Mid-America Region Masters T&F Report for USATF, 2010

Mid-America Region Mas= ters T&F Report for USATF, 2010

The Mid-America Region= had a very active year, and several of the associations held a number of meets. The Colorado Association hosted the Mid-America Region Indoor Championship in February at the United States Air= Force Academy in February. This continu= es to be a very popular masters meet bringing in compe= titors from all parts of the United States and Canada. This meet began in the late 1970s and = has been held every year since then. = This year's date was on Valentines Day, so our attendance was down a little.

Colo= rado also hosts the the Rocky Mountain Masters Games in August at the Colorado State University in Fort Collins. This was the 30th annual. Records, both National and World, were set.

Minneapolis/St Paul ho= sted the outdoor Mid-America Region Championships at Hamline University<= /st1:PlaceType>. It was held in conjunction with the Mi= nnesota Association's open championship so it was well attended and well run.<= /o:p>

The Missouri Valley Association has hosted both an indoor and outdoor maste= rs series that have been well received in the Kansas City area.

West Des Moines has held several masters events. The director h= as kept those meets quite local so we do not have much information about them except they were held. Also, the Missouri Valley Association hosted the USA/Canada/Great Britain Internation= al Challenge combined events in J= oplin, Missouri. It was a great meet and over the years= much camaraderie between the competitors from the three countries has developed. The next time the event will take plac= e it will be in Great Bri= tain.

The Mid-America Region= is still struggling to get communication going between the various association= s. Learning which associations are putting on events, getting meet publicity a= nd having results published remains a challenge. One reason for this problem is the broad expanse of its boundaries.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> It is really difficult to obtain any cohesiveness because of the mileage any competitor must travel to get to association meets. There may be no answer to this problem and concern. Some discussion has taken place as to whether Minnesota= should be in the Mid-America Region or the Mid-West Region. Because of its proximity to the Mid-We= st Association it makes some sense for it to be in the Mid-West Region. If there were to be a change Minnesota should probably initiate the procedure.

At the Rocky Mtn. Mast= er Games, we also had a clinic for pole vault and throwing event.

Both were very well attended. We could have used a lot more time for newcomers. Coaches and even some officials came early, to help.

Since the pole vault w= as at the CSU Indoor facility, the athletes were not exposed to the extreme heat = that we had that weekend. The extra rental cost for the facility was covered by = the clinic budget, and was well worth the money.

Noteworthy is, that Tim Edwards, who not only organizes the throwing events, has personally bought EVERY NEEDED IMPLEMENT, in all sizes and weights. He has a truck loaded with whatever we need, incl. wt. and measure equipment. He also brings that &quo= t;load of goodies" to every meet within driving distance, which is partly acr= oss the USA<= /st1:country-region>.

Every thrower attendin= g our meets, indoor and out, does not have to worry about bringing an implement on the plane, or if he/she does not have a specific implement, it will be prov= ided, and is legal!!

Also, the Combined eve= nt meet in Joplin/MO vs. Great Britain, was also the National Masters Decathlon/Heptathlon Championship, superbly organized by Tom Thorne, Rex Harvey and many great officials. A battle agai= nst the heat - and the humans won!!

Respectfully submitted= , Christel and Jerry Donley co-chairs=