--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - Former Olympian Gary Stenlund (Battle Ground, Wash.) bettered his own world record in the M70 javelin throw with a toss of 52.24m/171-4 on the sixth day of competition at the 2011 WMA World Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Stenlund, who competed for Team USA at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, improved his previous record by 17 centimeters. His winning throw put him 20 feet ahead of the nearest competitor.
Two field event American records fall
John Dobroth (Camarillo, Calif.) and Florence Meiler (Shelburne, Vt.) each collected an American record in the field during today's competition.
Dobroth's leap of 1.57m/5-1.75 in the M70 high jump improved on Olympic javelin thrower Bud Held's American record by five centimeters. Dobroth fell just short of Carl-Erik Särndal's world record, which stands at 1.59m/5-2.5.
Meiler, who already owns gold medals in the W75 pole vault and heptathlon competitions, collected another victory and an American record in the discus throw. Her heave of 20.14m/66-1 bettered Bernice Holland's previous discus record by a little less than a meter. This is Meiler's fifth American record in her age group, since she already owns the W75 80m hurdles, 200m hurdles, pole vault, and pentathlon records.
Peterson and Obera set AR's to highlight 200m
Patricia Peterson (Albany, N.Y.) and Irene Obera (Fremont, Calif.) each set their second American record of the meet in the short sprints.
Peterson crossed the finish line in the W85 division with a time of 51.43, a nine second improvement on Carol Peebles previous record. This was not only Peterson's second gold medal of the meet, but also her second American best after her record-setting performance of 22.30 in Saturday's 100m.
"At the start, I thought it was a false start," Peterson said. "I stopped and looked around, and people were running so I got going again. But it would have shaved off another second easily."
Peterson is quick to credit those who support her for her running success.
"The younger [athletes] here have been marvelous about helping me, like Phil Raschker and Joy Upshaw and lots of people," she said. "They take us old ladies on… I'm also a volunteer here, and people have been so great and they've cheered me on."
Like Peterson, Obera blazed a time on the track that earned her a second gold medal and her second American record of the meet. Obera crossed the line in 34.82, which improved her own American record of 35.62 and put her a full second ahead of her nearest competitor, teammate Barbara Jordan (South Burlington, Vt.).
"It felt great, especially when I knew I had something left when I came off the turn," Obera said. "It was almost like old times. I'll settle for gold now, anything I can get."
Obera still plans to run the 4x100m relay, but after that's done, she says she plans to retire.
"I'm going to concentrate on tennis," she said "I want a gold ball in tennis."
Obera, who was a two-time qualifier for the Olympic Trials and competed at the very first World Masters meet, has tried to retire from running several times before, but keeps getting drawn back.
"I've been running for a long time," Obera said. "It seems like forever."
Olympian Joyner makes masters debut
Al Joyner, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump and brother of star heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, made his masters debut in the M50 triple jump. Joyner (Chula Vista, Calif.) finished in third place after hamstring troubles caused him to pass on his last four jumps of the competition.
"I felt good, but I hate losing," Joyner said. "I came here planning to try and win, but I knew I didn't have the steps that I needed. But I think this motivates me more to come back."
Although he didn't walk away without the win, Joyner was inspired by the tenacity of some of the older competitors.
"I got a chance to see like 80-year-old hurdlers," he said. "I'm really impressed with that. Just to see them jump over hurdles at that age lets you know that if you take care of your body, it can do amazing things."
Looking ahead, Joyner hopes to continue Masters competition and see how much he can push himself.
"I want to break the world record in the triple jump for each age group," Joyner said. "I think I was blessed with certain genetics, so I'm not going to take it for granted and push it to the limit. I got a chance to see the atmosphere [of World Masters] and got a chance to taste it. Now I want to taste the whole enchilada."
Other U.S. event winners from today's competition include the following:
Daniel Bulkley, M90 triple jump (4.18m/13-8.75)
Leland McPhie, M95 triple jump (2.42m/7-11.25)
Milan Jamrich, M60 high jump (1.66m/5-5.25)
Leland McPhie, M95 high jump (0.80m/2-7.5)
Kay Glynn, M55 pole vault (2.85m/9-4.25)
John Goldhammer, M55 shot put (14.36m/47-1.5)
Cameron Bolles, M45 discus throw (49.09m/161-1)
Johnnye Valien, W85 javelin throw (11.62m/38-1)
Gary Stenlund, M70 javelin throw (52.23m/171-4) WR own 52.06m
Oneithea Lewis, W50 hammer throw (54.67m/179-4)
Ruth Welding, W55 hammer throw (39.22m/128-8)
Jim Manno, M90 200m (42.65)
Kathy Bergen, W70 200m (32.23)
Robert Lida, M70 200m (27.78)
Stephen Robbins, M65 200m (26.12)
Sharon Warren, W60 200m (30.30)
Ralph Peterson, M60 200m (25.43)
Oscar Peyton, M55 200m (24.17) US sweep with Kevin Morning and Mark Davis
Joy Upshaw, W50 200m (26.54)
Michael Sullivan, M50 200m (23.36)
Khalid Mulazim, M45 200m (23.09)
Lisa Daley, W40 200m (26.16)
Antwon Dussett, M35 200m (21.57)
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment