Held, Upshaw-Margerum set records USA Outdoor Masters Championships

SPOKANE, Wash. - Joy Upshaw-Margerum and Franklin "Bud" Held continued their record setting ways Saturday at the 2008 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane, Wash. The event will end on Sunday.

The USA Masters Outdoor Championships annually showcases extraordinary demonstrations of speed, power, skill and endurance by many of the world's finest masters track and field athletes. Athletes compete in five-year age divisions, beginning at age 30.

Another day, another record for Upshaw-Margerum

The reigning World Outdoor women's 45-49 age-group long jump champion, Joy Upshaw-Margerum of Los Altos Hills, Calif., set the American record in that event this afternoon with a leap of 5.37 meters/17 feet 7.50 inches. Her winning margin was a little more than three feet better than the runner-up, Caryl Senn-Griffiths' (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) best jump of 4.44m/14-7.

Upshaw-Margerum on Friday won the W45 100m hurdles in the American age-group record time of 12.07 seconds, and captured the W45 100m national title this afternoon in 13.17 seconds. The Chair of USA Track & Field's Masters Site Selection Committee and a resident of Los Altos Hills, Calif., Upshaw-Margerum is the sister of 2008 Team USA Olympic Games long jumper Grace Upshaw.

Held sets another record

Franklin "Bud" Held of Del Mar, Calif., set an M80 masters world record in the pole vault on Thursday and added an American record in the hammer this afternoon with a winning toss of 34.15 meters/112 feet. A 1952 Olympian as a javelin thrower, Held was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1987.

Another American masters hammer throw record was set by Bob Ward of Dallas, Texas, who won the M75 competition with a toss of 45.27 meters/150 feet. Ward's margin of victory over his nearest competitor was 45 feet.

Allison Cowdell of Tustin, Calif., equaled the American record in the women's 35 age-group in winning the javelin throw with a toss of 40.10 meters/131 feet 7 inches, and Renee Henderson of Merchantville, N.J., set the American record in the W40 age division with her 100m winning time of 12.31 seconds.

Collins, Barnwell win 100m titles

The 2006 USATF and IAAF World Masters Athlete of the Year, Bill Collins of Houston, Texas, added the M55 100m title this afternoon to the 400m crown he won yesterday in Spokane.

Collins won the 100m in 11.90 seconds, and will attempt to win the 200m national M55 title tomorrow."They pushed me a little bit today, younger guys are coming in and I'm moving up in age, which is good," said Collins. "It keeps me training. It really keeps me training. You come to national championships to win, records you do during the year, and if it happens, it happens."

The reigning M50 World Indoor 60m and 200m champion, and current World Outdoor 100m champion, Val Barnwell of Brooklyn, N.Y., won the 100 meters convincingly in 11.38 seconds. "I was comfortable," said Barnwell. "The most important thing about my race is the drive phase from 60 meters. As long as I'm comfortable there, I'm a powerful sprinter. You have to make sure that everything in the race comes together during the preparation before coming here."

Thane wins women's 800 meters

2004 Olympic Trials competitor Mary Thane of Missoula, Mont., who last competed at the USA Masters Outdoor Championships in 2003 when she captured women's national titles in the 800m and 1,500m, won a spirited battle in the W45 800m this afternoon in Spokane, crossing the finish line in 2:25.81.

Thane took the lead for good on the backstretch on the final lap. "My coach mentioned how wide the corners are and that the straightaways are short, so I decided to go when I did because of that," she said.

In other women's running events, all-time masters great Kathy Martin, who won national titles in the W55 age group in the 5,000 meters on Friday and in the 2,000m steeplechase on Thursday, won two more U.S. titles on Saturday. Martin showed her versatility in winning the 10,000m this morning in 41:13.60, before bouncing back this afternoon to capture the 800m in 2:38.56. The owner of numerous masters records and national championships, Martin was named the first-ever USATF National Masters Athlete of the Year in 2004.

Burke wins men's hammer throw

Three-time Olympian Ed Burke was joined in a highly competitive M65 hammer throw battle with former USATF Masters Committee Chair George Mathews before finally winning the event with a throw of 53.04 meters/174 feet.

Mathews, who had won three consecutive U.S. masters hammer throw titles prior to this year and is a five-time world masters champion, was the runner-up with a best toss of 50.63m/166-1.

"I was lucky to throw farther than George, who is a wonderful competitor," said Burke. The fun thing is no matter how far you're throwing, I'm just throwing against myself. When they call your name, your heart jumps in your throat just like you're at the Olympic Games. This is a lot of fun.

Known for carrying the U.S. flag with one hand as the Team USA flag-bearer at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Burke was pleased with the choice of 1,500m runner Lopez Lomong as the U.S. flag bearer at Friday night's opening ceremonies at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. "I know his story moves me and it very much deserves all the attention it's received," said Burke. "I wish he would've carried it with one hand (laughter)."

After the competition, Mathews was happy with his performance. "I have to be pleased, it's not as far as I've thrown this year, but I'll take it, he said."

For more information on the 2008 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships, including the complete results, visit: www.usatf.org.