SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - Elena Shemyakina and Kathryn Martin ran to victories in the 8k cross country events on the first day of the World Masters Association Track & Field Championship.

8k cross-country
Shemyakina of Geneva, Ill. and Joannie Siegler of Davis, Calif. finished one-two in the W50 8k run to lead the United States to victory in their age group. Shemyakina's time of 31:36.1 led the field by a 45-second margin, with Sigler finishing in 32:19.9.

Martin's winning performance in the W55 8k run was the key to a US victory for the age division. Martin, a native of Northport, N.Y., crossed the line in 32:52.5 to lead the United States over Australia by one minute in the team totals.

Multi-events
Phil Raschker of Marietta, Ga. leads the W60-69 heptathlon after day one with a score of 3619. Raschker, who has won 68 WMA gold medals and currently holds 8 world masters records, won the 100m short hurdles (14.17), high jump (1.35m/4-5) and 200m (30.64) on the first day of competition. After the completion of the multi-events, Raschkis will compete in a slew of open events including the 100m, 200m, 400m, 80m hurdles, 300m hurdles, high jump, pole vault and triple jump.