USATF-New England Headline NewsJuly 2001 through September 2001
USATF-New England Headline News
NATIONAL 24 HOUR
September 15-16, Sylvania OH
For those who just can't get enough running, the USA 24 hour championship was held last weekend over a 1+ mile road course. Top New Englander was Newton Baker, 59, of Montpelier VT, who covered 104.736 miles and was 27th in a field of 148 starters. Also over 100 miles in a day's time were Chip Merrow (Louden NH - 101.463 miles) and Ray Zirblis (Northfield VT - 101.463 miles), as distance is counted by the last complete lap covered before the 24 hour time limit. Richard Fedion (North Conway NH) was tops in the over 65 catagory, covering 90.553 miles. The majority of the field was age 40 and over.
VERRINGTON 79th AT WORLD MOUNTAIN RACE
September 16
Dan Verrington (CMS, Bradford MA) was second American and 79th overall at the World Mountain Running Championships in Ante Terme, Italy, on September 17. New Englanders Suzy West, Dave Dunham, and Eric Morse, all multi-time team members scheduled to again represent the USA, were unable to make it to Italy due to the air travel scheduling issues.
ANNUAL MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 17
The USATF New England Annual Meeting will be held on September 17 at Brandeis University in Waltham. You can see the meeting agenda here. Sports chairs and bylaw changes are the key topics.
BAA FALL HALF MARATHON FULL
August 23
The October 14 B.A.A. Half Marathon has reached its 3000 runner limit . No further entries will be accepted.
New Englanders to Lead USA 100K Team This Weekend
August 23
The USA 100km Team is set to compete in the 2001 World 100km on August 26 in Cleder, France. The twelve member American team includes three New England athletes, The USA men have what many consider to be their strongest squad ever. Dave Dunham (Central Mass Striders/ Bradford, MA) set a new American record of 2:57:37 for 50km in Chicago this past April. Dunham is the first American man to be named to both the USA National 100km and Mountain running teams and will race in the latter in mid-September. Joining Dunham is 7-time national team member James Garcia (CMS/Westford MA). The USA women includes Christy Cosgrove (Boxford, MA). Last year the men's team earned a silver medal and the women's team a bronze. For more information and details of the 100K championship, go to: http://www.americanultra.org.
DONNELLY, KEANE TOP 10 AT NATIONAL HALF MARATHON
August 18
The USA National Half Marathon Championships, held at the Parkersburg Half Marathon, found two local runners in the top 10 for men and women. Mike Donnelly (Providence/new balance) took 8th place for men in 1:05..49, his debut at the distance. Kelly Keane (Allston MA/BAA) was sixth in the women's results, in a personal best 1:15:39.
Other New Englanders among the top 50 were, for men, Chris Magill (Albion RI/BAA), 19th in 1:07:59, and Art Gilkes (Brighton MA/Reebok Boston), 38th in 1:10:25, while Julia Kirtland (Brunswick ME) was 27th in 1:22:53 and Susanna Landreth (Newbury MA) was 32nd in 1:24:09 for women.
Dan Brown (Lafayette CO/US Army) was the men's winner in 1:03.55, and Milena Glusac (Fallbrook CA) was the women's champion in a personal best 1:12.13.
NEW ENGLANDERS HELP LEAD USA JUNIORS OVER BRITAIN
August 18
New England athletes led the USA Junior (age 19 and under) Track and Field team to a win over Great Britain at Stoke-on-Trent, England on Saturday. For the men, Jeff Chakouian (Seekonk MA) won the shot put in a facility record 63'0.25" and placed fourth in the discus in 146'9". Josh McCaughey (West Kingstown RI) won the hammer in 201'7" with John Barth (Wakefield RI) fifth in 174'5".
In the women's results, Samantha Shepard (Weston MA) won the women's pole vault in 12'7.5", and Kristin Michalski (Warwick RI) was third in the hammer at 170'3".
EASTERN REGION MASTERS RESULTS
August 11-12
The Eastern Region Masters meet was held at Springfield College for the third consecutive year. The meet ran between the raindrops, as over 300 entrants age 30 and over, and a hard working crew of officials enjoyed another quality competition.
Full results may be found here.
GAITENBY 39th AT WORLDS
August 12
Jill Gaitenby finished as first American in 32nd place at the World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton Canada, recording a time of 2:39:20.
IRONMAN REMAIN STRONG
After four USATF-NE Grand Prix events, a record of 144 Ironmen remain. Athletes completing each of the seven Grand Prix events earn the coveted Ironman jackets. Click here to view the list.
WHIRLAWAY JO RELAY SETS YOUTH RECORD
July 26-29
The Whirlaway Racing Team Intermediate Boys (age 15-16) won the USATF National Junior Olympics 4 x 800 relay in a record 7:56.11. The previous best was 7:59.69. The team of Will Seidel (Newbury NH), Russell Brown (Hanover NH), Michael Grant (Haverhill MA), and Harry Norton (North Reading MA) all ran splits under 2:00 in Sacramento. Brown, of Hanover NH, also won the 800 meters in 1:54.51. A pair of javelin throwers from Cranston RI won the only other medals by New Englanders, which drew over 6000 athletes to last year's Olympic Trials stadium; Leigh Petranoff won the Midget Girls (11-12) mini-javelin in a record 115'10", and Michelle McNamee was 2nd in the Youth Girls (13-14) javelin in 93'1".
See www.usatf.org for full results.
JORDAN SETS MASTERS HURDLES MARK
July 26-29
Barbara Jordan of South Burlington VT and GreenMountain AA ran to a world best in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles on Sunday at the USA Masters Championships in Baton Rouge LA. Competing in the age 65-69 age-group 300m hurdles, Jordan won the event in 1:04.66 seconds. The previous world record of 1:05.67 was set in 1993. She also won the 80 meter hurdles and triple jump earlier in the meet.
Several other New Englanders were also multiple winners at the meet. Full results of the USA Masters can be found at www.usatf.org.
WHITNEY NAMED TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SQUAD
July 25
Beth Whitney (Providence RI / B.A.A.) was named to the US team in the marathon for the World Championships beginning next week in Edmonton, Canada. She will take the place of 2000 Olympic Trials winner Christine Clark, who has an Achilles tendon injury. Whitney placed 18th at the 2001 Boston Marathon in 2:41:42 and was third at the recent USATF-NE championship at the Stowe 8 Miler. She joins Jill Gaitenby (Providence/FILA) who was named to the team earlier.
TOOMEY NOW AMONG US 800 ELITE
July 23
Continuing her steady improvement on the track this summer, Jen Toomey (Salem MA/Reebok Boston) has established herself as one of the country's top 800 meter runners while mixing it up on the world scene as well.
Toomey had not dipped under 2:03 for 800 meters prior to 2001; yet in the past six weeks, she's had seven races under that time. Among those performances were her 2:01.28 3rd place at the US championships on June 24, a 2:01.95 meet record at the Maine Distance Festival, a 2:00.83 win in Heusden Belgium, and her personal best of 2:00.38 in Cuxhaven Germany last weekend.
GREATER BOSTON THIRD AT CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
July 22
Greater Boston TC placed third in the men's scoring at the inaugural USATF Club Championship Meet in Indianapolis July 20-21. Joe Welch was the club's lone winner, taking the hammer in 188'4".
FOUR NE ATHLETES NAMED TO US MOUNTAIN TEAM
July 20
Four New England runners were named to the US Mountain Running Team that will compete in the World Mountain Running Trophy Race in Arta Terma, Italy, September 15-16. Dave Dunham (CMS-Bradford MA), New England Grand Prix winner Eric Morse (CMS-Berlin VT), and Dan Verrington (CMS-Bradford MA) make up half of the six runner men's team who will race over 12K, while Suzy West (Cambridge Sports Union-Putney VT) is on the four runner women's team that races 8K. Additionally, overall winner of the NE Championship race on May 11, Nikki Kimball (Waterford NY) will be part of the squad.
All New Englanders have extensive previous experience at the worlds; Dunham has run on 10 US teams, Morse is on the team for the sixth straight year, and Verrington makes his seventh trip, while West is on her way to her third consecutive world trophy event. For the full press release, see the Mountain and Trail Running page.
VAITONES PICKED AS LEADER FOR WALK TEAM
July 20
USATF-NE Managing Director Steve Vaitones will serve as the team leader for the USA vs. Canada Junior Racewalk Match August 19. The thirteenth annual event will be held in conjunction with the SallieMae / USATF 10K Championship.
NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPICS TO BE "WEBCAST"
The USATF Junior Olympic National meet in Sacramento will be broadcast live on the internet for the first time. The meet, which runs form July 24-29, expects over 6000 competitors. The live webcast can be found at www.usatf.org and begins Tuesday, July 24 at 8:00 a.m. Viewing the webcast will require Windows Media player and a high speed Internet connection. Windows Media Player is available free from Microsoft and can be downloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/download/default.asp. To see if your Internet connection is fast enough to support the webcast, visit: http://www.dslreports.com/stest. A 56 kbps dial-up connection is insufficient and will provide a less-than-satisfactory experience. The USATF Web site will also feature daily results and news from Sacramento.
8 MILER COMPLETE; ROAD RACE GRAND PRIX PASSES HALFWAY POINT
July 18
Last weekend's 8 mile championship in Vermont put the 2001 Grand Prix series past the halfway point. The Stowe 8 Miler saw its largest field ever - over 1000 entrants - and was double the size of 2000. A picturesque course, a technically well run event, and a great spot for a weekend getaway, the event was the first New England Championship held in the Green Mountain State in 14 years. Diana Bowser (BAA) won the women's race, with Dave Hinga (MVS) taking the NE Championship behind overall winner Paul Mwangi of NY.
In the series standings, Central Mass Striders men and BAA women top the open teams, while Chris Magill (BAA) and Jessica Blake (GBTC) are the individual leaders. Check the Grand Prix page for up-to-date standings.
YOUTH AND MASTERS EARN CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALS
Local athletes at both end of the age scale have won championship medals Four throwers earned medals at last week's USATF Youth Athletics championship in Decatur IL. In the hammer, Michael Freeman (E.Greenwich RI) and Kristen Michalski (W.Warwick RI) were winners in a tune-up for their competing in the World Youth (17 and under) championships in Hungary next week. Leigh Petranoff (Cranston RI) and Jared Harrell (Milton MA) won medals in the javelin, at the Petranoff won with a throw of 99'2" (2nd longest of any boy or girl) in the age 11-12/midget division in the Turbo-jav, while Harrell was third in a 156'1" toss in the 15-16/Intermediate division.
At the other side of the age scale - and the world - Phil Byrne (Charlestown MA-decathlon), Carolyn Cappetta (Concord MA-800m) and Barbara Jordan (Burlington VT-300 Hurdles) have won gold medals at the World masters Championships in the past few days. The two week long meet - with competition in 5 year age groups - is taking place in Brisbane, Australia; full results are being posted at www.worldvac2001.com.au
STOWE 8 MILER COMING UP
July 15 is our next USATF Championship, the Stowe 8 Miler in Stowe VT. It's our first championship in the Green Mountain State in over 10 years. No day of event entry. Check out all the details at the race website.
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