M60 thrower Lee Fugal isn’t a world-beater on the masters track circuit. But he’s a world record holder on another — Highland Games. As a newspaper in Twin Falls, Idaho, tells it, “Lee Fugal of Utah broke the Scottish Highland Games world record in the senior master category (age 60 and older) when he threw a 16-pound sheaf bag 28 feet and 9 inches [8.76 meters, on May 3]. … The sheaf toss uses a hay fork to toss a 16 to 20 pound sheaf, or burlap bag full of twine, for height. The highest toss wins. The previous record was 28 feet and 6 inches.” Joseph Lemoine, organizer of the Highland Games at the College of Southern Idaho, said: “It’s actually a pretty big deal in the Scottish Games world. That record was held for 10 years. There is a pretty substantial senior group. It doesn’t happen very often.” Before the games, Lee had hit that same height, but it didn’t count, we learn. Lee generally throws at the Huntsman World Senior Games and local Senior Olympics. Not in USATF meets. So is his record ratified? You betcha. So the Scottish folks can get their records up fast, and we can’t? Guess we need more Scots in our leadership.
So here’s where the real hammer throw came from. Throwing a real hammer.
Two big SoCal meets and a shiny new one in New York City are on the horizon. Today I learned of the NYC Track & Field Invitational on Sunday, July 6, at St. John’s University. A USATF-sanctioned event, it has open, youth and masters sections in many events and medals to top 6. Meanwhile, the USATF West Region Masters Championships June 21-22 at Caltech in Pasadena has an entry deadline of June 7 (see details) and the Pasadena Senior Games (at the same locale) have a deadline of June 1. It’s a qualifying meet for the 2015 National Senior Games in Minnesota. (See details.) Best of luck to all, everywhere and in between.
Colleen Barney of Southern California is a Super Mom and certified Super Lawyer. But she has her priorities straight — family first (especially her two talented daughters), then work and masters sprinting. She’s been on and off our circuit after winning the W35 world 100-meter title at Puerto Rico in 2003. But this season she competed in the W45 60 at Budapest (she made the semifinals). And this month she clocked a nice 13.98 at a Pasadena meet. An author and well-quoted probate expert, she’s featured in this video (talking about her school-district activities) and noted on this website. Great to see you back, CB!
Wikipedia is a strange world. It’s a fantastic (albeit flawed) resource. But when you get into the weeds, you sense its high school drama queen vibe. Latest example is a little debate about some site called masterstrack.com. Andy Hecker, who heroically maintains the masters world records page, writes: “The validity of masterstrack.com is currently being questioned at [this page]. Andy says someone is questioning the credibility of very minor comments included in the April Jace article (which he wishes to wipe out). “masterstrack.com is accused of not being a credible source because it is a one-man blog,” he writes. “I’ve framed it as a news aggregation site focused on the subject of Masters Athletics.” If you’re comfortable with the Wikipedia moderation system and want to weigh in, be my guest. I’m just snickering from the sidelines.
Former National Masters News publisher Randy Sturgeon, recovering from cancer that began in his neck, reported progress this week on his Facebook page. He wrote: “Monday I met with a second medical oncologist at Kaiser and after that my regular oncologist. First off as the radiology oncologist said the cancer is noncurable, if you define curable as down to the lowest molecular level, completely gone. However, there is different levels of remission that range from completely gone to well passing on. I am P16 positive, which is good, there is a better prognosis. Radiation at this time is not an option, my body wouldn’t take even targeted radiation in three spots. However the tumors have responded to chemo as they shrunk significantly.”
In the March issue of Running Times, Roger Robinson has a neat little history lesson on masters running. He mentions the 1930s British debut of the Veterans Athletic Club and David Pain’s emergence in the 1960s, of course. But I learned something new! “Some cultures accepted it as natural to stay active,” Roger writes. “The Navajo held races for all ages, including girls and an ‘old man’s race,’ and the Cheyenne have a story of how a 50-year-old chief called Little Wolf outraced the best young Sioux over 4 miles.” How cool! Now I wish someone would go further back in time. Did Greeks have a Geezer Olympics? Did Egyptians take time out from the pyramids to see which old guy (over 25, given longevity of the day) had the best footspeed? Go Little Wolf!
Runners (some old) from Acoma Indian tribe of New Mexico posed in 1909.
Steve Peters of Britain, the M60 sprint superstar and Shrink to Olympic and World Cup Stars, has a new gig. He’s chairman of the WMA Anti-Doping and Medical Committee, replacing Darth Vader himself: Dieter Massin of Germany. As such, he reports results of drug-testing at worlds. Steve reports on the WMA site:“Following a very successful championships in Budapest I am very pleased to say that the WMA Anti-Doping tests that were carried out were all concluded without any adverse finding. WMA made more tests than usual at the championships and it would seem that the message on anti- doping is being adhered to by athletes and long may this continue. We also undertook some tests for EPO and will continue to be vigilant in the future. The tests were spread across all age groups and disciplines and all athletes called for testing were compliant. Thank you for those involved for your co-operation.”
They held a little meet in Kamloops over the weekend. A little lady named Olga Kotelko showed up. The result? BOOM!SIX more world records. I don’t know if the Canadian records czar will ratify marks set at the two-day Centennial meet at Hillside Stadium. But it shows our 95-year-old friend hasn’t let fame go to her head. She’s still out their hammering. Here are results. As best I can tell, Olga beat or set [for the first time] listed W95 world records in the high jump, long jump, triple jump, hammer throw, javelin throw and throws pentathlon (beating the listed WR of 3989 by Gabre Gabric with an astounding total of 5338). She would have the 100-meter WR but for a 2.5mps aiding wind. (She ran 29.59. The listed best is 35.48.) So let’s see. Nine indoor WRs for Budapest plus six outdoors here. Adds up to? Dang, my calculator broke! Also check out Olga’s snazzy new website. Love the motto: “Giving up is never O.K.” Read the rest of this post »
April Jace, a masters sprinter in Southern California who won gold at 2011 Sacramento worlds in the 4×100, was shot to death Monday night at her Los Angeles home. The suspect is her husband, actor Michael Jace, who played a cop in “The Shield” and “Southland” TV shows. “Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that Jace confessed to fatally shooting his wife, April, multiple times around 8:30 p.m. Monday at their home in the 5400 block of Brynhurst Avenue. April Jace, a well-liked financial aid employee at Biola University, had walked in the door just 10 to 15 minutes earlier after picking up the couple’s sons from baseball practice,” said the Times. April competed as recently as February, when she won the 60, 100 and 200 at age 39 at Andy Hecker’s“indoor meet outdoors.” Such a loss.
April Jace (in yellow) beat Brenda Matthews (left) and Linda Cohn in a 60-meter dash at February 2014 meet at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.
Much is being made of James Harris of Florida State, a 45.23 quarter-miler who won an NCAA indoor high jump title at 2.32 (7-7 1/4). Well, masters tracksters are often wont to combine disparate events. One was the focus of a British newspaper. We learned of Peter Barber, now 81, who in his 60s was a hammer-throw record-setter and marathon runner. Kentonline quoted him: “Each year I say ‘I think I’ve done my share of athletics and I’m going to retire’ but then I meet up with a couple of friends and they say ‘no you’ve got to keep going and keep fit. Don’t keep going to break records, just do it for your own personal bests.’” Of course. And at age 17, he said after winning a cross country race: “From then on I said ‘Football? Forget it.’ Athletics and running is your game.” Gotta love it. He’s still got game. So what are your “odd” combo events?
Ken has followed track as an athlete, writer and web-master since the late 1960s, and saw most sessions of track and field at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He also attended the 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Trials, the last three as a blogger and Patch correspondent. [More...]
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