Orville Rogers is a rocket. At 90 years old, he torched a pair of age-group world records at Boston masters nationals, which concluded today. USATF’s Jill Geer did another nice roundup story for her Day 3 report. (Results are here.) Just goes to show why we love this sport. It’s unpredictable. USATF touted Jearl-Miles Clark and vaulter Paul Babits in its preview press releases. Jearl didn’t show, and Paul didn’t jump. But Orville (and many others) step up, and you have quite a meet.

Orville missed a good race in the 200, however. He scratched from the one-lapper, which saw this amazing finish:

1 242 Goldy, Champion M91 Unattached,Haddonfi 45.32
2 431 Matteson, Bob M91 Mass Velocit,Bennin 45.44

Here’s a Dallas Morning News article on Orville from October 2007:

Runner Rogers has other age groups to conquer
12:40 AM CST on Friday, November 30, 2007
Longtime runner Orville Rogers couldn’t be happier that he turned 90 on Wednesday.
Birthdays represent new age groups and new record-setting opportunities for the Dallas resident.
“I’m amazed I got here so quickly,” said Rogers, a retired Braniff Airlines pilot who has done extensive missionary work. “It seems like only a few days ago I had lots of friends my age. The irony is that a lot of your friends aren’t around to celebrate.”
Rogers’ family is. His wife of 64 years, Esther Beth, their three kids and their spouses and 11 grandchildren combined to cover 90 miles at White Rock Lake in cold, rainy conditions Saturday.
They all donned T-shirts commemorating the Orville Rogers 90-mile Legacy Run. Five looped the lake for 46.5 miles. The remaining Rogers family members ran varying lengths from one to five miles. The entire clan walked the final mile back to the Rogers’ house for cake.
Rogers credits a healthy diet and consistent exercise for his current health and well-being. He’s hoping to exceed his life expectancy, which he said he’s discovered to be 94. He overcame heart bypass surgery in 1993. He’s careful to adhere to his physicians’ recommendations.
Competition remains important to Rogers. He anticipates having the best result among 90-year-olds taking the Cooper Clinic treadmill stress test. Rogers set the 85-year-old record five years ago by staying on the treadmill more than 17 minutes. He’s hoping he can last 15 minutes next week. There’s been no previous record.
Rogers also hopes to set age-group world records on the track in the coming year. He raced earlier this month at the Lions Track and Field Relays at Round Rock McNeil High School in Austin. He ran a 1 minute, 46.65 seconds in 400-meter run, a 4:02.66 for 800 and a 9:01.63 in the 1,500.
His best shot at a world record is the 800. The men’s all-time world record for 90-94 is 4:28.20. He just needs to race in a USA Track and Field-sanctioned event to make it official.
“There aren’t too many 90-year-olds running,” he said. “My times look pretty good.”
He runs up to a mile on the soft track or does his cardio on an elliptical machine at the Baylor Tom Landry Center. He also does strength training three times a week. He works with a trainer and uses a heart rate monitor.
In his younger days, he ran a personal-best 3:39 marathon. He figures he’s logged about 37,000 miles over the years. He started running the day after reading Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s first book, Aerobics, in 1968, when he was 50.
“It really motivated me,” he said. “I’ve never regretted it.”

Here’s the USATF report on Day 3 at Boston:

90-year-old Rogers scorches 800m WR at USA Masters Indoor Championships
03-30-2008

Contact:
Jill Geer
Director of Communications
USA Track & Field
317-713-4663
BOSTON – A pair of world marks in the men’s 800 and a women’s relay record marked a busy, record-filled final day of competition Sunday at the 2008 USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Orville Rogers, a 90-year-old youngster from Dallas, set his second world and American record of the meet with his time of 4:19.97 in Sunday’s M90 800 meters. It was a huge improvement over the previous world record of 4:50.81 run by Bob Matteson one year ago at this meet. On Saturday, Rogers ran 9:56.58 in the mile.
Also in the 800 on Sunday, Joe King broke the M80 world and American record with a time of 3:07.66. He dipped under the WR of 3:08.88, held since 2005 by Rune Bergman of Sweden.
A women’s world record fell by more than 20 seconds in the 4x400m relay when the Athena Track Club team of Terri Cassel, Terri Rath, Charmaine Roberts and Kathleen Shook ran 4:17.10 to break the W40-49 record of 4:38.92 set in 2003. The Atlanta Track Club set a W50-59 American record as Linda Lowery, Trenice Mulls Dubow, Mary Richards and Lesley Chaplin-Swann ran 5:02.25.
Scores of other American records fell, particularly in the superweight throw. On the women’s side, local athlete Mary Roman of Norwalk, Mass, set a W70 American record with a throw of 7.30m/23-11.5, and Amy Hicks of Needham, Mass., did the same in W75 with a mark of 5.06m/16-7.25. Both women threw an implement weighing 20.216 pounds. David Schlothauer of Westport, Mass., set his second American record of the meet on Sunday, with a toss of 5.88m/19-3.5 in the M90 superweight (25.518 pounds).
Other superweight American records came from Lillian Snaden in W75 (5.49m/18-0.75), Carol Young in W65 (8.10m/26-7), Betty Jarvis in W90 (3.39m/11-1.5), Val McGann in M80 (7.94m/26-0.75), Robert Cahners in M65 (8.60m/28-2.75; he broke the AR in the weight throw on Friday) and William Nettles in M85 (5.72m/18-9.25).
In the men’s triple jump, Edwin Luken (Syracuse, NY) set his second AR of the meet with a mark of 7.24m/23-9.
On the track, the men’s 3,000m race walk resulted in records by Jack Bray in M75 (17:12.80) and Marvin Goldenberg in M80 (20:38.49). In the sprints, Barbara Jordan ran a W70 American record in the 200m with a blazing time of 34.38.
In record-setting earlier in the meet, the unattached U.S. team of Jerry LeVasseur, C. Christopher Rush, Joe Cordero and Bill Spencer ran 12:09.35 in the 4x800m to set a M70-79 world record.