Archive for June, 2007

Forum hails 300th member: world-class sprinter

Late last week, “Simpdog” became the 300th member of our masters track Forum. Since that’s a nice round milestone, it merits some self-congratulation. But that’s not my style. Instead, I’d rather focus on the members themselves. So who is Mr. 300? I wrote him to learn more. He graciously gave up his anonymity. The gent […]

June 10, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Whitley burns a 58.91 for 400 meters at age 61

Stan Whitley, my fellow Kansas alumnus, today achieved a relatively rare feat for quarter-milers. He beat his age. At age 61, he clocked 58.91 seconds in the 400 at the Southern California Association USATF Masters Championships, according to unofficial results. The meet was at Cal State Long Beach, south of Los Angeles. The M60 American […]

June 9, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

USATF officials launch blog for info and opinions

Mark Heckel of the USATF Three Rivers Association has taken charge of a blog meant to serve fellow track officials. Called COIN — Competition Officials Interchange Network — it’s pretty amateurish at the moment. But I suspect Mark will spiffy it up once he learns to deal with templates and such. Carroll DeWeese, a top […]

June 8, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Lofton’s long-jump hopes are brought down to earth

Last year, while running near-record 400s in the M50 age group, James Lofton confessed he wanted to bring down the long jump record as well. Last Saturday at Caltech in Pasadena, it was record or bust. He bust. His first attempt was a chop foul. Then he went 5.77 (18-11) on the second, had a […]

June 7, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

All-time masters bests for 100 posted, with some flaws

The amazement continues. Martin Gasselsberger’s latest monumental work is a list of all-time bests in the men’s 100-meter dash up through M85. Martin’s mastersathletics.net is setting the pace for masters stats. The list isn’t perfect (it omits a recent 10.60 by M40 Aaron Thigpen and the sensational 10.16 by M35 Jeff Laynes). And he doesn’t […]

June 6, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Guestbook shares memories of the late Chaunce Cook

The funeral was Friday for Clarence “Chaunce” Cook, the 73-year-old thrower killed by a discus at a Texas meet. Haven’t heard details of the memorial service, but an obituary by the mortuary provides more depth about the man’s life and loves. And a phenomenon of the Internet Age — an online guestbook — shares tributes […]

June 6, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments

Pre Classic meet director mulling invite to Sorensen

Tom Jordan, meet director of the Pre Classic, told an Oakland Tribune sportswriter yesterday that he’ll consider inviting M40 recordman Jim Sorensen for his event’s featured Bowerman Mile on Sunday. In an article published today, “Asked Monday if there might be a spot in his race for a 40-year-old chasing a record, Pre meet director […]

June 5, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Riccione world meet forced to separate the sexes?

Back in 1989, Oregon sportswriter Ron Bellamy wrote a column at the close of the Eugene world championships that predicted the WAVA meet was growing so big that qualifying standards would become mandatory. It hasn’t come to that, thank goodness. But the logistics of this meet, with 6,000-plus usually expected, have led to some unfortunate […]

June 5, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  4 Comments

Shaheed, Harvey thrilled to be chosen athletes of year

Over the weekend, W40 Alisa Harvey and M55 Nolan Shaheed received word of their selection as USATF Masters Athletes of the Year via email from Awards Committee chairman Dave Clingan. Nolan’s reaction? “I was TOTALLY floored,” Nolan writes from Pasadena. “It is a great honor and pleasure to even be nominated — but to become […]

June 5, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed

Merlene Ottey, 47, clocks 11.83 in outdoor opener

Merlene Ottey, who turned 47 on May 10, has set another age record. In her outdoor season debut Saturday in Norway, she ran a hand-timed 11.4 heat and then an auto-timed 11.83 final for 100 meters — which shatters the unofficial age-47 record of 12.54 by Germany’s Karin Von Riewel in 1996. Merlene’s news page […]

June 4, 2007   Posted in: Uncategorized  Comments Closed