BOSTON, MASS. - 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
Athlete profiles:
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). Aaron'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.