Dates and place of 2016 Michigan masters nationals confirmed

Lou Andreadis

Lou da man

It’s not too early to talk 2016 masters nationals. (In fact, I’m urging my 87-year-old dad to put the shot at Grand Rapids, since he lives west of Detroit.) But some folks are asking about the relatively early dates: July 14-17, 2016. So I wrote the head guy. “My name is Lou Andreadis, and I will be the Meet Manager for next year’s championship,” he replied this week. “To answer your questions: Yes, those dates are correct, and yes, that is our track that will be used.  We look forward to have you come to Grand Rapids next year.” Grand Valley State University’s track is shared with lacrosse, but not football. More photos of the track are here.

Grand Valley State University will host 2016 masters nationals.

Grand Valley State University will host 2016 masters nationals in mid-July.


 

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July 28, 2015

16 Responses

  1. Liz Palmer - July 28, 2015

    http://www.westmisports.com/sites/default/files/gvsu_-_outdoor_track_specs.pdf

    This is a very helpful fact sheet of the facility with lots of competition area pictures.

    http://www.westmisports.com/sites/default/files/original_track_diagram.pdf

    Here’s a diagram of the layout of the facility. GVSU hosted the 2015 NCAA DII track and field championships. The venue looks fantastic.

  2. Peter L. Taylor - July 28, 2015

    I think this will be a very nice meet. One thing I hope they improve is the schedule, in at least two ways:

    1. Have a more detailed final schedule. In Jacksonville, there were nine 200 finals for men listed for 10:00 AM; it would be nice to have more precision there.

    2. More important, Jacksonville did something I have never seen before — they ran the 200 finals for men out of age order. It was on the schedule that way, but the other track announcer and I both missed it. Unbelievably, here was the final schedule for 10:00 AM in the men’s 200 finals:

    M70
    M65
    M60
    M45 !!!!!!!
    M55
    M50
    M40
    M35
    M30

    Even though this odd order was on the schedule, we both missed it. Who ever heard of running M45 right after M60 and then going up to M55? In more than three decades of masters I had never seen this before.

    It was very, very hard to announce in Jacksonville, for more reasons than I care to divulge. I’m hoping to make amends to some degree in Grand Rapids, assuming I will announce there. I would hate to go out on such a bad note.

  3. Mary Harada - July 29, 2015

    would be nice if they did not cram the 800, 1500, and 5k onto the first two days of the meet – that leaves folks such as myself wondering if I should pretend to be a sprinter and sign up for a sprint event on Saturday – or just go home Friday night and skip the rest of the meet. I cannot turn myself into a sprinter – and I cannot run the 800 5k back to back any more – unless I just shuffle around the track looking foolish. And then try the 1500 the next day. But then I am now at the age where I am slow enough that maybe I look foolish no matter how the events are scheduled. I am not one of those who just signs up for a bunch of things just to “participate”. I sign up for events in which I hope to be competitive. This is not the local senior games where participation is the goal. And I belong to a very small club so “getting points” is not the end game.

  4. Tom Sputo - July 29, 2015

    Facility looks nice. One concern is if the hammer circle is used for weight, there is quite a bit of concrete in front of the rear 7 foot circle. I can see weights bouncing off the concrete. Perhaps one of the shot circles can be converted with a portable cage, or another weight circle constructed like was done in 2014 at Wake Forest. But, the facility looks top grade and I’m sure that this will be addressed.

  5. Courtland Gray - July 29, 2015

    Maybe a northern locale will stop all the carping about heat. After all, masters track is a summer sport, and the nationals are always in July and August. It gets hot everywhere. It’s not San Diego.

    Also, I had thought that we had a more standardized schedule for the national meet, rather than each meet director re-inventing a schedule having never put on a masters meet and not knowing the propensities for doubles and triples as Mary H. succinctly posted. (I always enjoy Mary’s posts, always constructive and from a personal point of view.)
    It’s going to be 104 here in Dallas Thursday. Maybe we should host a meet here and see who shows.

  6. Barry Warmerdam - July 29, 2015

    The track looks very good, but it looks like the majority of the field events will be held outside of the facility, including my event (javelin). I would prefer a facility in which the competition was not broken apart in this way…this kind of leaves the field events out in the cold (or maybe the heat!).

  7. David E. Ortman (M62), Seattle, WA - July 29, 2015

    Courtland: Yes, one would think that there would be a standard meet schedule by now, instead of treating us like mushrooms and keeping us in the dark at the entry deadline. It would be great to see you again. How about having Dallas bid in 2018?

  8. Jerry Bookin-Weiner - July 30, 2015

    Some responses to earlier comments posted here:

    1. The LOC doesn’t determine the schedule (or in fact have anything to do with it or the actual running of the meet). The schedule is developed and determined by the Games Committee. As a former LOC chair for the indoor meet I am acutely aware of this. Any comments/suggestions about the schedule should be addressed to the Games Committee and/or MTF Executive Committee, not to the LOC. The LOC’s role is to see that everything is in place for the Games Committee to conduct the meet and to see to the logistics for the athletes (housing, transportation, facilities being in order, packets being prepared, officials being selected, etc). That being said, there were issues with the schedule in Jacksonville that need addressing and I hope they will be for Grand Rapids – for example, it makes no sense to have the hammer and weight throws separated by two days when some athletes come only for those two events. I know several who either had to choose one or the other (or stay home) or bite the bullet to pay for two “down” days in the middle of the meet.

    2. To Tom Sputo’s point about the distance from the circle to the grass and its impact on the weight throw, we had a somewhat similar situation in Jacksonville. In that case a very proactive Games Committee and Throwing Events Referee made sure the concrete was covered with rubber padding when we all showed up for the weight throw competitions on Sunday. Presumably the same can/will be the case in Grand Rapids.

    3. While I too would prefer that as many of the throws be in the infield as possible, the sad reality is that more and more fields are now covered by field turf making that impossible. As the Grand Valley meet director notes, the facility is shared with the school’s lacrosse team, and more and more lacrosse fields are turf. The close proximity we had in Oshkosh is about the best we can expect in those circumstances.

  9. Mike - July 30, 2015

    Jerry’s point #2 – most, if not all, of the throwing circles @GVSU have a concrete “collar”. Indeed, putting down padding was discussed before bidding. The only field events to be contested inside the fence will be LJ, TJ, PV, HJ. The JV runway is a synthetic surface and double ended, the jav can be thrown in either direction. Portable, temporary circles will need to be utilized.

    Mike Travers

  10. Christel Donley - July 30, 2015

    Consider this a HEADLINE, PLEASE! for our JAX meet!

    The Games committee did an unbelievable great job.
    Anybody watching Bill Murray, Jim Flanik, “Uncle Len” and Rex Harvey working, and I mean WORKING” PHYSICALLY,should thank them. Just setting up hurdles – all different spacing and heights – in that heat…
    I draw my hat (kept it on most of the time).

    Did I mention the literally countless VOLUNTEERS,
    what a blessing.

    The medical tent was perfectly equipped, great, helpful trainers.

    All together, there are many praises to sing!
    Don’t know what went on “behind the curtains”?

    I value all the other remarks and helpful points.
    The question is: how much can we improve? and what else will come up that creates a problem?

    Off to the next year!

    And to all the officials: nothing but praise and a BIG THANK YOU..

  11. Christel Donley - July 30, 2015

    And YES, Pete Taylor’s announcing:

    If anybody has his knowledge of athletes performing,
    his trying to cover a multitude of events.
    HIGH Up on the “Olymp”, where one could hardly see a
    name on the bib – let alone a hip number.
    Binoculars were a MUST, then step up – and try your luck!

    If we want field events covered, we need an announcer – more than one – with all the events going at the same time – at the events!

    Thanks Pete, for a – at times – thankless job.

  12. Peter L. Taylor - July 30, 2015

    Thank you very much, Christel. Yes, in truth we were “too high up.” Even with binoculars we had trouble identifying people. I will never again announce a meet from a press box, especially one as high up as this one.

    Oddly enough, I announced from a press box in Oshkosh (2009) and did fine, but that press box must not have been so high up.

    As far as field events, we had an experienced announcer to cover those events (and nothing else) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The fact that he could not provide much coverage just underscores how hard that job is.

    A third announcer, Mr. Dunning, did quite a few of the track events and also provided a little coverage of the high jump when Chaunte Lowe was performing.

    My conclusion: We need two field events announcers, one track announcer, and an “announcer’s assistant” to stand by the track announcer. It’s simply unrealistic for a track announcer to handle dozens of incoming calls on a walkie-talkie while simultaneously announcing a meet (note: I answered as few as I could).

    In conclusion, Christel, I thank you for your plaudits. Jacksonville was a struggle for me, but I have struggled elsewhere (Winston-Salem 2014, Spokane 2008, Baton Rouge 2001, to name three other outdoor meets).

  13. Fidel B. - July 31, 2015

    Not enough trees in GVS…:-). Sorry…nit-picking…:-).

  14. Rudy Vlaardingerbroek - August 5, 2015

    What is the address of the Games Commitee to whom I can ask questions?

  15. Janie Philpott - April 10, 2016

    When is the entry deadline and there is no application to fill out except for the officials. How do we register? How much is each event and where is all that information listed? Is it to early to have that posted on the website? It is APRIL

  16. Janie Philpott - April 10, 2016

    Need to know the deadline for entry and how do you register and also the fees. Thanks in advance!

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