Night Run 5K Saturday in downtown Vicksburg. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Bailey Dickerson heads for the finish line at the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. Dickerson finished fifth overall, with a time of 23:39. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Steve Pranger heads for the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K race walk. Pranger finished fourth overall with a time of 36:50. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Lee Fore heads for the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K race walk. Fore finished third overall with a time of 36 minutes even. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Corey Drake heads for the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K run on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Race walkers Matthew Craft (1152) and Viktoria Craft (1153) lead a pack to the finish line of the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Rooneaux drinks some water after completing the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Trent Hillen and Rooneaux share a hug after completing the Star Spangled Night Run 5K on Saturday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Will Bates runs for Warren Central’s track and cross country teams, and has hopes of competing in college after he graduates in 2026. He has a recruiting visit to Mississippi College planned this week, and when he sits down with the coaches he’ll certainly have a nice bullet point on his resume.

Bates crushed the field Saturday night to win the Star Spangled Night Run 5K championship for the second year in a row. The 18-year-old finished with a time of 17 minutes, 22 seconds in the 5K run.

“I just train six days a week. When I don’t want to run, I run. When I don’t want to lift weights, I lift weights. That is what gets me up every morning is realizing that I have more potential the next day,” Bates said. “I pray, I pray and I pray because Jesus Christ is the one true reason I have these abilities and this life of mine.”

Bates just missed setting the record for the Star Spangled Night Run — Evan Hallford won in 17:03 in 2022 — but still shattered his personal best for a 5-kilometer race by 38 seconds. He won the Star Spangled Night Run in 19:04 last year.

Samuel Terrett was second in 20:36, and was followed by Bryant Halsch in 21:04, Jameson Streif in 22:00, and Bailey Dickerson in 23:39 to round out the top five on an evening where the heat index was in the mid-90s.

“I was like, ‘I can’t let the conditions beat me down so much that it ruins my run,” Bates said. “I’m definitely going to pray really hard tonight because that’s a blessing to be able to do it.”

STAR SPANGLED NIGHT RUN 5K RESULTS

In the women’s division, Sara Grace Kittrell was a surprise winner — mostly to herself.

The 23-year-old finished eighth overall, with a time of 25:01 that was only seven seconds ahead of Elisabeth Younce. Afterward, Kittrell said she didn’t realize she’d won until someone told her a few minutes later. It was the first time in only a few competitive races that she’s won.

“I’m kind of shocked,” she said. “I run for fun. Me and my friend did a half marathon and trained for that, and kept it up by running in the (Vicksburg National Military) Park.”

In the 5K race walk, Ron Roma continued to own Vicksburg’s summer event by hustling to his fourth overall victory in five years. He finished with a time of 32:03, and women’s winner Teresa Schlosser was second in 35:37.

Lee Fore finished third in 36 minutes even, and was followed by Steve Pranger (36:50) and Kiante King (39:59) to round out the top five. Viktoria Craft was the women’s runner-up and seventh overall in 40:13.

Roma said he enjoys the Star Spangled Night Run, but joked that could do without one part of it — the hills on the East Avenue portion of the course.

“It keeps me fit,” Roma said. “But that East Avenue, I wish that the aldermen and the mayor would not approve any 5K permits that includes East Avenue. It’s three (hills) in one. That’s a tough piece of real estate to get up.”

Schlosser, meanwhile, had been one of Mississippi’s top race walkers for a number of years until taking an extended break. The Star Spangled Night Run was her first event since winning the Run Thru History women’s championship in March 2024.

She said returning for the difficult conditions of a June race was not easy assignment.

“It was work,” Schlosser said. “We were joking beforehand that the first priority is survive. Second is do as good as you can.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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