Mensey, Friend-Uhl, Williams and crazy weather star at LSU Day 1
M40 Mark Williams easily won the 800 in 1:58.66. Dave Albo photo
LSU’s facility was heaven. The weather was, well, hell. Hot and humid were the words most often seen on social media, describing Baton Rouge masters nationals, where Day 1 was Thursday (and results are here). And when lightning struck at the 50th nationals, people were told to drop metal objects and head indoors. Fortunately, events including the pentathlon were able to finish up indoors. And to answer a question some may be asking: No, the USATF Masters T&F Committee had no choice. Baton Rouge was the only bidder for outdoor nationals when the pick was madeat the 2014 Anaheim annual meeting (which I attended). In any case, the local paper is picking some nice stories, and our cadre are putting on a great show for the paying viewers via usatf.tv. Dave Albo is getting his usual sensational photos, and the lady announcer sounds great. (Pete Taylor not being present this year.) Myrle Mensey’s W65 hammer win — beating her own listed AR with a final-throw 39.97 (131-1) — wasn’t mentioned in the USATF press release. But W45 Sonja Friend-Uhl’s 2:15.05 win got proper notice — being less than 2 seconds off Alisa Harvey’s AR of 2:13.67. And yeah, we want to hear all we can about 92-year-old Baton Rouge native Mary Norckauer competing in 12 events. (And 101-year-old sprinter Julia Hawkins.) Stay cool and dry, you guys.
Announcer is excellent. You can watch the whole track portion of the meet with her help and all the scoreboards’ help.
Track (and even field!) takes a back seat to no sport at LSU. We’re lucky to be here.
Tom Sputo - July 14, 2017
Yes the announcer is VERY LOUD. But the consistent nonstop babbling is distracting for the throwers. Hammer circle is nice, the officials there were top notch.
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
3 Responses
Announcer is excellent. You can watch the whole track portion of the meet with her help and all the scoreboards’ help.
Track (and even field!) takes a back seat to no sport at LSU. We’re lucky to be here.
Yes the announcer is VERY LOUD. But the consistent nonstop babbling is distracting for the throwers. Hammer circle is nice, the officials there were top notch.
8 AM Saturday the hurdles races not completed resume. The shuttle hurdle relay afterwards .. and later in the day the long hurdles.
Some high hurdles races were completed today… but not all.
They might use inside of track for hurdles and outside track for long races.
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