Greater Philly TC squad smashes 4×8 American club record
Averaging 2:47.2 per leg, the Greater Philadelphia Track Club team of Alison Suckling, Joan Affleck, Wendi Glassman and Dr. Cheryl Bellaire shattered the listed W50 American club record in the 4×800 relay Saturday by 24 seconds. Incredible. They ran 11:08.86 on the Eurotan track at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, at the Mid-Atlantic USATF Championships. Club VP Chuck Shields provided details: “The meet was held . . . under partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the low 70s. The relays concluded the meet.” A W50 team that included Suckling, Glassman and Bellaire have a W50 record time of 11:13.84 pending in the indoor 4×800 set at Landover nationals in March. Their outdoor club record isn’t far behind the W50 American record of 10:27.04 set at Charlotte nationals by an all-star team of Jeanette Groesz, Karen Kunz, Kathryn Martin and Coreen Steinbach.
Fifty-somethings? Alison, Joan, Wendi and Cheryl gotta be carded.
Vault world records to Joe Johnston and Nadine O’Connor
Yup, Nadine has her third WR of the season. At the latest Friday Night Vaults meet at San Diego State University, Nadine cleared 3.17 meters (10-4 3/4) to raise her week-old W65 mark of 3.15. “I felt lucky to do so as I warmed up at 4:30 and then didn’t jump again until 6:30,” she wrote me. “I was lucky to have made it and lucky to have such a great group of fun and supportive fellow jumpers and officials.” Yesterday, across the country in Clermont, Florida, Joe Johnston jumped 3.78 (12-4 3/4) in hot weather to erase one of the oldest world records on the books: the M65 mark of 3.77 by Hall of Famer Boo Morcom in August 1986.
Hot sprints and hurdles in Southwest Assn. USATF meet
Up and down the line, sprinters and hurdlers posted great marks at the USATF Southwest Association Masters Championships on Saturday at Coppell, Texas. Bill Collins didn’t run, but his book partner Rick Riddle won the M55 sprints handily in 12.29 and 25.63. And Cindy Steenbergen is back! Now 55, she ran 13.60 and 28.58 — easily the season’s fastest in her age group. Remember Orville Rogers the miler? Now he’s a sprinter at age 91. He ran the 100 in 20.39, the deuce in 48.39, the 400 in 1:57.61 and just for fun — the 1500 in 10:52.53. In the 400 hurdles, Jeff Brower scorched a 64.80 at age 50 and a 15.58 for 100 hurdles. He also high jumped 5-4. Showoff. Thanks go to Wayne Bennett, who sent me the results below. Wayne won the M70 100 and 200 in 14.18 and 29.94, among the top times in the nation.
Kids coached by masters excel at California State HS champs
Richard Holmes, the M40 hurdler profiled here last month, saw his prep prodigy Kori Carter win two state titles yesterday at the California State High School Championships in Clovis, in central part of the state. Kori, still only a junior, won the 100 hurdles in 13.59 and the 300 hurdles in 41.26. Nice coaching, Richard! In addition, Sunny Margerum, daughter of W45 world champion Joy Upshaw-Margerum, took 23rd Friday in the girls long jump prelims. She’s also a junior (at Gunn High School), and should return to the state meet next year. Finally, Harrison Steed, yet another junior, took third in the high jump, going 6-9. Harrison is coached by M40 star Ron Lee at JSerra Catholic High School in Orange County.
American records in M95 400 and M80 5K racewalk in SoCal
Competing at today’s Pasadena Senior Games — also called the California Senior Olympics — Bill Moremen, 81, mowed down the American record in the 5,000-meter racewalk. Bill’s time of 33:50.70 bettered the listed AR of 34:08.44 by Jack Starr at last year’s Spokane nationals (when Bill took second to Jack). Bill is Lahti-bound. (And yesterday was the final day for U.S. signups at worlds.) In the 400-meter dash, George Feinstein’s 3:39.64 beat the listed M95 American record of 3:53.10 by the late Everett Hosack in 2000. (The WR is 2:38.64 by Erwin Jaskulski of Austria.) George got the biggest cheers of the meet as he finished his lap.
It was a gorgeous day at Caltech in Pasadena, where a tree-encircled Mondo track and low-70s temps gave everyone a good shot at season PRs. Top three marks are listed here. I’m hoping to get complete results eventually. Wife Chris and I also took lots of photos, which we’ll post eventually. Meet director Christel Donley, who lives in Colorado but helps every year with this meet, did a wonderful job. She also took a spill in the javelin throw but will be OK.
Riccione champion Ralph Fruguglietti on the comeback trail
Ralph Fruguglietti, M50 gold medalist at Riccione worlds, will try to defend his discus title in Lahti, Finland. But like Al Oerter in his Olympic odyssey, Ralph may be throwing hurt. He’s not making excuses, mind you. But last year was a nightmare, he admits, “with a separated calf muscle in February and after rehab and improving to 57.62 (189-0) in July I pulled a groin muscle in my right leg which resulted in a horrendous performance at (Spokane) nationals. I probably should not have gone. But competition aside, I had a great time with throwing friends John Nespoli, Mike Shiaras and Ron Summers. That’s the nice side of masters competition . . . you get to hang out with some great people who share the same passion for throwing.”
‘Second Wind’ is a first-rate entry in masters track library
Lee Bergquist stays in shape himself at 55.
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Lee Bergquist, a runner and reporter, was given two leaves of absence at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel to write a book about masters sports. It’s been years in the making, and last month it was published by Human Kinetics. I’m awaiting my copy to review. But from what I’ve seen, “Second Wind: The Rise of the Ageless Athlete” contains some wonderful yarns, including revealing looks at Hall of Famer Phil Raschker (on the book’s cover) and thrower Gerald Vaughn. I also saw references to hurdler Stan Druckrey and sprinter Patricia Peterson. “For those of you who may not be familiar with my project, I intended the book to be an inspirational tale of aging and athleticism,” Lee wrote some contributors. “The human body is a wonderful engine. And it wants to be pushed.” I gave Lee some advice, and the book mentioned me (and this site) several times. I’m also cited in the acknowledgments, along with the late Payton Jordan and others. Quite an honor.
Landover world records: WMA site plays pick and choose
Congratulations to Leland McPhie, Robert Hewitt, Robert Howard, Bill Murray, Emil Pawlik, Sumi Onodera-Leonard, Nadine O’Connor and Athena 4×4 relayists Jane Brooker, Maryline Roux, Joan Hunter and Charmaine Roberts! Your world indoor records from Landover nationals are now posted on the WMA records pages! No “pending”! They’re all good. Tough titties to Val Barnwell. Your 0.05-second improvement in the M50 world indoor record for 60 meters isn’t listed. The WMA site, “Last update: 20 May 2009,” thus digs an even deeper hole for itself. And I haven’t even begun to touch on American indoor records from Landover not listed on the USATF records page. Sid Howard ran 2:33.36 at Landover (beating the listed 2:34:10 by James Sutton in 2002), and his time isn’t even noted as pending. Ironic coincidence: Val and Sid are New Yorkers — just like former New Yorker Sandy Pashkin, the WMA and USATF records rejecter. What does Sandy have against Big Apple athletes? The insanity continues.
Video shows Nadine O’Connor going ‘WR’ 10-6 in practice
Of course, practice doesn’t count. But it’s amazing to watch someone 67 years old vault this high. Pete Magill — crossing the line again because he’s supposed to be blogging about distance runners, not jumpers — linked to a YouTube video shot Monday by Bud Held at his and Nadine O’Connor’s undisclosed backyard location. Pete wrote: “Okay, this is just fantastic … out-of-this-world … unbelievable … choose your own superlative.” I guess Pete was impressed. (And isn’t it cool when nonjumpers support the springy people?) Read his post here. The video lasts only 7 seconds, and Bud says: “10-6.” Then Nadine clears, and he says, “How about that!” Indeed.
USATF’s head honcho misspeaks on masters drug-testing
Doug Logan
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In his latest blog entry, USATF CEO Doug Logan writes: “Youth and masters athletes also are subject to drug testing.” Wrong. USATF does not ask masters tracksters for a urine sample (unless they compete on the elite level, such as Jeff Hartwig or Allen Johnson). No drug-testing has ever been done at a USATF-sanctioned masters track meet. Such testing would bankrupt the local organizing committee and our own committee. (But masters road racers might be subject to testing. I haven’t a clue.) However, Doug’s blog introduces a great В new resource — which helps all athletes learn whether supplements they take contain banned ingredients. You have to be a USATF member to access this.
