Texas Relays won’t mosey over a little for masters
The Texas Relays form the opening leg of the Midwest Relays circuit, which includes Kansas and Drake. But unlike the Lawrence and Des Moines events, masters arenât welcome in Austin. So learned M40 sprinter John Simpson when he politely asked Texas officials to add a masters 100, 200 and/or 4Ă100 masters relay. They said, âSorry, podnah.â Actually, what Texas Relays meet director Doug Wilson wrote John was: âWe have been approached a number of times about adding some Master Events to the Relays, but due to the schedule, we donât want to add any more events, and we do cater to the High School and Collegiate teams, so if we added anything, and we havenât for a while, it would be in those divisions.â
Boston indoor nationals info posted — up to a point
Itâs an interesting indoor season, where the worlds come before nationals. So be it. But moving right along, the Boston masters nationals folks have unveiled their 2008 Web site. But the entry form PDF isnât posted yet. Neither is the page on âspecific eligibility requirementsâ at the USATF National website. But the key info is the schedule, which is now online here. This will be the last masters nationals for Boston for a while, since the 2009 meet moves to Maryland. And 2010 hasnât been assigned.
Big names entered in Hartshorne miles Saturday
Masters record-holders John Hinton, Anselm LeBourne, Nolan Shaheed, Frank Condon, Alisa Harvey, Patti Ford, Carolyn Smith-Hanna and Patty Blanchard are among the entrants in the Hartshorne Masters Miles this Saturday in Ithaca, New York. Tom Hartshorne, son of the founder, provided the lists below and writes: âHere are the fields assembled for the 41st running of the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile at Cornellâs Barton Hall. . . . Peter Taylor will be introducing the athletes and giving the play by play of each race. Hopefully, our club site (at Fingerlakesrunners.org) will have the results posted soon after.â
$500 prize promised winner of masters 800 Challenge
Doug Thompson, a respectable 800-meter man, informs us of the second annual running of the SISU 800 Meter Challenge Race on March 8. He writes: âThis is an attempt to get a regional âelite mastersâ competition to Mesa, Arizona, a few weeks before indoor nationals. Iâm funding $500 in first prize money through my foundation, and it looks like weâll have some shoe sponsors as well (details on www.SISU800.com). We hope to continue to increase the prize money in the next few years so that we can make this very attractive to masters 800-meter runners. Last year we had a great field, all from Arizona, and set several State records. We should shortly have some pictures up from last yearâs race on the web page.â
M50 McBarnette ups own American indoor HJ record
New year, same old Bruce McBarnette. On Dec. 16, Bruce â an attorney/actor/real estate tycoon in Loudon County, Virginia â set an M50 American indoor record in the high jump with a mark of 1.86 meters. On Sunday, he added a centimeter, making it 1.87 (6-1 1/2). The latest leap came at the same site as the previous: the Prince Georgeâs Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Maryland. Bruce is rounding into fine shape for French indoor worlds in mid-March. Heâs won four world age-group titles, but his fifth isnât guaranteed because of the presence of American teammates Jim Barrineau, an Olympian and former M40 world record holder, and Peter Hlavin of Los Angeles, who went 1.80 twice last year outdoors.
Hacker new president of World Masters Athletics
As expected, Monty Hacker of South Africa has taken over as president of World Masters Athletics. He succeeds Italyâs Cesare Beccalli, who died of a heart attack last month in Brazil. Monty thus becomes the first Southern Hemisphere prez of WMA. The WMA Web site reports: âFollowing upon the death of our President, Cesare Beccalli, our Executive Vice President Monty Hacker has assumed the office of President in an acting capacity until the next General Assembly (Lahti FIN 2009), in accordance with the provisions of clause 7 (b) (ii) of the WMA constitution. In accordance with IAAF precedent he will continue to retain his office as WMA Executive Vice President. He will however delegate certain of his Executive Vice-Presidential functions to one or more Council members, in order to reduce his executive work load.â
German tops American’s new M55 world PV record
Sorry, Jeff. Wolfgang Ritte has entered the room. The same day M55 Jeff Kingstad thought he was upping his own world indoor record in the vault, German world champion Ritte was putting it appreciably higher someplace in Deutschland. According to results posted on Annette and Robert Koopâs site, Wolfgang cleared 4.20 meters (13-9 1/4) â just five days after turning double nickels. (That translates to a 5.72, or 18-9 1/4, on the Age-Graded Tables.) So who will end the season uber alles? Wolfie is among 333 Germans listed as entrants at French worlds in March. Jeff isnât listed as an entrant. But he has the luxury of competing at Boston nationals AFTER the Clermont-Ferrand meet and can see what mark he has to surpass. Who will be the first to 4.27 (14 feet)? Go get âem, Jeff!
Vacancies near the top and all around USATF Masters T&F
This coming December, Gary Snyderâs two-year term ends as chairman of the USATF Masters Track & Field Committee. I donât know if heâll run for a full four-year term, but I do know this: Our organizational directory shows a slew of vacancies. According to this list, we lack a national vice chair for masters track and two regional coordinators (Midwest and Northwest). Januaryâs National Masters News shows Janet McCarty-Smith of Tulsa as the current vice chair and two folks in the âmissingâ coordinator slots. But if NMN is right, why is the official USATF site wrong?
Jearl Miles Clark making a bid for fifth Olympics at 41?
Four-time Olympian Jearl Miles Clark, known for her 800 and 4Ă4 prowess, ran the 400 in 58.40 yesterday at the University of Kentucky. Here are results. She turns 42 in September. The listed W40 indoor WR is 56.82 by Hollandâs Tilly Verhoef-Jacobs. The American age-group record is 57.40 by Lesia Batiste. Jearl, who hasnât recorded a mark since 2005, might be thinking Beijing.
About 200 kick off indoor season at Dartmouth
Iâm told that 200 masters athletes took part Friday in the 33rd annual masters meet held in conjunction with the Dartmouth Relays in Hanover, New Hampshire. Results are posted. Craig Fram, 49, ran the 1500 in a wonderful 4:30.99, a time that would have ranked No. 2 on the 2007 U.S. list. Most of the entrants were New Englanders, but M55 hurdler/jumper Jim Broun and M60 hurdler/vaulter Joe Johnston came all the way from Florida. And M45 thrower Ken Jansson journeyed from Wichita, Kansas. Kenâs weight throw of 15.98 (52-05 1/4) was among the meetâs top marks.