10.38 for M40 sprinter: Too good to be true?
Willie Gault having to step aside? Only 20 days after Willie lowered the venerable American masters record in the 100 to 10.73, Don Fields reportedly ran a truly hard to fathom 10.38 in an M40 race at the BAYTAF meet May 27 in Tampa, Florida. But since no wind reading is given, the performance stands as a mystery.
BAYTAF stands for Bay Area Youth Track & Field. And Don must have gotten some heavy-duty youth infusion. If his 10.38 is with a legal wind (and no other irregularities arise), he will have crushed an impressive record.
But doubts have been raised about the 10.38 because of the other times in the race:
Event 100 Meter 40-44 Men
1. Fields, Don 10.38
2. Orlando, Matt 10.63
3. Merriweather, Eric 10.86
4. Allen, Robert 11.09
5. Turner, Julius 12.06
6. Jackson, Kerry 12.81
Matt Orlando? Running 10.63 — also under Willie’s record?
An M35 sprinter named “Orlando Matthews” is credited with an 11.07 in our 1999 rankings. And at the Penn Relays this year, Orlando ran 11.46 for fifth in the M40 race.
However, an “Orlondo Matthews” ran an 11.15 in 2000. So we’re confused as hell.
And Eric Merriweather? In 1997, he ran 11.59 (with a 4.2 mps gale) at the USATF masters nationals in San Jose, California, at age 33.
But back to Mr. Fields.
According to results from the USATF Southeast Regional Masters Outdoor Championships in mid-April, 2005, this is how the M40 100 ended up:
Don Fields 11.33
Eric Merriweather 11.71
Calvin Goodman 12.61
Harold Pierce 12.66
Michael Kountze 13.61
No wind can take a second off your 100 time in just over a month.
I’ve written to organizers of the May 27 meet for an explanation.
Ironically, Don has an M35 mark in the 2004 season of 11.13. And where did he run this time? At the BAYTAF Masters Classic in Tampa. Hmmmm.
On a more realistic note, an assault on the M40 4Ă—100 relay record is planned at the USATF Southern California Association masters/open meet this coming Saturday at West Los Angeles College.
Here’s the lineup:
(1) Aaron Thigpen 10.77 (2005)
(2) Kettrell Berry 11.14 (2005)
(3) Cornell Stephenson 11.43 (2005)
(4) Willie Gault 10.73 (2005)
Those are legit times. And they have a legit chance at the M40 world record of 42.20 set by SpeedWest Track Club (Frank Strong, Cornell Stephenson, Kettrell Berry, Willie Gault) at Irvine, Calif., in May 2004.
3 Responses
Ken
Looking at the Masters newspaper. “June issue”
and all the outdoor”WORLD” relay records were in there except for Sprintforce Americas 4×400 40 year old team record in which they averaged 50.2 a man @ the Penn Relays a few years ago in 2001 and ran 3:20.83 . which by the way beat the time of Marion Jones 4×400 U.S.A. AGAINST THE WORLD TEAM Lets try and give these four great athletes Sal Allah, Kevin Morning,Ed Gonera & Ray Blackwell the credit they deserve for that world shattering performance
Rich Rizzo N.Y.
HI, I AM DON FIELD’S COACH AND I AM RESPONDING TO THE COMMENTS MADE REGARDING HIS 10.38 TIME AT THE BAYTAF MEET. THIS IS A HAND TIME WHICH WOULD ACTUALLY BE A 10.58. MR FIELDS HAD PUT THIS TIME IN AS A HAND TIME. HE IS NOT TRYING TO GET THE REP OF BEING A SUPER FAST PERSON BUT IS AN EX FAMU RUNNER WITH GREAT POTENTIAL AS A MASTER’S RUNNER. HE HAS HAD ACHILLES PROBLEMS IN THE PAST BUT THAT DAY WAS A GOOD DAY FOR HIM.IF THERE IS ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT ME AT 352-205-3803. THANK YOU. PS- HAS ANY OTHER MASTER RECORD BREAKERS BEEN DRUG TESTED OR QUESTIONED IN SUCH A WAY ….things that make you go hmmmm…
I don’t think I need to justify the times, because one I was not the timer at the meet. But my reply to the whole situation is that we are all athletes and we all do something we love obviously and that is track and field. People can get with a different coach or get a different training regimen that will cause them to run better. It does not mean that the individual is doing something out of context to produce a better time. I know I am not under fire here, but I figure a reply is justified. I applaud Willie Gault and the others. I also respect each person at his or her craft and in order to get better one must train. I wish everyone the best in their future endeavors. It is good to know that someone thinks about me whether it be good, bad or indifferent, but I am who I am. We all have determinations and goals and the question is whether we will reach them or not. You must work hard and hard work will pay off one day.
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