Today at the annual meeting in Indy, USATF announced world champs LaShawn Merritt and Brianna Rollins as its Athletes of the Year. The press release failed to mention masters. But we have honorees, too. Charles Allie (IAAF Best Master of 2013) shared top men’s honors with M95 superstar Orville Rogers, and W60 thrower Myrle Mensey was named women’s athlete of the year. (We’ve had shared titles before, including 2010, when Nolan Shaheed and Ralph Maxwell were the top men.) The USATF Masters Awards Committee (of which I’m a member) also carved out a special award for W65 all-everything Phil Raschker. It’s called the Masters Track and Field Outstanding Lifelong Performance Award. (But she probably has 40 years left, so what does she do for an encore?) The David Pain Distinguished Service Award went to USATF Masters T&F Committee Treasurer Carroll DeWeese, a cancer survivor who distinguished himself at Porto Alegre worlds as a safety official who called a halt one day amid a storm. The Awards Committee also has posted 38 winners of age-group awards, noting that honorees set 14 world records, 54 American records and earned 31 World Championship gold medals.

Here’s the press release on USATF Masters Athletes of the Year and other top awards:

MASTERS TRACK AND FIELD
OVERALL MALE AND FEMALE ATHLETES FOR 2013

FOR THE WOMEN: MYRLE MENSEY: W64
Myrle set 3 American Records this year. She set a record in the Weight Throw with a distance of 17.78m (age graded: 105%); in the Ultraweight Pentathlon with 5188 points (no AG available but she bettered the old mark by 314 pts.)
and in the Throws Pentathlon with 4451 points (no AG available but bettered the old mark by 255pts.). In addition to setting three new records, Myrle also earned 7 National titles. She placed 1st at the USATF National Outdoor
Championships in the Shot Put, Discus, Hammer and Weight Throw. She also placed 1st in the Throws Pentathlon, the Superweight Throw and the Ultraweight Pentathlon. Based on her throws performance this year, the Throws
Committee selected Myrle to receive the Tom Gage “Thrower of the Year” Award.

FOR THE MEN: CHARLIE ALLIE M65 AND ORVILLE ROGERS M95

CHARLIE ALLIE IS THE 2013 RECIPIENT OF THE IAAF OVERALL MALE MASTER OF THE YEAR AWARD
Charlie Allie M65 set 3 World Records and 2 additional American Records in the sprints this year. Charlie set World Records in the both the indoor and outdoor 200m, and the outdoor 400m. In the 200m, Charlie ran 25.41 (age graded 98%) and 24.65 (age graded 108%). He ran 56.09 outdoor 400m (age graded 97%). Charlie also set American Records in the indoor 60m in a time of 7.90 (age graded 101%) and the indoor 400m in a time of 58.49 (age graded
93%). In addition to his record performances, Charlie won three Gold Medals at the WMA Outdoor Championships in Brazil in the 100m, 200m and 400m. He also earned 6 National titles in the indoor and outdoor 60m, 100m, 200m
and 400m for the year 2013.

Orville Rogers M95 set 6 World Record and 1 additional American Record. Orville set World Records in the indoor 200m in a time of 57.88 (age graded 88%); the indoor and outdoor 400m in times of 2:24.51 and 2:21.82 (age graded
94 & 96%); the indoor 800m in a time of 6:53.84 (age graded 77%) and a record in the indoor 3000m in a time of 30:19.33 (age graded 76%). Orville also set an American Record in the 60m indoor in a time of 14.82 (age graded 103%). In addition to his record performance, Orville won 6 National Indoor Titles and 2 National Outdoor Titles. At the 2013 indoor championships, Orville won Gold in the 60m, 200m, 400m, 800m, mile and 3000m and won Outdoor Gold in the 400m and 800m.

MASTERS TRACK AND FIELD AWARDS

Special Awards:
MTF OUTSTANDING LIFELONG PERFORMANCE AWARD: PHIL RASCHKER W65

Phil Raschker not only won 6 Gold Medals at the WMA Championships in Brazil this year, but also has competed in 16 WMA Championships and has won a total of 85 Gold Medals, 23 Silver and 9 Bronze Medals. She was selected by WMA-2007 as the Overall Best Athlete of the Meet, winning 10 Gold medals. Phil also has earned 368 US National Titles from 1980 to 2013. In addition, Phil has won the Overall Master Athlete of the Year award for 14 of 32 years. She has been named Master Athlete of the year for 30 out of 31 years. She was inducted into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Senior Games Hall of Fame in 2005. She was one of the first women to compete in the triple jump and the pole vault-not just in the Master’s ranks but also as an Open Athlete. At the age of 41, she competed in the first contested Open Women’s Triple Jump and at 47, the first contested Open Women’s Pole Vault. She won 4 Penn Relay watches from 1990-1994 for achieving the best age graded Pole Vault performance. At the age of 47, she pole vaulted 11’1”. Phil currently holds 16 WRs: 10 Indoor WRs from W45-W65 and 6 Outdoor WRs from W55-65. Her WRs age grade between 90-100%. She also currently holds 60 American records: 32 Indoor ARs and 28 Outdoor ARs between the ages of W40-W60. Phil has records in the 60m, 100m, 200m, 400m, Short and Long Hurdles, PV, LJ, TJ, HJ, Pentathlon and Heptathlon. In 2003 and 2007, she was a finalist for the AAU James E. Sullivan Memorial Award which honors the best amateur athlete in the US. For these performances and for all that she has done over the years to make Masters Track and Field visible to the media and public, the MTF Awards Committee presents the MTF Outstanding Lifelong Performance Award to Phil Raschker.

DAVID PAIN OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD: CARROLL DEWEESE
Carroll has inspired all of us. Carroll puts everything he can into his work as our Treasurer keeping MTF going with his intricate, time consuming budget work, his liaison with USATF Indy, his Games Committee work and collection of all the MTF WR’s and AR’s and making sure they are recorded correctly at our outdoor and indoor championships.

He has been elected as our WMA delegate and chairs several committees for WMA and deservedly has their trust with a positive relationship with people around the world. He was instrumental in keeping the competition safe at the WMA Championships in Brazil this October. He was a voice of reason and safety, suspending the meet when the weather conditions became totally unsafe for events to continue on the track. Respecting his authority, the meet management was willing to follow his instructions. Due to his constant vigilance, the National Office has a great deal of respect for all that he does as treasurer. Our relationship with USATF Administrators has never been better. He is dedicated to MTF and has worked hard, despite and through his major illness, to keep the master’s program moving forward. Carroll has been doing everything he can in service to Masters Track and Field not only this year but literally for decades. The Awards committee is honored to present this year’s David Pain Outstanding Service Award to Carroll DeWeese.