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Masters LDR athletes at the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships
A record turnout of Masters LDR athletes boosted the fields at the recent USATF Masters Outdoor Championships in Ames, Iowa. Across all age divisions, there were a total of 110 registered athletes for the 5,000-meter event and 92 registered for the 10,000! Masters athletes are racing again! There were some terrific, competitive races. Read about them at the Running Professor’s blog: http://www.runningprof.com/.
Join us on our August 12 Masters LDR Ambassador Call
In December of last year, we launched our Masters LDR Ambassador calls. The purpose of these calls is to provide real-time communication about our Masters LDR national championships. The participation so far has been terrific, with over 150 participants from 75 clubs across the nation.
Our next call is scheduled from 7-8:00 pm (EDT) on Thursday, August 12. We will be discussing additional details for the USATF Masters 12 km Championship on September 19, the USATF Masters 5 km Cross Country Championship in Boston on October 17, and the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee on December 11. We will also discuss the calendar for 2022, including a preview by the race directors for the USATF Masters 5 km championship in Atlanta on February 26 and the USATF Masters 10 Mile Championship in Sacramento on April 3. You can register for the call at our website (usatfmasters.org).
2021 USATF Masters National Grand Prix Remaining Schedule
- Based on early registrations, it looks like we will have a great turnout at the USATF Masters 12k Championships as part of By Hook or By Crook 12k in Sandy Hook, NJ on September 19. Run along the beach on a lightning-fast course and join the post-race party at Rory’s Pub. This is a great time of year to visit Sandy Hook and you can access New York City by car or ferry in an hour. Click here to register for the event.
- We return to XC racing with the USATF Masters 5 km Cross Country Championship at the historic Franklin Park Course in Boston, MA on October 17. Championships have been contested on this turf for over a hundred years! Fall colors should be vibrant and its always a good time to discover the Freedom Trail around Boston, celebrating the birth of America.
- Finally, the USATF Club Cross Country Championships will be held at the world class Apalachee Regional Park XC course in Tallahassee, FL on December 11. If you have never run this course, you are really missing something. Join your fellow Masters runners at the largest Masters LDR event of the year.
Points for the 2020-2021 Masters National Grand Prix can be earned by running the USATF Masters 12 km Championships and the USATF Masters 5 km Cross Country Championship and there will be a special Grand Prix award ceremony on December 11 in Tallahassee following the USATF Club Cross Country Championships. We also reduced the maximum races that individuals and teams can score from the normal five to two for the 2020/2021 Grand Prix because of the number of events. In total, there are four events eligible, including the two upcoming races mentioned above.
2022 Masters LDR Schedule – The Best in our History
For 2022, we have arguably the best schedule of events in our history with 10 Championship Road Race and XC Events. Our Grand Prix scoring for 2022 will begin at the Club Cross Championships in Tallahassee on December 11, 2021 and conclude with the 5 km Cross Country Championships in Boulder, Colorado. The Grand Prix awards will then be presented at the Club Cross Country Championships in San Francisco on December 10, 2022. The rules and scoring for the Grand Prix are posted at www.usatfmasters.org.
Get vaccinated for COVID-19 and safely enjoy USATF National events
USATF Masters is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all competing athletes. We are encouraging all participants to get vaccinated. If you have not been vaccinated 14 days before an event, then you must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 7 days of the event. All races must comply with local state and county guidelines. You can learn more about the COVID-19 protections for all USATF races at www.usatf.org/covid19.
Wanted: Assistant Web Editor for USATF Masters Website
The USATF Masters Communications Subcommittee is looking for a volunteer who is passionate about Masters long distance running to help maintain and develop their website, www.usatfmasters.org.
A basic knowledge of WordPress is helpful, but also they can teach you. The time involved is 8-12 hours a month. Once the racing season begins, we will be updating the website weekly with timely posts before and after each championship.
For more information, contact Bruce Kirschner, MLDR Communications Subcommittee Chair, at [email protected].
Message from Jerry Bookin-Weiner, USATF Masters Track & Field Committee Chair
The 2021 USATF Outdoor Championships are now in the books. With 1,051 athletes entered, it was our largest outdoor championships since 2014. It also seemed to have a significantly larger share of first-time participants than normal, though there were plenty of our long-time members there as well.
A huge shout out to USATF Iowa and the Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau for putting together such a great meet in just a little over three months. We couldn’t have had better hosts than Jim Walczyk and his USATF Iowa contingent and Kevin Bourne, Kim Abels, and their team at the Ames CVB. The challenges of hosting a meet like ours during COVID-19 make it infinitely more complicated than during normal times, and they more than met those and every other challenge. Thank you to Ames and USATF Iowa!
Now it’s on to the USATF Masters Combined Events Championships at Colorado State University in Fort Collins (August 11-12) and the Masters Throws Championships at West Seattle Stadium (August 21-22).
At the same time, we are preparing for the 2022 USATF Masters Indoor Championships at The Armory in New York City (March 18-20, 2022) and the WMA Championships in Tampere, Finland (June 29-July 10, 2022). Information about the indoor meet will be posted on www.usatfmasters.org by the end of September, and information about the WMA meet in Finland will be posted once WMA opens registration (date still uncertain).
So Cal Wins Team Titles; Eight World Records and 30 American Records in Ames
A record 174 clubs competed for the club titles in the men’s, women’s, and overall categories with So Cal Track Club emerging as the top overall in all three categories:
OVERALL
So Cal Track Club 666
Potomac Valley Track Club 433
Atlanta Track Club 317
MEN
So Cal Track Club 445
Potomac Valley Track Club 227
Atlanta Track Club 201
WOMEN
So Cal Track Club 221
Southern California Striders 217
Potomac Valley Track Club 206
As you can see, the race for the top women’s team was particularly close and wasn’t decided until the last event of the meet, the 4x400m Relay.
Among the superb performances were 30 American records, of which eight were also World Records:
WORLD RECORDS (PENDING RATIFICATION)
- Women’s 85-89 Pentathlon —Florence Meiler, Sprinticity, 4,467 points
- Women’s 85-89 80m hurdles Florence Meiler, Sprinticity, 26.69 (as a part of the pentathlon)
- Women’s 45-49 400m — Angee Henry-Nott, Unattached, Elkhorn, Neb., 56.14
- Women’s 60-64 Hammer Throw —Oneithea Lewis, Shore Athletic Club, 46.84m
- Women’s 55-59 4x400m Relay — USA All Stars (Sue McDonald, Lisa Valle, Michelle Rohl, Roxanne Brockner) 4:23.52
- Women’s 65-69 4x800m relay – USA All Stars (Pat Kelly, Freddie Braxton, Tina Bowman, Rita Hanscom)
- Women’s 55-59 4x800m relay – USA All Stars (Judy Stobbe, Tina Klein, Roxanne Springer, Sue McDonald)
- Women’s 85-89 200m hurdles — Tami Graf, Potomac Valley Track Club, 1:42.04
30 American Records
WOMEN
- Women’s 55-59 4x400m Relay — USA All Stars (Sue McDonald, Lisa Valle, Michelle Rohl, Roxanne Brockner) 4:23.52
- Women’s 50-54 4x400m Relay — USA All Stars (DeOliveira, Collier, Ballou, Hawkins) 4:23.24
- Women’s 90-94 Hammer Throw — Gloria Krug, Philadelphia Masters, 16.62m
- Women’s 90-94 Javelin — Gloria Krug, Philadelphia, Masters, 11.40m
- Women’s 90-94 Discus — Gloria Krug, Philadelphia Masters, 12.77m
- Women’s 90-94 Shot Put — Gloria Krug, Philadelphia Masters, 5.73m
- Women’s 90-94 Weight Throw — Gloria Klug, Philadelphia Masters, 7.60m
- Women’s 85-89 200m hurdles — Tami Graf, Potomac Valley Track Club, 1:42.04
- Women’s 85-89 10,000m Run — Tami Graf, Potomac Valley Track Club, 1:36:39.48
- Women’s 85-89 5,000m —Tami Graf, Potomac Valley Track Club, 46:00.64
- Women’s 85-89 2000m steeplechase — Florence Meiler, Sprinticity, 18:55.84
- Women’s 85-89 80m hurdles — Florence Meiler, Sprinticity, 26.69 (as a part of the pentathlon)
- Women’s 85-89 Pentathlon — Florence Meiler, Sprinticity, 4,467 points
- Tied *Women’s 85-89 High Jump— Florence Meiler, Sprinticity and Christel Donley, Colorado Masters Track & Field, 0.93m
- Women’s 80-84 400m — Mary Smith, Unattached, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1:30.84
- Women’s 60-64 Hammer Throw — Oneithea Lewis, Shore Athletic Club, 46.84m
- Women’s 60-64 Weight Throw — Oneithea Lewis, Shore Athletic Club, 17.79m
- Women’s 55-59 10,000m — Lisa Veneziano, Unattached, Fenton, Mich., 38:42.16
- Women’s 55-59 800m — Michelle Rohl, Greater Philadelphia Track Club, 2:23.26
- Women’s 55-59 1,500m — Michelle Rohl, Greater Philadelphia Track Club, 4:54.16
- Women’s 45-49 400m — Angee Henry-Nott, Unattached, Elkhorn, Neb., 56.14
- Women’s 85-89 200m hurdles — Tami Graf, Potomac Valley Track Club, 1:42.04
- Women’s 65-69 4x800m relay – USA All Stars (Pat Kelly, Freddie Braxton, Tina Bowman, Rita Hanscom)
- Women’s 55-59 4x800m relay – USA All Stars (Judy Stobbe, Tina Klein, Roxanne Springer, Sue McDonald)
MEN
- Men’s 85-89 100m — Robert Whilden Jr., Unattached, Houston, Texas, 16.18
- Men’s 85-89 High Jump — Tom Langenfeld, Unattached, Edina, Minn., 3-10.5/1.18m
- Men’s 75-79 1,500m — Gary Patton, So Cal Track Club, Rock Rapids, Iowa. 5:19.87
- Men’s 65-69 10,000m — Rick Becker, Club Northwest, 37:16.46
- Men’s 65-69 3,000m — Rick Becker, Club Northwest, 10:43.05 (set during 5,000m)
- Men’s 55-59 Shot Put — James Patterson, Unattached, Hood River, Ore., 16.26m
USATF Foundation and MTF Establish Fund for WMA Travel Grants
At the beginning of August, MTF and the USATF Foundation announced creation of a fund within the Foundation to support travel grants for outstanding Masters athletes to participate in future WMA Championships. The program will be modeled on the highly successful World #1 Program for the 2019 WMA Indoor Championships in Poland. Selection criteria will be very similar to those used for that program and will be announced later this year.
Special thanks to Chris Pasko, MTF’s representative on the USATF Board of Directors, for taking the lead on setting up the arrangement with the Foundation. The fund already has commitments for $32,500 per year for the next three years, which represents approximately 1/3 of the funding needed each year.
Once the fund is on the Foundation website a link will be shared with the Masters community in future newsletters.
MTF Seeks New Chair for Exhibition Events Subcommittee
At the end of July, Linda Carty-Dumitrescu, Chair of the MTF Exhibition Events Subcommittee informed the MTF Officers that she will be stepping down as soon as a new chair can be identified. We thank her for her service to MTF and look forward to her continuing involvement in the future.
The Exhibition Events Subcommittee is responsible for organizing Exhibition Events for Masters athletes at the USATF Indoor and Outdoor Championships, the U.S. Olympic Trials, and select major open competitions. Those interested in being considered should send an email expressing their interest and what they think they could bring to the role to MTF Chair Jerry Bookin-Weiner at [email protected]. Application screening will begin no later than the end of August.
Upcoming Regional and National Meets in 2021
2021 National Masters Combined Events Championships
The 2021 National Masters Combined Events Championships will take place Wednesday and Thursday, August 11-12, 2021, at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. The meet consists of the decathlon (for both men and women) and the heptathlon (for women only). Full meet information is posted here. The entry deadline is August 7.
2021 USATF Mid America Region Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships
The USATF 2021 Mid America Region Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships will take place Saturday and Sunday, August 14-15, 2021, at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Full meet information is posted here on usatfmasters.org once available. The entry deadline is August 7; no late entries will be accepted.
2021 National Masters Throws Championships
The 2021 National Masters Throws Championships will take place Saturday and Sunday, August 21-22, 2021 at West Seattle Stadium in Seattle, Washington. The meet consists of the Throws Pentathlon, Ultraweight Pentathlon, and Superweight Throw. The Throws Pentathlon is limited to 84 entries, while the Ultraweight Pentathlon and Superweight are each limited to 72 entries. Full information, including links to the entry portal, Status of Entries, and information about the Awards Dinner on Saturday evening, can be found on the event webpage.
Nominations for MTF Hall of Fame Due September 15, 2021
Do you know someone you think should be considered for the Masters Track & Field Hall of Fame? If so, nominate them here! Eligibility criteria are on the nomination form. Nominations for 2022 class consideration must be made by September 15, 2021.
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