USATF invites YOUR picks for Masters AOY awards
The problem is age-old: Masters pick and announce Athletes of the Year (and top age-groupers) in a rushed process every December at the USATF annual meeting. The result? The winners are never present to soak up the love. Enter Dave Clingan and a long-overdue fix. Dave is the new USATF Masters T&F Awards Committee chairman, and he’s introducing a new drill: Decide the honorees earlier and celebrate them at outdoor nationals. So in August, award winners will get their plaques in person (at the Athletes Banquet) — and actually hear the cheers of their peers. That’s the plan for Orono. Only one glitch in this transitional year: The 2007 winners might be the 2006 winners. The Awards Committee (of which I’m a member) has to pick honorees by the end of April. Yup, this month.
Q&A with Milan Jamrich: American HJ record-holder
Milan Jamrich has come a long way, baby. Born May 14, 1950, in Czechoslovakia, he high-jumped 7 feet (2.13) as a young man, emigrated to America and became a citizen — and a world-class scientist. Last weekend, in his sixth or seventh nationals, he cleared 1.73 (5-8) to claim gold at Boston — and the M55 American indoor record, his first. So many record-holders, so little time. But what the hey. I sent him a quickie Q&A, and he replied just as fast. Here it is:
George Mathews calls for USATF divorce, drug tests
George Mathews, who resigned as USATF Masters T&F chair last year, let his hair down for an interview in the new issue with GeezerJock magazine editor Sean Callahan. Among other things, George confirms my earlier posts on why he quit as chair. And he also renews his call for the masters to ditch USATF and align themselves with the National Senior Games Association. The complete interview is posted below.
New mess for masters: boogered Age-Graded Tables
Houston, we have a problem. The latest set of WMA Age-Graded Tables appears to have flaws. Gary Duncan has written me about these (see way below). And Rex Harvey, the WMA’s pointman on the tables, even admits problems with scoring the latest USATF Indoor Masters Multi-event Championships (also see below). On top of all this, Chuck Phillips has come up with his own Age-Graded Tables. Chuck is one of the pioneers of masters track. In the early 1980s, he helped produce the first versions of what became the Age-Graded Tables used worldwide to help age-groupers (and race officials) judge folks of different ages.
Peter Taylor’s parting thoughts on Boston nationals
Peter Taylor waxes philosophical (and a bit nostalgic) in the final installment of reports looking back on the 2007 masters indoor nationals. His first report mentioned his announcing ordeal, and his second filing focused on many of the stars of the meet. Peter begins his third report with the question: Did we “have ourselves a track meet”? He answers: Yes, I think we did.
Tony Plaster’s response to latest Boston remarks
Tony Plaster has asked me to post the following: “1. Yes, I was getting individual lap splits from my friend after the finish line. I went there with a time goal to try and get a medal , and wanted to know if I ran slower than 41.5 at any time.”
More details on the ‘Tony Plaster disaster’ at Boston
In addition to Steve Vaitones’ version of events at Boston, I received this note from a witness (whose name I’ve chosen to withhold): “I witnessed Tony’s lap-counting misfortune, and while the officiating certainly contributed to the situation by not having enough lap counters, I would think that Tony also bears some responsibility. While there was no clock at the finish on Friday, an official at the finish line was verbally calling out the elapsed time as each runner passed, and there was also a huge overhead clock that runners could see after the first turn.”
Kathy Bergen, W65 sprinter, is first profile in a series
Kathy Bergen wasn’t at Boston. But her legacy in the indoor sprints and high jump looms large. My wife, Chris, interviewed her last season, and the resulting profile is now posted here. Chris hopes to profile other masters athletes for my Web site (and illustrate them with photos). Chris, BTW, is a former reporter for the Tucson Citizen, Chula Vista Star-News, The Vista Press, San Marcos (Calif.) Courier and Oceanside Blade-Citizen. She also was chief photographer for a weekly newspaper group based in north San Diego County. So she knows what she’s doing. I look forward to posting more of her work!
Mother of seven wins four golds, sets 2 relay records
More great stories are filtering out of Boston. Here’s one of them, shared by Julie Hayden of Athena Track Club: “Joan Hunter, a 43-year-old mother of seven from Purcellville, Virginia, won national titles in the W40 400 and 800 Meters and anchored Athena Track Club relay teams to a pending a world indoor record in the W40 4×400 . . an American indoor record in the (W35) 4×800 . . . Joan was born in D.C. and attended James Madison High School, UVA and WVU. A former state champion, she took up track racing seriously again only in 2006. Joan and her husband, Marc (a former U.S. Olympic trialist in the 5000) are planning to adopt an eighth child from China later this year!” No doubt the kids are what keep her in shape. (Or maybe running is what keeps her sane!) Great job, Joan!
March 28, 2007
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Poor officiating robs M55 runner of a Boston medal
Tony Plaster is a runner, not a whiner. So it’s not his style to complain about bad calls. But he apparently was deprived of a third-place medal at Boston. With a little egging on from a few folks, he’s confirmed the following report from one of my masters moles: “(M55) Tony Plaster of the Shore AC placed third in the 3000 Friday evening in Roxbury — fullfilling a lifetime ambition of winning an individual medal at a national championship only to be disqualified for not completing the entire distance. Plaster immediately filed a protest, which added insult to injury. He had to pay a $25 fee. His protest was denied even though he clearly was a victim of the system. Several rules were not in place at this race.”
