Donald Watson - M55 Jumper

By Bob Burns

 

It took Donald Watson 55 years to claim his first national title.

Once he got the first one out the way, it took less than 24 hours for him to win his second.

Watson, a computer systems analyst from Danville, won the M55 high jump at the USA Masters Indoors Track & Field Championships in Boston. The following day, he added another national title in the M55 triple jump

“I’m happy to be 55,” Watson said. “In the 50-54 age group, the competition seemed to get better each year.”

Watson led a strong Pacific Association at the USA Masters Indoor Championships, held March 26-28 at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center. Joining Watson in the winner’s circle were James Hollister (Turlock), Jane Simpson (Chico), James Beckett (Vacaville) and Gary Sims (Paradise).

Simpson claimed three gold medals in the W65 classification, winning the 60-meter hurdles, long jump and pentathlon Hollister won pentathlon and triple jump titles in the M65 division. Sims won the M70 400 meters, and Beckett finished first in the M70 3,000-meter race walk.

Watson qualified for the California state meet in the high jump while also competing in swimming at Carson High School in Southern California. His college track career was notable only for its brevity.

“I planned to jump in college, but on the first day of practice, the coach had me run laps,” Watson said. “That didn’t excite me too much, so I never went back.”

Several decades later, he returned to the sport, entering a couple of senior meets in 2006. He began competing regularly the following year.

At this year’s USA Masters Indoor Championships, Watson won the high jump with a perfect string of clearances at 5 feet, 5 inches. In the triple jump the following day, he won by more than three feet with a best mark of 36-9½.

“This was the fourth year in a row that I improved my triple jump over the previous year,” Watson said. “My goal was to jump 11 meters (36-1¼), and I did it on four of my six jumps. My actual placing was secondary to the personal improvement.”

For Hollister, a 20-time national champion, the two gold medals he won in Boston were special in that he had to miss last year’s outdoor nationals with an injury.

“It was a long time coming back,” said Hollister, who won the M65 pentathlon and triple jump in Boston. “I continue to enjoy competition when I’m not injured.”

Hollister, a San Jose native, competed collegiately at Azusa Pacific and Northwest Nazarene, entering practically every event to help the team score points.

“You know, a jack of all trades, master of none,” Hollister said. “But I learned so much from each event and had a ball doing it.”

Hollister credits his 30-plus years as a junior high school coach in Turlock for motivating him to stay in shape and continue competing.

“I learned to break things down so I could teach in sequential progression because all students don’t start at the same level,” Hollister said. “Continuing to coach after retiring helps to remind of things I can work on to be my best.”

Sims is also coming off an injury-plagued season. He enjoyed a breakout 2008 season, competing in the Penn Relays, where he and his Sprint Force American teammates set a world record in the M70 400-meter relay. But he pulled a hamstring in January 2009 and suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee while trying to come back. He wound up missing the entire outdoor season.

“I took three and a half months off and didn’t step on the track,” Sims said. “The spring coach at Paradise High School helped me this winter, and I was able to train on the bad leg.”

In Boston, Sims placed second in the 60 meters and 200 meters before winning the 400 meters in 67.32.

“My times were kind of slow, but considering the layoff with no races, I probably ran pretty well,” said Sims, who in 2008 clocked times of 13.51, 27.87 and 64.99.

Beckett was a quarter-miler at Wabash College in the late 1950s. He didn’t begin race walking until he was 60 and needed several years to find his stride. He set a national age-group for M70 in the 3,000-meter walk last August, clocking 17:26.9. Beckett covered the same distance in Boston in 17:42.96, winning by more than two minutes.

Closer to home, Beckett, Sims, Hollister and Watson all plan to compete in the 2010 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships (July 22-25) in Sacramento. They also intend to compete in the 2011 World Masters Athletics (WMA) Championships in Sacramento. Health permitting, of course.

“Participating in masters track is fun and self-motivating,” Watson said. “I hope the gods will allow me to do this for many more years. I encourage anyone with any interest in participating to just go out and do it.”