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USA Masters Track & Field Championships: Highlights of the Four Day Meet Held in Oshkosh, WI
From USA Track & FieldJuly 13, 2009
Oshkosh, WI
For complete results from the 2009 USA Masters Outdoor Championships, see www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAMastersOutdoorTFChampionships/
Familiar Names Break Records on Closing Day
Four athletes finished off hat-trick record performances, and Audrey Lary put another world record notch in her belt as competition concluded Sunday, July 12 at the 2009 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Lary, of Potomac Valley Track Club (PVTC), on Sunday broke the world record in the W75 triple jump with a leap of 7.43m/24-4.25, posting her third record over the course of these championships. The mark broke the world record of 7.13m/23-4.75 set by Elsa Enarsson of Sweden in 2005. In Oshkosh, Lary previously had broken the world record in the 400m and added the American record in the weight throw.
Flo Meiler of Mass Velocity also chalked up a passel of records, setting the W75 American record in the women's 200m hurdles in 46.68. She had previously set an American record in the pentathlon and a world record in the 80m hurdles. Becky Sisley of the Oregon Track Club set her third American record of the meet, running the W70 200m hurdles in 43.87 to go along with her ARs in the 80m hurdles and javelin throw.
Elder statesman Leland McPhie of the Southern California Track Club broke the M95 American record in the triple jump on with a mark of 4.00m/13-1.5, finishing out a meet that featured him tying the world record in the long jump and breaking the American record in the shot put.
Sabra Harvey of Houston set a record for the second straight day, breaking the W60 American record in the 1,500m with her time of 5:22.50. She shattered the 800m world record on Saturday. Also setting her second record overall and first American record was Karen Steen of Club Northwest. Having already broken the W45 2,000m steeplechase world record, Steen on Sunday broke the American record in the 1,500m with 4:48.08.
In one of the final events of the meet, Ronald Summers broke the American record in the M55 weight throw with a throw of 18.18m/57-7.75.
Sabra Harvey Sets World Record of 2:34.66 in Women's (60-64) 800m on Day 3
In a remarkable showing of speed and strength, Sabra Harvey of Houston, TX broke a 10-year-old world record in extremely windy and warm conditions on Saturday, July 11.
Harvey dominated the 800 meters for women age 60-64, running 2:34.66 to shatter the world record of 2:36.95, set in 1999 by Gerda Van Kooten of the Netherlands. As she described to masterstrack.com, Harvey started "jogging" nine years ago and only began competing in masters track and field last year. The graphic designer turned in an American record of 2:40.56 in the 800m last month.
In the sprints, Max Springer of Knoxville, TN set his second M95 American record of the meet, running the 100m in 29.31 seconds. As was the case when he broke the M95 400m record on Friday, he took the 100m mark from Everett Hosack, who had run 38.66 nine years ago.
The Oregon Track Club's Becky Sisley also set her second record of the meet. Fresh off an American record in the W70 80m hurdles on Friday, Sisley on Saturday broke her age-group record in the javelin with a toss of 26.09/85-7. In the W75 javelin, Harriett Bloemker set an American record with a mark of 22.54m/73-11.5
The day saw several near-records, negated only by too-strong tailwinds. At age 44, Renee Henderson won the W40 100 meters in 12.10, which was .2 faster than her own American record but was too windy, with a 2.6 meters-per-second tailwind.
Already a double record-setter at this meet, Audrey Lary jumped 3.48m/11-5 in the W75 long jump, which was 5.75 inches better than Leonore McDaniels' AR, but Lary's assisting wind of 2.1mps was just .1mps over the allowable.
Three More World Records on Day 2
For the second straight day, two 95-year-old men set records, but it was 75-year-old and 45-year-old women who posted the biggest mark during competition on Friday, July 10.
In the women's 75-79 year-old age group, Audry Lary set her second record of the meet with a world mark in the 400 meters. The PVTC athlete ran an amazing 1:27.41 to break the existing world record of 1:27.70, held since 2002 by Great Britain's Monica Shone. On Thursday, Lary had broken the American record in the W75 weight throw.
In W45, Karen Steen of Club Northwest shattered the world record in the 2,000m steeplechase with her time of 7:07.49 to wipe out the WR of 7:16.90 set by Julie Leonard of Switzerland in 2004.
The men's 95-99 competitors continue to draw attention at the meet, as Leland McPhie of San Diego, CA tied the world record in the long jump with his mark of 1.93m/6 feet, 4 inches for his second record in Oshkosh. McPhie on Thursday set a M95 American record in the shot put.
Max Springer of Knoxville, TN erased the American record in the M95 400m with his time of 2:45.36. The official record of 3:53.10 was set by Everett Hosak in 2000, while George Feinstein of Pasadena, CA set a pending record of 3:39.64 on June 6 of this year.
Contested in the early morning hours of what turned out to be an 89-degree day, the race walks provided a pair of American records. Shirley Dockstader of Marin Racewalkers finished in 34:34.60 for a W75 AR, and John Starr of Florida Athletics finished in 33:57.72 for a record in the M80 age group.
Also on the Track, Becky Sisley of Oregon Track ran 17.32 in the W70 hurdles for an American record. On the field, Bruce McBarnette broke his own M45 high jump AR by one centimeter, clearing 1.93m/6-4. Robert Ward of Dallas broke the M75 American record in the discus, throwing 41.18m/135-1.
95-Year-Olds Deliver Records on Day 1
It was titan vs. titan among the 95-year-old entrants at the 2009 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday morning, July 9, with two records among the casualties.
On the track at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium, Frank Levine of Norristown, PA ran the 5,000 meters in 50:10.56 in the men's 95-99 age group to break the listed world record of 50:23.50 set by American Herb Kirk in 1991. Leland McPhie of San Diego's Southern California Track Club broke the American record in the men's 95-99 shot put, throwing the 3 kilogram ball 6.87m/22 feet, 6.5 inches to break Trent Lane's mark of 6.61m/21-8.25 set in 2003. McPhie also owns American records in the M90 high jump and triple jump.
An ageless wonder on the distaff side, Florence "Flo" Meiler of Mass Velocity, set a pair of records in the women's 75-79 age group while contesting the pentathlon. Her time of 18.63 in the 80m hurdles crushed the world record of 24.34 set by masters legend Johnnye Valien in 2005. Meiler's pentathlon point total of 4,783 was an American record as well. (World records for the pentathlon are not officially kept.)
The women's weight throw also provided the traditional assortment of American records in a variety of age groups. Setting pending ARs in the event were Jennifer Stephens in W35 (10.49m/34-5), Myrle Mensey in W60 (15.73m/51-7.75), Audrey Lary in W75 (10.40m/34-1.5) and Lillian Snaden in W80 (6.92m/22-8).
More than 1,000 athletes in age groups from 30 to 95 will provide an extraordinary demonstration of speed, power, skill, and endurance at the Masters Championships, showing that age is no barrier to lifetime fitness and competition. Track events will range from 100 meters to 10,000 meters, while field events will include the full range of jumps and throws. The meet runs through Sunday.
For further details and complete results from the 2009 USA Masters Outdoor Championships, see http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAMastersOutdoorTFChampionships/
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USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, see www.usatf.org
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