Pity Phil Raschker. She’s in the middle of tax season (as an accountant), and busy winning a bunch of gold medals at indoor worlds in France (six at last count), and now she has to deal with yet another distraction. But what a distraction. She’s made the final cut in the Sullivan Award derby, being named to the Top 5 folks contending for the honor of America’s No. 1 amateur athlete. (See her local paper’s report.) Since she made the Top 5 several years ago, one might think she has a good chance of taking the whole enchilada this time around. “It is another fantastic milestone,” Raschker told the paper via e-mail from Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Here’s the release the NSGA put out:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Becky Wesley
Director of Assn. Relations
National Sr. Games Assn.
225-766-6800 ext. 12
bwesley@nsga.com
SENIOR ATHLETE ONE OF TOP FIVE FINALISTS FOR
2007 AAU JAMES E. SULLIVAN MEMORIAL AWARD
BATON ROUGE, La. (March 21, 2008) — The National Senior Games Association (NSGA) is pleased to announce that Philippa “Phil” Raschker has been selected as one of five finalists for the prestigious 2007 AAU James E. Sullivan Memorial Award honoring America’s top amateur athlete. Ms. Raschker, a 61-year old female track & field athlete, is the oldest athlete ever nominated for the Sullivan Award.
The AAU Sullivan Award, known as the “Oscar” of sports awards, and older than The Heisman, honors the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. It has been presented annually by the AAU since 1930 as a salute to founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, and a pioneer in amateur sports, James E. Sullivan. Based on the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship, and the ideals of amateurism, the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments and honors those who have shown strong moral character. “NSGA is honored to nominate Phil. It is seldom that the nation recognizes a senior athlete in the world of sports,” said Phil Godfrey, NSGA President and CEO. “The AAU has made this possible by selecting Phil as one of their five finalists for the prestigious Sullivan Award. Phil was nominated in 2003 and made the top five. This year we want to see her Number One. Many athletes start mellowing with age; not Phil, she continues grinding out performances thought only possible in
dreams! She is certainly the most accomplished senior athlete to ever compete in track and field. I believe an argument can be made that she is the best female athlete of all time at any age.”
Ms. Raschker’s accomplishments during 2007 would be a lifetime achievement for most other athletes: 12 World Records, 31 American Records, 7 National Senior Games Championship gold medals, 10 World Championship gold medals, and 27 gold medals at five U.S. National Championship meets. In accomplishing the aforementioned, she also received the following recognition: Athlete of the Year by Masters Athlete magazine; Atlanta Sports Amateur Athlete of the Year; Female World Masters Athlete of the Year by the World Masters Athletic (WMA) Association / International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF); and Outstanding Athlete at the World Championship Track and Field Meet in Italy where over 9,000 athletes competed by WMA.
The announcement of the Sullivan Award recipient and presentation will be April 1, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. at the New York Athletic Club.
The other four finalists are: Jonathan Horton (gymnastics); Jeff Lerg (ice hockey); Tim Tebow (football); Angela Tincher (softball).
NSGA is a multi-sport organizations council member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and serves as the USOC’s official arm to the 50 and over population. The NSGA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles for adults 50 and over through education, fitness and sport. Through its programs, the NSGA assists adults in achieving greater value and quality in their lives by staying healthy, active and fit. NSGA thanks its corporate sponsors Humana, AstraZeneca, Catholic Healthcare West, Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Euflexxa. Go to www.nsga.com for more information about NSGA and all its programs.