Myrle Mensey named USATF Athlete of the Week for two ARs

Myrle's medals.

Myrle and her medals.

W65 thrower Myrle Mensey, with the good fortune of competing the week before Olympic track begins (when U.S. elite track is on hiatus), was named USATF Athlete of the Week on Thursday. USATF’s news release had errors, but got the major stuff right. USATF wrote: “The legendary Myrle Mensey (St. Louis, Missouri) threw the meet to new heights and set two records this past weekend at the USATF Masters Throws Championships. She improved her personal record of 5,822 in the ultra pentathlon and shattered the American record by a whopping 1,790 points. The Masters Throws Championships brought forth many records and spectacular competition and was held in Lisle, Illinois at Benedictine University. The events ranged from men and women aged 30 to 89 years old. Mensey had the unique honor to compete with her coach Jessica Becker and chiropractor at the meet, who encouraged her to perform her best. “I knew what I needed to break the record and I knew that I could break the ultra pentathlon.”

USATF Indy continued:

Mensey set a notable world record of 4,780 points in the throw pentathlon and broke her own record by 26 points. Right behind her was Mary Hartzler with 4,081 points.

“My main goal was to get a good hammer throw to set the tone for the pentathlon,” Mensey said. “I was focused and trained well for the meet.”

Mensey gets double action as a track coach and competitor. She is the executive director at Growing and Throwing Foundation, started in 2008 and is focused on throwing, as well as the development of young athletes. The organization provides mentoring and training opportunities to young females between the ages of 8 to 18 years old. Her main focus is on training young female athletes and breaking national records.

“At 52, I ruptured my Achilles, so that started my throwing career and I started my training from there,” Mensey, who won her first World title in the W55-59 shot put, said.

Mensey plans on continuing her throwing career and encouraging more young women to be involved in field events. “Female throwers have a stigma and I’m trying to bridge the gap.” She lives by the motto, “Being a winner is not only achieved by breaking records, but by making good decisions in one’s daily life.”

Other notable performances:

Mary Hartzler (Winston-Salem, NC) took second place at USATF Masters Throw National Championships in the women’s 65 age division and also broke Myrle Mensey 2014 national record of 4032 with a score of 4081. She followed the same surge at the USA Masters Indoor Championships earlier in the year to place second and most throw events.

Doug Osland (Roseville, California) won the men’s 60-64 decathlon at the USATF Masters Combined Events Championships in Shoreline, Washington. Osland scored an age-graded 7,116 points, which was also the highest age-graded score in any of the age groups.

Also worth noting are annual awards given after the throws meet:

  • Lad Pataki Award for Excellence in Throwing (over an entire career) – Carl Wallin, longtime assistant coach at Dartmouth College who is one of the great throwers of all time in the masters ranks; he continues to live in Lebanon, NH, and is 74 and still throwing, running meets, and coaching masters (he retired from Dartmouth about three years ago).
  • Ken Weinbel Award for Contributions to the Masters Throwing Community – Jerry Wojcik, former editor of National Masters News and significant contributor for several decades (he is currently living in Eugene, OR, and gave up his role with NMN 10 years ago; he is now 86).

Print Friendly

August 12, 2016

2 Responses

  1. Buzz Gagne - August 12, 2016

    Congrats to Carl Wallin on his award. A humble and true competitor. Throw Far !

  2. Terry Parks - August 14, 2016

    Congratulations Myrle.

Leave a Reply