Joetta Clark-Diggs gets USATF masters record! Wrongly
Four-time Olympian Joetta Clark-Diggs ran her 800 PR in 1998 — a nifty 1:57.84 when she was 36. Last week she got credit for an American age-group record. Nice. The audacity of hope! Also a perversion of history. Her sister-in-law Jearl Miles Clark ran 1:57.27 at age 37 at a little meet in Athens in 2004 (a.k.a. the Olympic Games. She took sixth.) Sigh. I can’t make this stuff up. You can look it up. So what other boogers can we find in Sandy Pashkin’s records report, which I assume has been approved by the USATF Records Committee? This four-page tally is supposed to list vetted performances that meet all USATF requirements for American age-group records for women and men 35 and older.
I kept Jearl’s mark a deep, dark secret on my blog back in 2004. Why no recognition? Must have been wind-aided.
If something else is missing or mistaken, comment below and send Sandy a note. Won’t do any good this year, but in 12 months, she can submit it anew for approval.
I’ve also posted the 2008 year-to-date USATF Masters T&F Committee budget. A formal 2009 budget wasn’t available at Reno. Guess that’s pending formal approval. But the one I’ve posted lists requests for 2009, I guess. Like $4,500 for a separate masters track Web site.
Finally, check out the proposed Team USA relays policy for masters worlds. I’m assuming Team Manager Phil Greenwald prepared it. It’s probably been approved.
7 Responses
It appears that the Masters record system is not working. There have been plenty of complaints. Any realistic suggestions as to how to correct it?
Ken, don’t you realize that the Olympic Games in Athens did not apply for sanctioning from USATF, therefore the record by Jerl Miles Clark was not even considered! Sandy will probably send you an email sometime in 2010 to inform you.
a couple of people who got records accepted had to wait so long they are in two different age-groups (Phil Raschker, w55-59 2003 and w60-64 2008)
or Carol Senn Griffiths, who not only is represented in two different age groups w40-44 2003 and w45-49 2008) but also had time in between records to get married and show up on the list with two different last names!
Mike Walker (and others): You don’t know the half of it. Ever heard of Aeron Arlin Genet, the 5-time All-American at Cal Poly who was heavily publicized on Ken’s site a few months ago?
I believe 5 is indeed the number for Aeron, but here I mean the number of times she has gone under 4:32.73 for 1500 (the W40 oudoor “mark”).
How many of those 5 performances were accepted? As far as I can see, zero. Ever heard of Ruth Wysocki, who must have broken the standard about 3 times (and by huge amounts)? How many were accepted? Zero.
Ever hear of Alisa Harvey, the 1986 NCAA champ for Tennessee in the 1500? Alisa ran 4:26.49 FAT at the Penn Relays (2006) and couldn’t get it accepted. How many other times she has broken the “mark” I am not sure.
Talked to my friend Chuck today at the club and ran two possibilities by him: (A) Have our national records equal our national championship records. In other words, in masters track, national records would be set at only one meet, the nationals.
Advantages are that records are simply processed after they are made with no application by athlete, no rejections (except in very unusual circumstances such as running 4600 rather than 5000 in the 5000 run), no need to consider records from secondary sites.
Obvious disadvantages are that not everyone peaks at nationals and the problem that not everyone can go to nationals. Oh, one other advantage: This would be a draw that would increase attendance.
Chuck didn’t like A, and thus I floated B past him. In B, we accept all records set at legitimate meets (Penn Relays, Drake Relays, Hartshorne Mile, Southeastern Masters, Hayward Classic, masters nationals, Olympic Trials, US Senior Games, etc.). Again, athletes should not be involved in application process.
Instead, the meet director simply informs the masters record chair that a record) was set, what the time or distance was, the wind if a sprint, etc. In races, everything must be FAT regardless of distance.
After posting on the USATF Web site, there would be a 12-month period in which anyone could challenge the marks. Of course, why would anyone challenge John Hinton’s 4:20.18 at Hartshorne, Alisa Harvey’s 4:26.49 at Penn, etc., etc.? There would be no reason to do so. Why? Because they ran the times.
I usually (always) run a lot faster times when I am being dragged around the track by the younger kids. I think just about everyone does. Masters meets for me are just try to win and I do not put a big emphasis on time. If it happens, it happens.
Many marks are lost/forgotten, but run none-the-less. The times have changed with the internet reporting almost ALL races to be considered. Maybe record keeping should catch up?
Cheers
How is the Clark-Diggs record being accepted 10 years later? Was all the paper work submitted? What scenario led to this 1998 record not being accepted or updated for 10 years, and then in 2008 it gets accepted. Please explain.
I like plan A and B from Pete Taylor. I hope we can get this done as it will resolve all the issues of getting records solidified.
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