USA Track & Field 2010 Masters Championships: Day 2
Day two, and the world records continue to fall like rain. This time, it was the steeplechase. The USATF reports:
Lisa Valle set the W40 world masters 2,000m steeplechase record when she crossed the finish line in 6:51.92, after setting the previous world record two weeks ago of 6:52.6. “I had it stuck in my head that I wanted to break my record, so I guess I barely made it,” she said. “I just tried to stick to my pace and it worked out. I thought I could’ve broken 6:50, but I’m happy with it here in the heat. It was a good run.”
And it was also the 400 meters! Again, from USATF:
In women’s 400m finals action, Suzy MacLeod won the W75 age group with her world record time of 1:25.40, which is faster than the previous listed world record of 1:27.17 set last year by Margaret Peters of New Zealand. Her time also bested the previous W75 American record of 1:27.41 set by Audrey Lary at the 2009 USA Masters Outdoor Championships in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Additionally, athletes set American Records in the W50 division of the 5,000 meter racewalk, the M60 and W50 divisions of the 2,000m steeplechase, M65 100m hurdles, the w75 shot put, and the W75 pole vault (1.92 meters or 6′ 3.5″, if you are curious)!
“But what about the locals?” you might ask. At this point, I must take my virtual hat off to Golden West who’s athletes, of the local teams, clearly dominated today’s track and field events. Their new US Champions include: Jane Simpson in the W65 2,000 meter Steeple, Jeanette Allred-Powless in the w45 2,000 meter steeple (where Golden West swept with Allred-Powless, Debbie Zakerski, and Desiree Love going 1,2,3!), Steve Kollars in the M50 3,000 meter steeple, William Ballantine in the M85 400 meter, Michael Ostrom in the M45 hammer, and Kathy Jager in the W65 pole vault! Well done Golden West!
The only other local team making any showing at all was the Buffalo Chips, with Arnold Utterback and Abe Underwood taking on the M60 and M70 2,000 meter steeple.
I tried to do my best, but you should really check the USATF results page for, well, complete results. If you are a local runner and I missed you (or your parent or spouse) feel free to give a shout out in the comments. If you are not a member of a local team, it’s hard to pick you out of the thousands of results!
Once again, the Bee’s Schumacher covers the event. Be sure to check out the great set of photos, including a really nice one of Randy Sturgeon (Golden West, and publisher of National Masters News) hurling the javelin. Nice to see the Bee giving the sport some love!