BOSTON – More than 800 athletes, ranging from age 30 to 100 and from all walks of life, will compete this Friday through Sunday, March 26-28, at the USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Held at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center at Boston’s Roxbury Community College and hosted by the USA Track & Field New England Association, the meet will include a wide array of competitors, including five-time NFL Pro Bowler Todd Christiansen, a world sailing champion (Phil Byrne), an inventor of the inflatable dome (Desmond Margetson), the star of Nike running ads in 2003 (Kathy Martin), a kidney donor (Maryanne Torrellas), and several Olympians, among hundreds of others. (See below for athlete profiles).

Typically the site of numerous records each year, the 2003 edition of the Masters Indoor Championships saw 14 world and 38 American records fall in five-year age groups from 35-39 to 85-89. “The track is recognized as lightning-fast and top quality, conducive to world and national records,” said meet director Steve Vaitones.

Competition begins Friday, with the first final event, the 3,000 meters, scheduled for 4 p.m. Competition continues Saturday and Sunday, with events – including sprints, relays, distance races, race walk, hurdles and field events – beginning at 10 a.m.

Admission to the meet is free. For more information, visit www.usatf.org

MEDIA CREDENTIALS: To obtain media credentials, contact Bob Weiner, 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700 (cell).

Athlete profiles, 2004 USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships

Charles Allie (Pittsburgh, PA) – Allie is a world masters champion who set world age mark record in the 400 meters in 2003 with his time of 52.24, winning his race by almost three seconds against other 55-to-59-year-olds. He will compete in the 60 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters in Boston.

Phil Byrne (Charlestown, Mass.) – The 63-year-old won the 2001 world masters championship in the decathlon. Was part of two world championship sailing teams/programs on the maxi circuit in 1990 and 1992. Will compete in the shot put.

Alston Brown (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) - The native of Jamaica, now 55, ran a hand-timed 2:03.0 recently in the 800 meters – a time that would beat most high school athletes. He will compete in the 200, 400, 800 and mile.

Todd Christensen (Alpine, Utah) – a 5-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Oakland Raiders, the 47-year-old will compete in the 60m dash, 60 hurdles and shot put. Jeanne Daprano (Fayetteville, Ga.) – A recent inductee to the Masters Hall of Fame will try to sweep the 200, 400 and 800 at age 67. Thomas Gage (Billings, Mt.) – A 1972 Olympian, Cornell grad, and Masters Hall of Fame inductee, the 60-year-old will compete in the weight throw, shot put and super weight.

Champion Goldy (Haddonfield, N.J.) – The 87-yr-old reverend is still very active in church, as well as on the track. He holds men’s 85-89-year-old record in the 60 and 200 meters. He will compete in both races in Boston, as well as the shot put.

Ed Gonera (Bardowin, N.Y.) – A many-time national champ, the 51-year-old cuts quite a figure in the dashes, and is entered in the 200, 400 and long jump.

Courtland Gray (Monroe, La.) – Having just turned 60, Gray is poised to break records in the men’s 60-64 age group. He’s already broken the 60m hurdles record three times, and will run the hurdles and the 60 sprint.

Sid Howard (Plainfield, N.J.) – The 65-year-old won two championships this month in Germany and is favored in the 800 and mile.

Mel Larsen (Ames, Iowa) – A multiple national champion in sprints and long jump, he will compete in the 60, 200, 60 hurdles, and long jump.

Onithea Lewis – (Bayside, N.Y.) A world-class thrower in her own right, Lewis won the women’s open shot put competition at the 2003 Verizon Millrose Games. She set an American record in the women’s 40-45 shot put at the 2003 Masters Indoors, and this year is entered in the shot, weight and super weight throws.

Jeff Lindsay – (Tulsa, Okla.). The 45-year-old anesthesiologist and Harvard Medical School grad will try to add the 800 title to his list of national golds.

Mitch Lovett – (Brooklyn, N.Y.) The 2003 M40 60 meter champion is a triple threat, competing in all three dashes (60, 200, 400).

Kathy Martin (Northport, N.Y.) – You saw her in the Nike ads in 2003, but she’s even more impressive in person on the track. Earlier this year, the 52-year-old broke 5:00 for the mile – something that only the most elite high school athletes can do – and will be tough to beat in the 800, mile, and 3000.

Desmond Margetson (New York, N.Y.) Among this inventor’s claims to fame are the inflatable tennis dome, actually a spin-off from a military application more than 40 years ago. Now in the M75 age group, he won his age group World Masters cross country title in 1992 and now competes in the pentathlon in 3,000m.

Bob Matteson (Bennington, VT) – This 86-year-old won USATF’s Masters Track Athlete of the Year award, and set a world indoor masters record in the 400 meters at last year’s championships (1:38.25).

Leonore McDaniels (Virginia Beach, Va.) – A 76-year-old who trains with high schoolers, McDaniels broke three world records at the 2003 Masters Indoors, in the high jump, triple jump, and pole vault.

Marie-Louis Michelson (Stony Brook, N.Y.) A late-bloomer athlete and math professor at SUNY-Stony Brook, Michelson’s multiple records include the women’s 60-64 record in the mile, which she set at the 2003 USA Masters Indoors. She is entered in 200, 400, 800, mile, 3000.

Harold Nolan (Navesinic, N.J.) – Nolan defeated Bill Rodgers to win the M55 3,000m in 2003. He is a multiple national champion and will run the mile and 3,000m at age 57.

Gary Null (New York, N.Y.) – The nationally known nutritionist, 59, is an outstanding race walker, entered in 3000 RW. Roderick Parker (Amity, Alaska) – A retired, 85-year-old dentist, Parker both sprints at Gateshead Worlds (1999) and will lock horns with Champion Goldy (see above) in 60 and 200. Also entered in 400.

Emil Pawlik (Jackson, Miss.) – The top combined events athlete in the U.S. over the last several years, Pawlik’s resume include the world masters decathlon titles in 1999 and 2003. He turned 65 in January, setting him up for more age-group records. He is entered in the 60m, 60m hurdles, long jump, high jump, and pentathlon.

Roger Pierce (Essex, Ma.) – The 59-year-old is still running well and was on three world-record-setting M50-59 relay teams in the last 12 months. He is a 2001 world masters champ and is entered in the sprint triple (60-200-400).

Aaron and Adrian Sampson (Salt Lake City, Utah) – These 42-year-old twins are long-jumping sensations. Aaron broke the 25-foot barrier as recently as 2002, and together they are world record holders for the longest jumping twins in the long jump, with a combined distance of 50 feet 10.5 inches, set in 1983. They also were the first twins to place first and second at the NAIA Championships (1983). Aron’s personal best is 25-7.5, with Adrian at 25-3.

Steve Sergeant (Charlestown, Mass.) – A 1988 Olympic Trials qualifier in the 1500 meters, Sergeant’s personal best of 3:41.87 was run in 1987. He was a New England Collegiate Champion in the mile (4:03.15) in 1984 for Northeastern University. Karl Smith (Silver Spring, MD) – Smith was a 1984 Olympian for Jamaica. Now 44, he ran 13.96 in the 110m hurdles to win the M40 race at the 2001 world masters.

Catherine Stone-Borkowski – (Ringwood, N.J.) former All-American at the University of Arkansas, Stone, 41, is a national bodybuilding champ (natural division). She will try to defend track title in 800 and secure gold in mile.

Jim Stookey, (Dickerson, Md.) – The 74-year-old retired veterinarian, has won myriad national and world championships in record performances, in the 200 meters, 60m hurdles, long jump, triple jump, and high jump. Marianne Torrellas – (Clinton, Conn.) A former world-class walker, Torrellas donated a kidney to her brother. She is active in USA Track & Field and was the Head Manager for Team USA at the 2001 World Track & Field Championships in Edmonton. She will try to win gold here at 45 in 3000 race walk. Anna Wlodarczyk (Orange, Ca.) – An Olympian for Poland, she was fourth at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The 53-year-old coach at Chapman College in California will compete in the 60, long jump, triple jump.