Shuttle hurdle teams put on super masters show at Penn Relays
A week ago Friday, the 4-by-100 shuttle hurdle relay team of Kerry Sloan, Keith McQuitters, Darnell Gatling and Damon Blakemore beat two other M50 quartets to win the first masters shuttles race ever contested at the Penn Relays. Their time of 1:02.04 (averaging 15.51) bettered the listed American record of 1:03.15 in 2013. (But a pending mark of 1:01.81 with Kerry and Darnell in the mix is pending from Winston-Salem nationals in 2014.) In any case, the video below is amazing. It shows an exciting race with USA Red in the lead from the start, but not certain until the final leg. The time was icing, but the cake was competition. Look for Penn to repeat the event.
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Congratulations to all of our wonderful hurdlers, including Keith McQuitter, who played a big part in getting this race on the Penn Relays agenda and then ran a terrific second leg in the event itself.
The acceptance (or rejection) of masters records continues to interest me, and thus I will point out a couple of things (some might argue that this is a personal obsession, but as long as it’s a challenge to process a record at a big meet, I will continue the discussion).
1. According to the Penn Relays, the winner ran 1:02.04 FAT. I hand-timed the winner twice from the video and got 1:01.84 and 1:01.87. These times accord very well with the FAT and provide no room for suspicion, silly as that would be, that someone at Penn simply “made up” the time.
2. I noticed on the video that there were three starters (the actual starter plus two recall starters). No one was going to get away with a false start.
My question: Can’t we simply say that any winning time at the Penn Relays that betters an American or world mark goes right into the books as an official record?
What, you say, wouldn’t that be borderline criminal to establish such a policy? Well, just imagine how hard it would have been for Sloan, McQuitter, Gatling, and Blakemore to have obtained ALL of the following that day:
1. Results of the zero control test.
2. Copy of the photo finish.
3. Complete results of this race.
4. Signature of the starter.
5. Signature of the FAT chief.
6. Signature of the referee (as far as I know, Penn does not even have a masters referee). How could Sloan and company have found the right person to sign the form when the position doesn’t even exist?
BTW, I personally took charge of processing the record at Penn, because I knew it would have been impossible for the hurdlers to do that. But what about other meets in which the competitors themselves have to take care of their record application? And what if at Penn that day I didn’t get everything that was required?
I wonder what others have to say about this.
im thrilled for the hurdlers…i’ve known keith for many years and am so happy that he was able to put this together..i found out yesterday that i need a new left hip, so i don’t know if my 47 year streak competing is in jeopardy..the past few years have been tough, and it was hard to not be a part of the relay, but the joy of watching helped . penn has been bitterswet for me..as a sophmore at seton hall in 1974 i ran 3rd leg of the shuttle hurdle relay, and we were leading Penn , when our anchor joe myatt (who beat bruce collins in the open hurdles earlier that day ) pulled lame and hit the ground over the 6th hurdle resulting in DNF…
I continue to share Peter Taylor’s masters records concerns. In return for being a “sanctioned” (i.e. approved) USATF meet, meet directors should be the ones responsible for ensuring that all record requirements are met, not the athletic. As Peter notes, the list of record approval requirements is more daunting than running the shuttle-hurdle relays.
And a short note to Al Cestero. See if you can “track” down Michael Janusey, USA (M58). He is a running jumping masters multi-events marvel with (I believe) two hip replacements. There should be a separate inspiration performance list for masters competitors with hip/knee/shoulder replacements (and maybe heart attacks/by-passes, etc.)
m45 Team is going to put the WR below 59 sec.
Derek Pye
Don Drummond
Rod Jett
Charles Johnson
Stay healthy guys….
Great Job to my fellow hurdlers
If it’s an all star team I have no problem with accepting times run there as records. I do however, have a problem with club records being set there. I know for a fact that teams substitute people not on their USATF registered club when someone either no shows or get’s injured and no one checks to see if the four people listed on that club team on the entries are in fact the four that run on the relay. It’s too losey goosey for me. I think for it to be legit someone has to check the entry sheets against who actually runs in the line up on race day.
to dave: thanks for info..i tried to contact mike , but couldn’t through the rankings…any help is appreciated…plus to pete: your efforts are appreciated for all you have done and continue to do for all competitors especially hurdlers..:)
Thanks, Al. Yes, I’ve helped a few hurdlers over the years, and I’ve announced quite a number of them as well. Won’t be doing too much more of the latter, however, as we have entered a new era.
Looking back, I can’t believe I was paid to fly out to Honolulu to announce nationals in 2005; there is no way that a comparable journey would be financed today. In fact, I don’t believe anyone would pay me to travel any more than 500 miles in today’s climate.
I’ve announced 32 nationals, Al, 1 worlds (Buffalo, 1995), and 2 North Americans, but the combination of excessive costs to put on a big meet and my own advancing decrepitude guarantees that I will never hit the magic number of 35. I’ll bet, however, that even the late, great Al Sheahen did not announce as many big meets as I have. I say that with all due respect for Al.
Looking at this video has given me enough incentive. I promise you that American record will be obliterated at the next Penn Relays
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