Can’t resist photo of ‘ageless wonder’ Martha Mendenhall in flight
Tacoma sports website says: “Martha Mendenhall, the ageless wonder, went to the USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque last weekend and came home with a victory in the high jump (age group 50-54). ‘I was not at my best, but I feel very satisfied and blessed to have been able to compete the way I did. With the way our weather was this winter, it was not conducive to the kind of training I like to do for a national competition,’ Mendenhall told us when she returned this week.”
Martha bends it easily in Albuquerque. She'll defend world title in Sacramento.
16 Responses
Yes, Martha, you are an important part of our meets, and I was very glad to see you in Albuquerque. Hope that you will compete next year at Bloomington nationals.
All in all, the high jump was very impressive this year, and I was close enough to the action to announce some of it. Milan Jamrich soared 1.67 meters in M60 to set a record, and that was wonderful to see. In M75, both Tom Langenfeld and Doug Spainhower set records with 1.35 meters (4 feet, 5 inches). Wow, that is good.
The most memorable jump for me, however, was that of Stacey Nieder of Anchorage, Alaska. Last year, Stacey traveled all the way from Anchorage to Boston to break Trish Porter’s W40 American record, leaping 1.67 meters. A big fuss was made over her performance, it was part of the USATF story of the meet; it was all good, as they say. Unfortunately, it was not accepted as an American record.
This year, well before she jumped, I informed Stacey that her jump of last year, even though it was made at the national championships, was not accepted as a record. She was quite surprised. She responded by jumping 1.68 meters (5-6), exceeding both her mark of last year (1.67) and Trish’s listed mark of 1.66.
I don’t think I have ever been happier to see someone clear a bar than I was when Stacey cleared 1.68 this past weekend to thunderous applause. What a well-deserved record.
Great jumping, Martha…and Stacey as well. Quite a few American women have the potential for gold in a number of age groups at Worlds. High jump could be a highlight of Sacramento.
Awesome photo!!
@Peter, what was the reason for the rejection of the American record?
No reason given, Jimson, at least none that I have ever been able to find. The record was simply not accepted (I am not saying it was rejected, discarded, or anything like that; it was simply not accepted).
As you know, Jimson, this “failure to approve” flies in the face of the statement made by our US masters T&F program that marks at nationals would be automatically accepted. It also does not accord with presumed policy in other sectors of track and field. For example, I think the NCAA indoor championships are being held this weekend.
Do you believe, Jimson, that if a woman breaks the existing indoor collegiate mark for the high jump at the NCAA championships this weekend that it will not be recognized as a collegiate record? No? Well neither do I.
Thus, I believe that in masters when a woman (or man) breaks the record at nationals but does not get it accepted, even 12 months later, there should be a written statement on the records site explaining why the new record was not accepted. Please note that Stacey’s mark never even reached “pending” status, all the more reason for an explanation.
Furthermore, I believe there should be concordance between the marks made at nationals and our records. Every time I go back to look at Stacey’s results for Boston 2010 (www.usatf.org) I see the same thing: She cleared 1.67 meters (a record) on her first attempt, then failed three times at 1.73 meters. There is even a “+” sign next to her mark to indicate it was a record.
Because the usatf.org site serves as the documentation of her performance, I believe there should be a notation on the nationals results site (in addition to the written explanation mentioned above) saying that it was not accepted as a record for x reason. Otherwise, those who review results from previous years, as I do, are dumbfounded, to say the least.
Stacey’s 2010 mark looks like a record, appears to be a record, was reported as a record by USATF media staff, and was thought by Stacey to be a record, but yet it is not a record. That is all I know, Jimson.
Peter,
If someone breaks a record at a National Championship does that mean that they have to apply for the record to be accepted (i.e. fill out the paperwork that needs to be signed by the Meet Director, yada, yada, yada)?
I’ve never quite understood that concept in the masters world. No professional athlete fills out paperwork to get their efforts recognized as a record. If Tyson Gay breaks the American record, for example, at the Texas Relays – it gets accepted (no questions asked, as far as I know)….
Well, Dexter, I am under the impression from what we have been told by USATF masters (marks at nationals get AUTOMATIC acceptance and the athlete needs to do NOTHING) and what I have observed at nationals that the athlete does not initiate the paperwork there. Rather, I think it is completed by the masters records chair at the site.
Rather than speculating, I can say only three things: (a) We have been told within the last 2 years about the automatic acceptance policy. (b) Not accepting records from nationals would be odd indeed. If we don’t accept a record from nationals, well, in my opinion, the results in question should be changed to a lower mark on the usatf.org site. If they are not changed, they should be treated as records.
Thus, Stacey Nieder’s mark of 1.67 meters from Boston 2010 should be changed to a lower height. But since she actually jumped 1.67, one cannot do that. Thus, the mark should have replaced the existing record of 1.66, but that did not happen.
(c) Masters T&F must surely be much different from other components of track and field. In 2007 when I asked the leading FAT person in the United States for a finish photo, he told me he had NEVER had to send in a photo before for a national or world record. On another occasion he told me that masters were the only ones who asked for a photo (this was at the Penn Relays).
No, I cannot imagine Usain Bolt, for example, wandering around Franklin Field (Penn Relays), begging officials to sign a record form. His 4 x 100 team missed the world mark last April at Penn, and so it was a moot point. In fact, I doubt that the elite open athletes even know what a record form looks like.
Nice job Martha! Ever the champion! Keep soaring!
Way to go Martha… and keep that little one jumping, she’s a future champ too!
Congratulations to Martha and all the competitors in Albuquerque. It was a great meet and I enjoyed the nice track and warm up facility. The officials and volunteers were efficient, good humored and very helpful.
I really get both a “warm fuzzy” and excited feeling from being around all the masters athletes and watching their performances. Some of my favorite personal interactions were, congratulating 61 year old Colleen Burns on an excellent mile race the previous day, only to hear her call words of encouragement to her 88 year old mother Mary Kirsling on her way to an American record in the 800M!; Hearing our great ambassador, Sid Howard, (72) graciously saying, “I did the best I could”, in reference to his .13sec loss to 70 year old Maurice McDonald. Also, my favorite master, Earl Fee, being told by Kathy Martin that he looked “fabulous,” while competing, in the 800 Meters, no one would argue with that, except maybe “the Great Earl” himself, who claimed his time was slow, but added that it was age graded over 100%!
In reference to the conversations about records, after the 4x200M and believing we had established a new W50 American Record, I asked Carroll DeWeese, who was in charge of the records table, if he needed any further information for record purposes. He assured me that USATF had everything required. I sure hope so for our run in the 4x400M and any record breakers!
Finally, I cannot comment about the meet without mentioning the selfless efforts of our Peter Taylor. Arriving late on Thursday night, Peter was “on duty”, calling the races for a very long Friday, demanding Saturday, and Sunday as only he can. Snail pace service in the Doubletree on Saturday night, kept him out late, but he was back and as good as ever on Sunday, helping to create an exciting climax to the meet, especially in the men’s 200 Meters, M50 high jump and relays. It was a delight to have Peter come out with us on Sunday evening, and not until later, that I discovered that there were no funds from the organizing committee, or USATF for Peter’s trip and stay in Albuquerque. He worked the whole weekend long for nothing and paid for it himself! Feel free to email me @ jahayden@aol.com , or send me a message on facebook if you would like to help in offsetting Peter’s costs.
Way to go Martha and Stacey! Peter, it is clear to me in reading your posts that Masters T&F is of very little importance and very low on the priority list of the USATF folks. Disappointing to say the least!
Thank you, Julie. Do what you like, but I hope you will simply ask the competitors whether they would BE INTERESTED in helping to defray my Albuquerque expenses (hope you will not actually ask them to mail you checks or money orders).
I really think it should be an organizational responsibility to pick up some of my expenses. Note that I plan on announcing at Berea (outdoor nationals) but have not been selected.
If I do get selected for Berea I plan to say that I would like to be reimbursed for both that meet and Albuquerque by one or more organizations (the Berea LOC, USATF, etc.). As for Sacramento, I think it unlikely that I will announce there, for various reasons.
PT
My impression has been that athletes who set records at nationals need do no more than make sure that the records person has all the necessary information – including birth certificate etc. At least that is what I have done in Boston especially for relay records. Those of us who have been doing this for awhile USATF has the necessary date of birth information on hand. I am very surprised to learn that a record set in Boston has not been accepted. My experience with the USATF-NE folks is that they are very much on the ball about this stuff – at national meets held at Reggie as well as other Boston/NE USATF meets. As for FAT photos – I have been told that one must have those submitted. I have been given a copy of the FAT photo when I have set records at meets in the USATF-NE region.
At other meets – it is a true crap shoot. At Hayward Field – no problem, but I have given up on having my 3k record accepted from the Maine Senior Games last July. The last I heard – unofficially – the FAT photo was missing – that it was sent in -but nothing has happened, maybe something else is missing – no clue so I give up, I am not going to beat my head against the wall about that one. Maybe I can do it again – somewhere else – this coming summer. However I will be 76 and what they say about a sharp decline in performance after age 75 is becoming very true for me. At Albuquerque I felt as if I was running up a mountain with my mouth and nose taped shut.
As for reimbursing Peter for his expenses – absolutely he should be reimbursed – and personally I will be happy to contribute to such a fund. It should come out of the meet expenses but if that is beyond hope – the athletes who benefit so much from Peter’s work, if able, should contribute to a fund.
The subject of this blog post is the magnificent photo of Martha Mendenhall and the high jump – amazing performance. Go for the gold in SAC Martha, you are a great high jumper.
Congrates Martha.. Super star performance!
Thank YOU Peter!
As you have let me know that a masters representative for USATF is looking into this for you, I will ask people to “hold fire” for right now. However, your masters friends will be ready to support you, if funds are not forthcoming from elsewhere.
Albuquerque was a great meet with great perfomances and my very first indoor meet. Thanks to all the organizers, officials, and volunteers.
Martha is a wonderful person. Fab pic! I met her at my very first outdoor meet in Eugene in 1993. She stills jumps sky high!
Seeing Stacey jump was thrilling! Good luck in securing the official record. And I hope everyone has a wonderful outdoor season.
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