Houston venue change explained by meet’s competition chief
In late November, I depicted the venue change at the 2011 National Senior Games as a bait-and-switch. That was rough. But to his credit, Competition Director Sean Gomez bravely sent me an explanation. Yesterday he wrote: “First, I want to thank all of the athletes who competed at the State Games level and who have qualified for the National event. Second, it was NOT our choice to switch venues. As a result of the Metro Rail Construction Project changing plans, we were told we would lose the majority of the field events area. The track resurfacing project was canceled and University officials could not guarantee that they would not be in full construction mode during our event. We understand many athletes’ frustration.”
David Hockersmith, shown on NSGA site, is ticketed for Houston but also plans to compete at Sacramento worlds and Cleveland (Berea) outdoor nationals.
It’s hip to do hep: Two dozen men, 4 women compete at nationals
Multi-events maven Jeff Watry — aka decamouse — has posted results from last weekend’s USATF National Masters Indoor Heptathlon Championships at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. See the men’s results here. He’s also posted uncorrected women’s results. (Still need to fix some vault scores.) Two dozen men entered (but not all finished) from the age of 36 (Jefferson Souza of Miami) to 77 (Bill Jankovich of Racine, Wisconsin). Notable men’s winners included Canadian guest John Hawkins, a 1972 Olympian who cleared 1.60 (5-3) at age 61, and David Ashford, a world-record hurdler, who did the 60 highs in 8.87 at age 47. Four women competed, including masters Kay Glynn, Christel Donley and W45 Lori Schutt.
Brave men line up for the hep 1000, the last event on Day 2.
Martha Mendenhall, subject of new profile, is proud grandma, too
World masters champion Martha Mendenhall shares two items — a recent profile in a local real estate magazine (see it here) and a 6-second video clip of her granddaughter Violet (not Victoria as I wrote earlier—my bad) jumping. Guess which one she’s most proud of. Martha writes: “I just HAD to send this to you because my granddaughter (who I am raising) loves high jumping as much as I do. I set up a pit in the house and she jumps and jumps. I’d say she is getting quite good.” The tot doesn’t go high, but form evokes the East European lead-arm-first style. So we’re only 33 years away from the first W85 and W35 grandmother-granddaughter WMA gold-medal pair in the high jump.
Alisa Harvey’s latest record: W45 American indoor best for mile
Alisa Harvey
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Fresno and Cleveland-area indoor meets beckon to masters
Friends remind me that some great meets open to masters are coming up. One writes: “Many masters competitors don’t know about, arguably, the finest indoor track facility in the U.S. It’s part of the GaREAT Sports Complex in Geneva, Ohio (45 minutes east of Cleveland). Built in 2009, the facility has an 8-lane, 300m state-of-the-art indoor track with huge turns. It’s the perfect place to set PRs. On February 6, this facility will be host to the Lake Erie Association Open/Masters Indoor Championships. Entry forms can be found at overthehilltc.org.” A couple weeks later is the Run for the Dream meet in Fresno, California. Masters events including the 55-meter dash, 55 hurdles, 600 yards, mile and shot will be contested Feb. 27. (See the schedule.) Meanwhile, don’t overlook Andy Hecker’s national list of all-comers meets.
Indoor meets in California — where it never rains or snows — are a rarity.
Pat Peterson’s latest ordeal: two pelvic fractures after fall on ice
Former sprint great Patricia “Pat” Peterson, a masters Hall of Famer and one of the stars of “Racing Against the Clock,” has had a rough enough life already — surviving at least two bouts of cancer. Saturday morning saw her face another ordeal. “Pat fell on the ice as she was going to monitor a Civil Service exam,” reports her friend, Phil Raschker. “They took her by ambulance to St. Peter’s Hospital (in Albany, New York). Pat has two fractures in her pelvic rami. No surgery, but she will be awhile healing. Monday they transferred her to St. Peter’s Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 301 Hackett Blvd, Albany, NY 12208 RM 18 B Tel: 518-459-5408 for rehabilitation.” Just a blip, Pat. We hope you bounce back fast. We miss you!
Pat races with her ever-present smile at the 2006 Charlotte nationals.
Organizers of Sacramento worlds opt for split schedule, less heat
The heat was on, and Sacramento’s LOC decided to do the right thing—avoid scheduling events between 2 and 5 p.m. at the World Masters Athletics
Lance Elliott corrects his WMA entry, tells his own track record
Lance Elliott has gotten a speedy education in masters pathways, especially about what marks to enter for major meets. After I tweaked him for entering a 1:55 seed time for the M40 800 at Sacramento worlds, he graciously responded to my questions. And Wednesday he told me:  “If I knew the registration was going to be public information, I wouldn’t even have entered any times.  I only ran the 800 once and 1500 once last summer.  Prior to that, I would have to go back 15 years!  I didn’t think it would make sense to enter my personal bests, and I thought it would be misleading to enter my times from last summer since I was only starting to get into shape and they aren’t representative of where I should be next summer.”
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Italian trounces W45 indoor triple jump world record with 37-8
Elisa Neviani
World indoor records fall like flies—including W75 mile for Harada
Mary Harada
