Tomorrow is the annual Visalia Classic Masters Meet in central California. The Fresno Bee’s Nick Giannandrea did a good preview of the meet (appended below). I’m counting on Keith Nelson, who lives in the region, to finally nail the M50 American record in the high jump. And M45 Kevin Morning is always a threat to sprint records. The weather looks good.

Anyway, here’s Nick’s article:
VISALIA — K.K. Slaughter refuses to jog.
“Men my age don’t jog. It’s too hard on our knees and ankles,” Slaughter says.
But Slaughter does sprint, and quite well for an 86-year-old.
The San Jose resident will be one of approximately 75 athletes competing Saturday in the 11th Visalia Classic Masters track and field meet at Mt.Whitney High.
The meet is for men and women 30 and older, with athletes competing in 5-year age brackets. Competition begins at 9:30 a.m. with the 3,000meters. Other running events include the 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 runs, the 80, 100 and 110 hurdles, the 300 intermediate hurdles and the 400relay. Field events include the javelin, pole vault, long jump, discus, shot put, high jump and triple jump. Classic Masters coordinator Bob Higginbotham of Visalia said at least five meet record-holders are entered in this year’s field, including:
Keith Nelson, who in 2000 set a world high jump record of 6 feet, 6 inches in the 45-49 age group in Visalia. He returns to compete in the 50-54 age division.
Rodney Brown, who holds records in all of the sprint races. He will compete in the 75-79 division.
Steve Hardison, who set the meet pole vault record of 13-6. He will compete in the 50-54 division.
Dennis Duffy, who holds meet records in the 400 and 600 in the 50-54 and 55-59 divisions. He will compete in the 60-64 division.
John Burns, who holds javelin records in the 55-59 and 60-64 divisions. He will compete in the 60-64 division.
Also entered in the field are standout sprinters Kevin Morning and Hubert Evans, and Joy Upshaw Margerum, who set five national records in the 40-44 women’s age division during a recent meet.
“We’ll have some really good people here,” Higginbotham said. “Some of the best in the nation.”
Slaughter, a veteran of the Visalia Classic Masters, plans to run the 50- and 100-meter sprints for men 85-89. He has been among the world’s best senior sprinters since he started competing in 1992. During the world games in 2001, Slaughter, the brother of former Fresno City College football coach Clare Slaughter, placed seventh in the 100 and eighth in the 200.
“I’m running pretty fast for an old man like me,” says Slaughter, a former Air Force pilot who flew missions over Germany during World War II.
Higginbotham, the man who started the Classic Masters 11years ago, never has run in his own race. That’s not expected to change this year, but the 78-year-old is itching to get back into competition.
The 1996 national champion in the long and short hurdles has not competed since 1997, when he suffered a knee injury.
“I’m feeling a little better,” Higginbotham said. “I had my knee X-rayed and my cartilage is pretty thin. I’d be taking a chance to run the hurdles, but I might go back and do sprints.”
The reporter can be reached at ngiannandrea@fresnobee.com or (559) 622-2407.