T&F Report

November 2004
George Mathews

BENGAY "Masters Athlete of the Year Nominations"

Most of you will recall the generous financial support BENGAY has given Masters Track & Field this year. The first part has been dispensed in the form of travel grants, which allowed us to have a fabulous masters contingent on the track at our U.S. Olympic Team Trials this summer in Sacramento, Calif.

The second part is the financial support for the "Masters Athlete of the Year" to be presented at the USATF Annual Meeting at the Jesse Owens Hall of Fame Banquet, presented by Xerox. The award will honor the best among all of our long distance runners and track & field and race walking athletes.

The final nominees for the award are:

From Track & Field (by Phil Byrne's Awards Committee):

  • Kathryn Martin - six national championships, four U.S. records and very high age-graded marks
  • Rod Parker - also six national championships, four world records and very high age-graded marks

From Long Distance Running (by the Masters LDR Executive Committee, headed by Chairman Norm Green):

  • Colleen De Reuck - Masters 5 km W40 champion and 2004 Olympian as a masters athlete in the marathon
  • Kathryn Martin - Masters 5 km and 10 km champion, W50
  • Dennis Simonaitis - Masters 10 km and marathon M40 champion

This is the finals after considering many, many outstanding athletes. Congratulations to all. The winner will be decided by a committee made up of Norm Green, Bill Roe and George Mathews.

Combined-Event Age Grading

We have somewhat of a controversy raging concerning combined-event age grading. Many of you know that the tables for scoring the combined events changed back in 2001/2002 and were accepted by our Committee.

Unfortunately, most competitions run since that time have been scored under the 1994 tables. Those competitions are over and done with. All competitors walked away understanding they achieved a certain score and place.

Some people believe we should go back and re-score all those competitions to see who might have broken a record under the tables. Is it right to do this? If it is done, it must be for all competitors, not just those who might have broken a record.

We do have precedent for going back and re-scoring. Apparently we re-scored everything from 1989 to 1994 when the scoring tables changed. The question is, is this the right way to go? I, for one, as an athlete, don't feel comfortable with re-scoring an event after it is over. To me, when it is over, it's over. What do you think?

Hawaii and San Sebastian Reservations

It's not too early to be making your travel arrangements for Hawaii and San Sebastian, particularly if you want to use frequent flier points. Both have information available:

There are a few travel groups providing attractive packages for these championships. Make sure you get your place in these exciting meets.

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