Sacramento Running News

About a month ago, when talking about the Hornets prospects for the rest of the season, distance coach Scott Abbott promised big things for 800 meter runner Lea Wallace. He noted that at the time, “Lea Wallace was the number one ranked half-miler in the nation at 2:03.07.”

Well, Wallace has since improved on that time with a 2:02.95 at the Mondo Mid-Major Challenge, setting a school record in the process. Wallace’s time also maintains her standing the nation’s fastest in the 800, and sets her up as the one to beat at this year’s NCAA Champs.

We’ll be looking forward to seeing what she can do at the NCAA Div I Championships in June.

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This coming July, Sacramento will be hosting the Masters World Athletics Championships (AKA Masters Track and Field World Championships).

If you had a chance to watch or run in last year’s Masters National Championships you know what a great event this should be.

While it may seem a bit early for me to be writing about a July event, registration closes on April 24. You can register online now, and event management says that more than 900 athletes had already registered as of March 23rd.

For track and field, a masters athlete is anyone over 35. There are events from the 100 meters to the marathon, plus the field events, and the venues will be centered around California State University Sacramento.

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On Friday at the Standford Invitational, Sac State Hornet freshman Reesey Byers, of Santa Rosa, ran his first collegiate 5000 meters, and broke a long-standing school record in the process.

In an early heat, Byers ran comfortably in the middle of the chase pack for much of the race, breaking away late to chase down the leaders and the school record.

“Reesey ran a very smart race, running with control early on, and then really being aggressive in the latter stages, which is the proper way to run high level races like Stanford Invitational,” said Hornets Coach Scott Abbott.  “What most impressed me was how he handled himself in the final 400 meters.  He made a strong move with about a mile to go to catch the leaders, and then ended up backsliding a little in the final kilometer and looked like he may have been dead in the water heading into the final lap. But, he dug deep and ran with a lot of heart over the last lap and competed very hard, and that ended up being the difference between a good race and what turned out to be a great race.”

Byers’ 14:19.o1 finish time eclipsed Noel Hitchcock’s record 14:22.90 set in 1971. Byers is the first Sacramento State runner to break 4:30 on the 5K since Darrin Slade ran a 14:28.00 in 1989.

It looks like the Hornet men are gearing up for a good track season, as sophomore Daniel Mitchell, of Carmichael, ran a 31-second personal best 14:41.79 in the same meet.

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Kevin Pool wins at Run to Feed the Hungry (Photo by Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee)

On an icy Thanksgiving morning, thousands of runners who were not me lined up on J Street for Sacramento’s annual Run to Feed the Hungry.

While there is no longer big prize money drawing runners from across the country and around the world (especially Africa), there were some impressive times and this race easily remains Sacramento’s premier 10 Km road race. (In 2008, there were four finishers under 30-minutes.)

Kevin Pool, of Folsom, took the overall win with a spectacular 31:15. Brad Poore of Auburn and Alan Jackson of Sacramento finished 2nd and 3rd in 31:22 and 31:26.

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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.

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The USA Track & Field 2010 Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships kicked off this morning and already we have a new world record!  Oneithea “Neni” Lewis set a new world age-group record in the women’s hammer throw, getting 55.46 meters (181′ 11″) on her final throw to win the competition easily.  Amazingly, after fouling the first throw, her next five all bested the existing American Record and her final throw sailed well beyond the eight-year old world record of 51.73 meters (169′ 8″)!

In the 5,000 meters, Rick Blecker of Club Northwest set a new American record with his win in the M55 age group with his time of 16:14.55, and Mary Harada of West Newbury, Massachusetts, set the American W75 age-group record when she finished first in 26:55.11. Her performance bettered the previous American Record of 27:10.76 set by Algene Williams in 1991.  Look for more, because Harada, who lowered the W75 mile American Record twice last month, is also entered in the 800m and 1,500m!

While no locals set any records, many did earn bragging rights.

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Women line up for the start of the mile at the Western States Masters International Invitational. Photo by Abe Underwood

Don’t forget the USA Track & Field 2010 Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships start tomorrow morning at Sacramento State’s A.G. Spanos Sports Complex at 7:00 AM.

The day kicks off with one of my favorite track events: the 5,000 meters.   The women’s (age 30 to 49) 5,000 meters in particular will showcase some of the area’s top women road racers.

The photo (right), taken at the Western States Masters International Invitational track meet in Davis two weeks ago, shows some of these women testing and honing their track skills in the lead-up to the Masters Championships.  Tomorrow’s 5000 meters includes locals: Mike Gottardi, Michael Fadling, Mason Myers, Randy Anderson, Iain Mickle, John Nichols, James Young, and Jeffrey Adkins for the men; and Jaymee Marty, Midori Sperandeo, Kirsten Schneider, Rae Whitten, Jenny Hitchings, and Desiree Love for the women.  Who will come out on top?   Be sure to check it out!

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