Archive for May, 2006

Fish foreshadow how U.S. Masters T&F can secede

I’ve been having an interesting online debate with IAAF and USATF racewalk poobah Bob Bowman over whether the Amateur Sports Act in the United States permits a group like USATF Masters Track & Field to leave the parent organization and form its own national governing body. Bob says nope. I say yup. Following is our […]

May 15, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Chaplin-Swann sees herself as a record holder

Lesley Chaplin-Swann, bless her super-efficient heart, good-naturedly replied to my cheeky request for details of her W45 American Record in the 1500 over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. She took the time to type and send a report despite it being Mother’s Day (she has a grown daughter) and no doubt having better things to […]

May 15, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Willie Gault flies (twice) at Oxy: 10.79 and 14.41

Yesterday’s Oxy Invitational at Occidental College in the Los Angeles area saw other fine masters performances besides Pete Magill’s 1500. Ageless (but actually 45) Willie Gault ran the 100 in 10.79 (no wind reading given) — shattering the listed M45 world record of 10.96 by American Neville Hodge in 2001. (But lack of a wind […]

May 14, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Chaplin-Swann graces record books again — in 1500

Linz world champion Lesley Chaplin-Swann, 48, a Georgia resident who competes for the SoCal/Fleet Feet TC, set another American record today at a Vanderbilt University meet, going 4:47.36 in Nashville to lower the ancient W45 outdoor record in the 1500. The listed record was 4:48.19 by Joan Colman (now Joan Ottoway) in 1989. (Forget the […]

May 13, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  6 Comments

Olympic interests vs. masters raised in forum exchange

Things are getting clearer. One of the reasons Masters is thinking of seceding from USA Track & Field is a potential downsizing of the USATF Board of Directors, which would give more clout to the “professional” (elite, Olympic-class) arm of USATF. From what I’ve been reading on the USATF Associations mailing list, the USOC (U.S. […]

May 12, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Photo sequence of Hunter M50 vault record posted

Becca Gillespy says she used her handy digital camera to capture a nice sequence of photos of Gary Hunter setting the M50 world record in the vault last weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. She reports that the collegiate vaulters competing against a guy old enough to be their dad did a classy thing. They allowed the […]

May 12, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Reactions to possible exodus are all over the map

I subscribe to the Yahoo Groups mailing list for USATF Associations, and I posted a note about the possible exodus of Masters T&F (and mebbe LDR) from USATF. The USATF Association folks reacted, all right. Most think the idea is nuts. Some point out the complexity of such a move. I’ve copied their comments below. […]

May 11, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Men under 11.50, women under 65 seconds, lissen up

The masters exhibition events for the Indy open nationals are officially set — the men’s 100 and the women’s 400. Men have to be 40-plus with a 100 mark under 11.50. For the women, you have to be 40-plus and faster than 65.0. Application information was posted today, reports Invite chair Mark Cleary. The site […]

May 11, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Will Chairman George lead a masters exodus from USATF?

It’s possible. George Mathews, USATF Masters T&F chairman, has seen efforts to grow masters (and the movement’s income) go for naught. Now he says he giving serious thought to a radical solution — playing Moses and leading masters out of the Egypt known as USA Track & Field. Even though untold hours and thousands of […]

May 10, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  8 Comments

The fish have their own Age-Graded Tables

Every so often, I dog-paddle my way over to U.S. Masters Swimming to see what’s up with the geezerfish. The other day, I came across something interesting — the swimmers’ version of the Age-Graded Tables. (This means trackfolk aren’t the only ones obsessing over how are marks compare with those in other age groups.) And […]

May 9, 2006   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments