Local favorite and inclement weather highlight Day 1 of USATF Masters Outdoor Championships
7/13/2017
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The 50th anniversary of USATF Masters Outdoor Championships kicked off under inclement weather conditions at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track & Field Stadium, highlighted by 92-year-old Mary Norckauer knocking out the first of her twelve anticipated events.
Norckauer, a Baton Rouge native, approached the 800m with steady determination, finishing the first lap in 3:30.32 and taking the W90 crown with a final time of 7:31.36. She’ll continue her sweep tomorrow starting with the 400m at 1:30 p.m. local time.
The first day of track competition began with 5000m finals for several age groups, including Brent Fields (Covington, Georgia) of Atlanta Track Club who won the M45 group with a finishing time of 16:58.51.
Sonja Friend-Uhl (Boca Raton, Florida), no stranger to seeing gold at masters championships, dominated the W45 800m in a near world record time of 2:15.56. Friend-Uhl wasted no time asserting her lead and finished the first 400m in 1:05.49. On the bell lap, she maintained position and won with 24 seconds over second place.
In a close race, 2008 Olympian Amy Begley (Mableton, Georgia) finished second in the women’s 30-39 800m final, crossing the line in 2:36.79 behind behind first-place finisher Lisa Edwards (Bronx, New York) in 2:35.57.
Peter Brady (Jersey City, New Jersey) defended his 2016 title in the M45 800m in 2:00.78, a full five seconds ahead of the next closest finisher.
In the M65 shot put, reigning world record holder Quenton Torbert (Redlands, California) led today’s competition from the first throw and won the event with a best distance of 16.18m/53-1.
Lightning caused delays in the early afternoon and mandated later sessions in the evening. The 400m prelims were moved to the indoor track, as well as the pentathlon 1500m. Thursday’s scheduled hammer throw and discus were moved to Friday morning at 7 a.m.
Competition continues Friday which will include finals of the 5000m race walk, the 2000m and 3000m steeplechase, 400m, hurdles, and many field events. Click here for a full schedule.
Onsite media contacts:
Ashley Mitchell
USATF Marketing & Communications Manager
317.713.4672
Bob Weiner
USATF National Masters Media Director
Office: 301.283.0821
Cell: 202.306.1200
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