Our fantasy long jump: M100s James Kales vs. Leland McPhie

Jim also does discus, javelin and shot.

This weekend, an entrant in the Florida Senior Games is James Kales, who turned 100 this fall. A Wall Street Journal blogger wrote of Jim: “On Kales’s flight to his Florida winter home from his Michigan summer home, the pilot announced that a passenger would soon turn 100. Everyone aboard sang Happy Birthday. The airline had a cheerful attendant meet him with a wheelchair. He declined. ‘I don’t need that,’ he told the attendant.” Jim also was entered in tennis this week but pulled out with an illness. Me hopes he’ll be good to go in the long jump. Then we could envision a showdown between SoCal TC M100 Leland McPhie vs. Jim in the oldest horizontal jump contest in history. I’ve heard that Leland is pretty frail of late, but sometimes the idea of a rival can incite you to train and overcome adversity. Jim is supposedly pointing to 2015 National Senior Games. How cool if we could get Leland out there as well?

We also learn:

Kales continues to play tennis and go dancing several times a week, and to bowl occasionally as well. He is preparing for the Florida Senior Games in December, where he plans to compete in tennis and in field events such as javelin, long jump and discus. He is getting ready for the next National Games, in July.