Poor Dexter McCloud. He ties or breaks the M45 world indoor record in the 60 hurdles twice in a day at Linz, and a week later Karl Smith lowers the mark even further. So it went on Day 2 of the Boston masters nationals. Dexter’s 8.22 at the WMA world meet broke Colin Williams’ 4-year-old record of 8.36. Then Karl goes 8.18 Saturday. Dex hardly had time to savor the WR.

Even more impressive was the 6.90 clocked by Aaron Thigpen in the M40 60-meter dash, smashing a venerable American record (6.97) by Olympian Eddie Hart that had stood since 1990. (The M40 world record is 6.81 by Holland’s Troy Douglas.)
Anywho, USATF’s Jill Geer had some cute riffs on records in her Day 2 report from Boston (but forgive her occasional gaffes on records):
BOSTON – Jazz trumpeter Nolan Shaheed kept up an allegro tempo on the track Saturday, breaking the world record the men’s 55-59 mile during the second day of competition at the 2006 USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Shaheed’s record was one of no fewer than six pending world records and 17 pending American records set on the day, including one by local star Mary Harada of West Newton, Mass.
Wonderful World Marks
A resident of Pasadena, Calif., former trumpeter for Count Basie, and a member of the National Masters Track & Field Hall of Fame, Shaheed added the M55 indoor mile WR in his new age group, having previously inserted his name throughout the M50 record book. Shaheed’s time of 4:42.89 on Saturday easily surpassed the previous WR of 4:49.33 set by Alston Brown of Jamaica in 2004.
Mary Harada added local flavor with her world record in the W70 mile. The 70-year-old clocking a time of 7:12.59 to break the world mark of 7:19.44, set by American Toshiko D’Elia in 2001.
The sprints also saw their share of world marks as Kathy Bergen of La Canada, Calif, broke the W65 world record. Her time of 9.27 snuck under the listed mark of 9.29 by Gertrude Reichart of Germany, set in 2004. Robert Whilden of Houston, Texas, broke the M70 world record in the M70 dash, his time of 8.20 besting German Bruno Kimmel’s time of 8.22 from 2004.
Karl Smith of Silver Spring, Md., posted an impressive WR in the M45 60-meter hurdles. Already the record holder in the 40 age group, Smith ran 8.18 on Saturday to break the WR of 8.36, set by Colin Williams of the United States in 2002.
The Merrimack Valley Striders set a pending WR in the W30-39 4x800m relay with their time of 10:00.68, but the Athena Track Club ran even faster in the W40-49 relay, their time of 9:55.86 setting a pending American record. An ad-hoc team in the women’s 50-59 relay ran 10:36.50 for another AR.
Living the American (Record) Dream
American records fell like the consumer confidence index during a recession, led by Paul Heitzman of Eudora, Kan., who claimed his second American record of the meet, this time in the M75 mile (6:23.95). Other records on the track included Aaron Thigpen of Brentwood, Calif., in the M40 60-meter dash (6.90); and Lesley Chaplin-Swann of McDonough, Ga., in the M45 mile (5:08.81). David Buysse of Carmel, Ind., also bettered the listed American record in the M35 mile with his time of 4:35.71.
Records in the field were posted by Bruce McBarnette of Sterling, Va., in the M45 high jump (1.95m/6-4.75); Tom Lagenfeld of Edina, Minn., in the M70 high jump (1.41m); Gary Hunter of Fort Wayne, Ind., in the M50 pole vault (4.40m/14-5.25); George Joachim of Fort Wayne, Ind., in the M35 long jump (6.55m/21-6); and Mary Roman, 70, of Norwalk, Ct., in the W70 shot put (8.01m/26-3.5);
400m drama
The 400 meters provided some fierce competition, including a rematch of the M60 gold and silver bronze medalists from the 2006 World Masters Athletics Championship Indoor, held one week ago in Linz, Austria. Roger Pierce of Essex, Mass., led throughout the race in Boston, setting a torrid pace. But the tall and lanky gold medalist, Peter Crombie of Australia, surged ahead in the final straight to win in a thrilling finish in 57.62. Pierce crossed the line in 58.12. In the 60m dash, Pierce (8.07) got the best of Crombie (8.12), but they both finished behind winner Stan Whitley (7.86) of Alta Loma, Calif.
Former NCAA 1,500m champion Alisa Harvey of Manassas, Va., sought to add another record to her growing list of masters marks. Already owning the world indoor marks at 800 meters and the mile, Harvey’s lightning fast first 200 meters might have caught up with her. Beginning to slow a bit in the final stretch, she finished in 57.81, just off of Lesia Batiste’s world and American record of 57.40.
The 400 also saw the elder statesman of masters track & field, 92-year-old Max Springer of Knoxville, Tenn., run 2:14.91.
More records
In competition late Friday night, Franklin “Bud” Held of Del Mar, Calif., broke the WR in the M75 pole vault with a clearance of 2.90m/9-6.25, breaking American Carol Johnston’s mark of 2.82m/9-3 that had stood since 1988. 42-year-old Pamela Swan of Bowdoin, Maine, did the same in the W40 pole vault (2.82m/9-3). William Garrahan, 76, of Narragansett, R.I., added an American record in the M75 weight throw Friday night with a mark of 13.23m/43-5.
Me again:
A few corrections to Jill’s report.
— Bruce McBarnette didn’t come near the American record of 2.04 (6-8 1/4) in the M45 high jump, which Dennis Lewis made earlier this year (and is listed as pending on the USATF Web site). Also, Bruce fell short of his own M45 PR: 1.96 at Linz.
— Gary Hunter’s 4.40 vault in the M50 group is short of the 2003 indoor jump of 4.41 by Jeff Kingstad — and it ties the 4.40 by 1976 Olympian (and my KU track teammate) Terry Porter in 2004.
— Tony Young has run 4:05.51 indoors for an M40 mile (on an “oversized” track), and the listed M40 American record is 4:11 by Bill Stewart in 1983, so I have a hard time believing that “David Buysse of Carmel, Ind., … bettered the listed American record in the M35 mile with his time of 4:35.71.” (The listed record is 4:37.53 by Chris Yorges at last year’s Boise nationals.)
in In fact, in 2005 alone, these folks recorded faster indoor miles in the M35 age group:
4:28.29 STIRLING INCE (032)
4:29.29 ERIC GREEN (151)
4:32.16 JASON CAKOUROS (046)
And in 2003, Yorges himself had a faster indoor mile in the M35 age group: 4:31.48.
— Along those same lines, Jill writes about an American indoor record set by “George Joachim of Fort Wayne, Ind., in the M35 long jump (6.55m/21-6).” Oops! George already has a mark of 6.74 (22-1 1/2) from a Michigan meet in late January. And don’t get me started on elites. (Larry Myricks jumped 8.45 (27-8 3/4) indoors at age 33.)
— Contrary to Jill’s report, the indoor world W40 record in the 400 isn’t 57.40 by Lesia Batiste. It’s 56.82 by Holland’s Tilly Verhoef, set way back in 1997.
— Watch your P’s and Q’s, Jill (especially your M’s and W’s). She wrote: “Lesley Chaplin-Swann of McDonough, Ga., in the M45 mile (5:08.81)” Lesley changed citizenship (from British to American) recently, but she’s still a woman.
— And on Day 1 of the meet, Jill wrote: “Johnnye Valien of Los Angeles made the most of entering the W80 age division by breaking the listed WR in the pole vault with a clearance of 1.25m/4-5, besting American Margaret Hinton’s 2002 mark of 1.20m/3-11.25.” Actually, JV jumped 1.35 — and fell short of her own W80 record of 1.40 set in Linz a week earlier.
Some interesting side notes:
— Pamela Swan of Bowdoin, Maine, did raise the W40 vault record to 2.82 (9-3) — but she’s still short of the W45, W50 and W60 American records!
— Phil Raschker, probably still nursing her injuries from San Sebastian worlds, was an unlikely third in the W55 60-meter dash. When was the last time that happened?