Gary Snyder unopposed for Masters T&F chairman
A hard-fought battle for USATF president may be the only election of interest to masters track at the Reno annual meeting next month. That’s because three of four seats on the national Masters Track & Field Committee are uncontested at the moment. According to nominations chair Phil Byrne: “As of now, Gary and Janet are running unopposed, Madeline Bost and Jeff Brower for Secretary, and Carroll DeWeese for Treasurer.” That means USATF Masters T&F Chairman Gary Snyder and vice chair Janet Smith will keep their current seats, while DeWeese, a longtime Games Committee fixture, will replace Joy McDonald as treasurer without a fight. Lester Mount, who has been AWOL as secretary for months, will be replaced by either Madeline or Jeff, both very capable people.
Anyone would be an improvement over Lester as masters secretary, since he’s failed to provide minutes of the last annual meeting — 11 months ago in Hawaii.
Madeline Bost (pronounced BOAST) is an accomplished writer and columnist in New Jersey who has won national titles as a distance runner. She was USATF Masters T&F treasurer during the 1990s. She’s in her late 60s now.
Jeff Brower of Texas now serves as the masters liasion to USATF for the masters section on usatf.org. Jeff, close to turning 50, is a national-class hurdler and multi-eventer who has been pushing for changes in masters hurdle specs.
Unsure why Gary has no competition. Either everyone is happy with the job he’s doing, or nobody is interested in his gig, whose clout has been reduced under USOC-mandated restructuring of the USATF Board of Directors.
Still, if you’re interested in running for any seat on the USATF Masters T&F Committee, shoot a note to Phil Byrne.
2 Responses
Seems to me that Gary has been doing a pretty good job as masters chair. I know in the past his leadership of the New England USATF was excellent, especially for masters track and field. Without the support of the NEUSATF, the indoor nationals would be a memory by now. The recent move of the outdoor nationals to Oshkosh is also another positive event under his watch.
From listening to the rants of former masters chairs, it is a thankless job, but Gary seems to work well within the current structure. His biggest challenge in the years ahead will be making sure the voice of masters track is still heard in an increasingly professionally driven USATF.
Looking forward to seeing Gary and the other officers in Landover, Maryland, on March 20-22, 2009. Hard to believe, but our indoor championships are just 4 months and a few days away.
Entries for the indoor champs are now coming in nicely (right now, on Sunday, we have 13 entrants, with sprint superstar Oscar Peyton the headliner at this point).
Deadline for early-bird entry (with a discount!!) is November 30; deadline for regular entry (no discount) is February 23. Let’s make this the first indoor masters ever to break the 900 barrier in total entrants.
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