Archive for May, 2008

30-year-olds invited to compete in WMA Florida meet

World Masters Athletics exists as a governing body mainly to hold world championships. But a sideline is encouraging more countries to foster track. One way of doing this is putting on regional championships. This year, our region (formally known as North, Central American and Caribbean) is having a meet in Clermont, Florida, after the USATF […]

May 13, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  12 Comments

David O’Meara’s first mile in summer sub-5 series is 4:42

David O’Meara, 45, chose Tarpon Springs, Florida, to kick off his summerlong series of 20 sub-5 mainly road miles. (I wrote about it here.) He detailed the event on his blog. He had some pacers, he suggests: “I followed Anthony down to the Sponge Docks and finished in 4:42. During the closing ceremonies, Tarpon Springs […]

May 12, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Aeron Arlin Genet 2 seconds away from Trials qualifier

Aeron Arlin Genet, 41, of San Luis Obispo made progress toward an Olympic Trials qualifying time Saturday when she ran the 1500 in 4:21.6, a season best and potential W40 American record, at the Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles. Her previous season best was 4:24 a month ago at UCLA. The “B” standard for the […]

May 12, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Karl Smith stuns Ashford in Modesto masters 110 hurdles

Karl Smith, who once held the M40 world record in the 110 hurdles, handed a rare defeat to the man who succeeded him as record holder yesterday at Modesto Junior College in Northern California. Karl, 48, clocked an amazing 14.61 to edge 45-year-old David Ashford’s 14.75 at the California Invitational Relays. Karl is likely the […]

May 11, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  18 Comments

Heat sheets hint: Modesto Relays masters events a bust

If posted heat sheets are accurate, the masters 100 and 110 hurdles at today’s Modesto Relays won’t amount to much. No Aaron Thigpen. No Willie Gault. No Jeff Williams. In the hurdles, no Rod Jett or Karl Smith. Sigh. I had been hoping for better. The fastest hurdlers still in the mix are M45 David […]

May 10, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  5 Comments

Decathlon star Denver Smith, 82, gears up for season

Denver Smith, 82, is one of a handful of gents over 80 still doing the decathlon. He’s been mentioned in the press before. But his local paper in Ohio finally focused on him last month in the run-up to a local Senior Olympics. Check out this article. I like where he doesn’t apologize for track’s […]

May 10, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Happy birthday to Willis Kleinsasser, masters pioneer

Willis Kleinsasser was 40 in July 1968 when he won the “Masters Six” sextathlon and the outstanding athlete award at the first USA masters national championships at San Diego’s fabled Balboa Stadium, which even Sports Illustrated covered. He was the top scorer in a two-day challenge, winning five events: the 220 in 24.0, 440 in […]

May 9, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Jack Tregurtha, racewalking guru, dies in New Zealand

Jack Tregurtha Jack Tregurtha, well-known to masters racewalkers in Oceania as a record holder and promulgator of the sport, has died in a New Zealand hospice, according to a message board posting and his national federation. Jack was 71, and died Thursday night, local time. His Web site hasn’t been updated for a while, but […]

May 8, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  One Comment

Midwest meet series open to masters, starting Saturday

Will Summers has sent me info on a series of meets in Missouri and Illinois open to masters. Called the St. Louis Summer Series, the first event — which is throws only — is Saturday and has a deadline of 11 a.m. today. Sorry. But the others are well into June, so you have plenty […]

May 8, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  3 Comments

Wolfgang Ritte tops M55 world record in vault: 14 feet

The Koops in Germany report that German vault superstar Wolfgang Ritte has cleared 4.27 outdoors, or 14-0. They headline their entry “4.27 m! Wolfgang Ritte (M55) begins outdoor season with pole vault world record.” The listed world age-group record is 4.26 by Sweden’s Hans Lagerqvist in 1996. However, Wolfie has gone higher indoors. He cleared […]

May 7, 2008   Posted in: Uncategorized  2 Comments