AGE DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS
USATF awards National Championship medals to the top finishers in each 5-year age division. Each winner is a 2018 Age Division National Road Mile Champion. These are in addition to the Overall Champions and Age-Grading Champions crowned at the National Championship events.
40-44 Men This is largely a recap of the Men's Overall Race. Four of the top 5 runners overall were all from this group. Alan Black raced to the early lead and hung on, 'running scared' as he put it, for the win.
Alan Black claims the overall and Men's 40-44 Division Titles at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Chuck Schneekloth emerged from the chase pack in the last 200 meters, holding off his teammate, Sam Teigen, for 2nd with the same time. Tim Rieth was 2 seconds back just off the division podium!
Alan Black 4:43 Chuck Schneekloth 4:49 Sam Teigen 4:49
[Note: I am reporting the official gun times; there was controversy over whether the official times were too slow by a few seconds. Many runners in the men's race indicated that their time as measured by their GPS watch was 3-4 seconds faster. GPS watches are not considered accurate enough for distance but there is no special reason why the timing function should be off by that much for so many runners.]
Women Tammy Nowik won the title two years ago but last year Melissa Gacek had the edge. This time out, Gacek made a move at the 900 meter mark that neither Nowik nor any other runner in the division could match. Nowik got close with 300 meters to go, but Gacek was able to pull away over the last hundred meters to claim the win.
Melissa Gacek finishing second overall and taking the Women's 40-44 division title at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
Melissa Gacek 5:33 Tammy Nowik 5:38 Kathy Wiegand 6:01
45-49
Men Two athletes were entered but neither was able to make it to the Championship.
Women The overall winner, Molly Watke, took the division title as well. Erin Larusso who won the division title last year had to settle for 2nd.
Molly Watcke approaches the finish line in first place overall and takes the Women's 45-49 Division Title as well at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Melissaa Senall, the GVH veteran, who finished 5th last year, moved up to the podium, finishing third.
Molly Watke 5:25 Erin Larusso 5:56 Melissa Senall 6:28
50-54
Men Charles Novak who took 2nd overall, won this division handily.
Chip Owens, a new Atlanta Track Club recruit at his first Masters national championship, stayed with the chase pack behind Black as long as he could but eventually gave way when Novak broke free of the chase pack in the last few hundred meters. A Silver Age Division Medal is quite nice for the first time out. Scott Siriano, who traveled from Connecticut for the race, brought some hardware home; he was ten seconds behind Owens but had a similar margin on Dale Flanders who finished in 4th.
Charles Novak 4:47 Chip Owens 4:56 Scott Siriano 5:07
Women This was the 4th time that local runner, Lisa Veneziano, who lives about 20 miles from Flint, has entered the Championship. In each of the last three years she has been on the podium, 1st in 2015, 2nd in 2016, and 3rd in 2017. Off her game last year, Veneziano was determined to come back and show that she belonged in the race. She did that in spades, contesting for the overall win and taking the Age Division in 5:39, only 1 second off her best time in the event.
Lisa Veneziano captures 5th place Overall and takes the win in the Women's 50-54 Division at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
Lisa Veneziano 5:39 Amy Fakterowitz 5:53 Laura Delea 5:59
55-59
Men Alan Wells, from Orlando Florida, had the speed in the group as evidenced by his 3rd place division finish in the Masters Outdoor Track Championships in 2:13.9. Wells definitely delivered, achieving early separation and winning the division by 17 seconds.
Alan Wells captures the Men's 55-59 Division title and the Overall Age Grading Crown at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
Only 6 seconds separated the next 4 runners. Chuck Bridgman had the edge heading into the final straightaway to the finish and no one could catch him, It looked like Eric Stuber and Jeff Haertel would take 3rd and 4th. But Tim Lambrecht closed fast to take 4th but could not quite catch Stuber who enjoyed the final podium position. This is Stuber's 2nd podium finish at a national championship this year, showing versatility by landing a silver medal at the Masters Half Marathon Championships and a bronze here. Haertel was running his first race in a year and indicated after the race that he was happy just to be competing for his team. To have an outside shot at the individua podium was just gravy. Lambrecht, too, has had on and off injuries over the last few years. After finishing 4th in 50-54 in 2015, he had to settle for 10th in his age division the next two years. This was his fastest race since the 2015 Championship and it always feels good to be in the hunt for a podium spot.
Alan Wells 4:58 Chuck Bridgman 5:15 Eric Stuber 5:18
Women How often do you see the top 2 women in the 55-59 age group finish 3rd and 5th overall in a National Championship race? Not often, is the response but we may be seeing it more often in the future. Doreen McCoubrie showed why she loves the mile, taking 3rd Overall, winning her Age Division, and setting a new Age Division record--not a bad trifecta!
Doreen McCoubrie finishing 3rd overall and taking the Women's 55-59 Age Division title at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
Marisa Sutera Strange was only 5 seconds back as she erased the memories of her rather ordinary 5km race last week in Atlanta. Other than that, she has been either on, or very close to, a podium finish at every race she has run in the last few years, including her share of overall wins. Suzanne Cordes, of the San Francisco Bay area Impala Racing team and Syracuse's Karyl Sargent had a dandy battle for the bronze medal, with Cordes outlasting Sargent by a mere 2 seconds!
Doreen McCoubrie 5:34 (5:33 net for record) Marisa Sutera Strange 5:39 Suzanne Cordes 6:05
60-64
Men This was a rematch of last week's race between Roger Sayre and Ken Youngers at the 5K Championships in Atlanta. Sayre finished 49 seconds ahead of Youngers. Would Youngers be able to close that gap or reverse it? Youngers did close it down but not all the way. When Sayre crossed the finish line in 5:15 for the win, Youngers was only 5 seconds back in 2nd.
Ann Arbor's Mike Young and GVH's Marl Rybinski battled for the final podium spot. Despite a strong finish from Rybinski, Young held a 5 second advantage at the finish line.
Roger Sayre 5:15 Ken Youngers 5:20 Michael Young 5:33
Women Mary Richards won this division last year in 6:35 and had a sub-20 minute 5K at the Blessing of the Feet 5K. It appeared her closest competition would come from Ann Arbor's Maggie Hibler who had run 22:42 and 23:02 5Ks and her teammate, Carol Poenisch, whose recent 5Ks were closer to 24 minutes. It seemed Richards should win by a large margin. But Richards was a few steps slower this evening and Hibler ran big. Richards toughed it out though, taking the win by 4 seconds.
Mary Richards takes first in the Women's 60-64 Division at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Mary Richards 6:52 Maggie Hibler 6:56 Carol Poenisch 7:20
65-69
Men Peter Mullin was returning to the roads, fresh from winning the division championships in the 10,000 meters (43:06) and the 1500 Meters (5:31.4) at the USATF Outdoor Track Championships in Spokane. Doug Bell, who has been a sure bet for the podium the last few years, has been struggling with a back issue this year. At the 10K in late April, despite running over a minute slower than the year before, Bell was still able to make the podium. Apparently it is hard to predict how the back will hold up during a race; if he can get most of the race in before the back starts to act up, he is in good shape. It was hard to know if he was here to run a top race or just to be a part of the Boulder Road Runners team effort. In their absence in Atlanta, Kirk Larson and John Hirschberger battled for the title with Larson surging over the last mile to win by over half a minute. In this race they might be battling for the last podium spot. Last year, it was Mullin and Bell separated by just 3 seconds, with Larson 11 seconds behind Bell. Mullin is not running quite as well as a year ago, and Larson was closing hard. Mullin held on for the victory, with Larson just 4 seconds back in 2nd.
Peter Mullin [#20078] strides to victory in the Men's 65-69 Division at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Thirteen seconds later Hirschberger crossed the line in 3rd with Bell 2 seconds back. Either Bell's back acted up during the race or it prevented him from doing the kind of training he could put in previously; he ran almost half a minute slower than last year.
Peter Mullin 5:51 Kirk Larson 5:55 John Hirschberger 6:08
Women Atlanta teammates, Cindy Lucking and Terry Ozell, have been pretty closely matched in recent years. Two years ago Ozell came in six seconds ahead of Lucking; last year Lucking was recovering from a cycling accident and did not compete. Ozell finished 4th in 60-64. This year they both aged up to 65-69 and neither was injured. This time Lucking was able to reverse the outcome , defeating her teammate by 5 seconds--close as always!
Cindy Lucking captures the Women's 65-69 Division Title at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
Cynthia Lucking 7:30 Terry Ozell 7:35
70-74
Men Gene Dykes has been unbeatable this spring and early summer, winning the 10K, Half Marathon and 5K Championships by wide margins. He informed me in Atlanta that he would nto be running the 1 Mile because he did not want to push his luck. He has strained his hamstring at past mile races and felt lucky to run the 1500 Meter in Spokane just fast enough to beat the legendary Gary Patton, and not strain it. That left things open for the rest of the new wave of runners who, like Dykes, aged up to the 70-74 division this spring or summer. The 5K results from 6 days earlier were probably the best guide to the likely outcome. At that race, Lloyd Hansen finished 2nd behind Dykes, followed by Jerry Learned and Hansen's teammate, Terry McCluskey. Dave Glass and Tony Gingello, who tended to battle for 1-2 last fall, came next, followed by Przemek Nowicki and me, Paul Carlin, who had some great battles for 1-2 the year before but were now coming back from injury. That was a good guide but not a perfect guide. Hansen did take the victory, winning handily by over ten seconds.
Lloyd Hansen taking the win and leading the way for Ann Arbor Track Club Men's 70 and Up team at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Lloyd Hansen 6:03 Terry McCluskey 6:15 Jerry Learned 6:16
Women The remarkable Jeannie Rice dominated this division, winning by over 4 minutes. Last year she had to settle for 2nd in 65-69 behind 2017 Masters Runner of the Year, Sabra Harvey. Rice moved up to 70-74 this year and had the race to herself. Not only did she win handily, she moved to the top of the list for establishing the first Women's 70-74 American Record for the 1 Mile race. At 6:37 net, she moves to the head of the list by over a minute and a half--Wow!
Carol Rhodes took 2nd in 10:43, with Susan Hartman another three minutes back, rounding out the podium.
Jeannie Rice 6:38 Carol Rhodes 10:43 Susan Hartman 14:06
75-79
Men Doug Goodhue took his second straight age division title and, even though the 'Silver Bullet' would be the first to admit that he is not all the way back, he is far enough back from struggling with injuries that he can win these championships handily, especially when Robert Hendrick, the strongest other runner in the division, is not racing. Goodhue was voted Age Division Runner of the Year for eight consecutive years, 2007 - 2014, before being slowed down by injuries. But he won it again last year and is well on his way toward winning the 2018 title as well. Perhaps he will get another good, long string going! And by the way, the only reason he did not move to the top of the list for a new American Record is that he is already there; he ran 6 seconds faster last year!
It was also good to see Ron Mastin back in competitive mode. Two years ago it took him over 8 minutes to run over this 1 Mile course. He ran almost a minute faster this year. David Cohen, fresh back from running the Ultravasan 45K in Mora Sweden on the 18th of August, heeded his team's call for help, and closed out the podium despite not having much bounce left in his legs. He ran 25 seconds faster last year when he was slightly more rested.
Doug Goodhue 6:24 Ron Mastin 7:22 David Cohen 7:45
Women Catherine Radle was unopposed and took the win in 10:15. That would have been fast enough for 2nd place in the 70-74 division so she was moving pretty fast!
Catherine Radle wins the Women's 75-79 Title at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Radle adds this title to the one shew on last week in Atlanta when she was opposed.
Catherine Radle 10:15
80-84
Men In his first National Championship race this year, C. Christopher Rush ran unopposed and took the title in 8:43.
Christopher Rush takes first place in the Men's 80-84 Division at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
C. Christopher Rush 8:43
Women Tami Graf also ran unopposed. Her race was distinctive in that there is no pending mark listed for this category. Hence, unless I am mistaken, her net time of 11:29 moves her to the head of the list for the first Women's 80-84 American Record for the Road Mile.
So there were actually three American Records set this year in Flint, Women's 55-59, Women's 70-74, and Women's 80-84. Congratulations to Ms. Graf are in order.
Tami Graf 11:31
Your 2018 National Road Mile Champions are:
- Alan Black 44 Hillsboro, Georgia Atlanta Track Club
- Melissa Gacek 42 White Bear Lake, Minnesota Twin Cities Track Club
- Molly Watcke 47 New Bremen, Ohio
- Charles Novak 50 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
- Lisa Veneziano 53 Fenton, Michigan
- Alan Wells 55 Orlando, Florida Atlanta Track Club
- Doreen McCoubrie 56 West Chester, Pennsylvania Athena Track Club
- Roger Sayre 60 Golden, Colorado Boulder Road Runners
- Mary Richards 64 Townsend, Georgia Atlanta Track Club
- Peter Mullin 67 Houston, Texas Houston Elite
- Cindy Lucking 65 Greer, South Carolina Atlanta Track Club
- Lloyd Hansen 70 Provo, Utah Ann Arbor Track Club
- Jeannie Rice 70 Concord, Ohio
- Doug Goodhue 76 Milford, Michigan Ann Arbor Track Club
- Catherine Radle 75 Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta Track Club
- C. Christopher Rush 82 Schenectady, New York Adirondack Athletic Club
- Tami Graf 82 Lusby, Maryland Potomac Valley Track Club
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
USATF recognizes team championships in ten-year age divisions. Runners may run in a division that is below their actual age; no runner may compete in a team division above their current age. Finishing places are determined on the cumulative time of the first 3 runners for each team, with lower times finishing better. Should there be a tie in time, the tie is currently broken by comparing the times of the last scoring runner, in this case, number 3. The team who has the #3 with the faster time gets the tie-break.
Men 40+ This was the closest battle for Gold. As noted in the previous posting, Garden State Track Club's Chuck Schneekloth and Sam Teigen finished 3-4 overall; that translated into 1-2 in the Men's 40+ team competition. But, as noted, these events are scored on time. Those two got the same time, 4:49. Even though their third scoring runner, Dave Ferrugia, was only 16 seconds back, that gave a big enough interval for the Genesee Valley Harriers (GVH) to push all three of their scoring runners across the line. Tim Rieth came across in 4:51, followed by Christopher Hernandez 4:55, and Josh Harter, 4:59. That gave GVH a total time of 14:45. But by pushing all the way to the finish, Ferrugia's 5:05 was just enough to give GSTC the win by 2 seconds. That is almost as close as you can get!
GVH averaged 4:55.0 per scoring runner, while GSTC averaged 4:54.33, rounded up, by USATF procedures, to 4:55. GVH came with just three runners and every runner made it count! GSTC came with 5 so had a bit of insurance. Jason Timochko finished 2 seconds back from Ferrugia, with Thomas Knowles another 6 seconds back. If they can keep that tight 5-man pack together, it will really be important in Cross Country meets this fall.
Garden State Track Club-New Balance 14:43 Genesee Valley Harriers 14:45
Women 40+ GVH had an easier time of it on the Women's side. Their opposition was a somewhat depleted Atlanta Track Club squad. Atlanta had their heavy hitters out for the 5K Championships in Atlanta last weekend. Kathy Wiegand, one of the mainstays of the team, was their 4th runner to finish. She led the squad to Flint. Wiegand was first across the line in the team competition, but she was followed two seconds later by GVH's Heather Patterson. When Melissa Senall and Colleen Magnussen sped across the line 25 and 46 seconds later, respectively, that was all GVH needed.
Heather Patterson displays GVH's First Place Plaque for the Women's 40 and Up Division at the Awards Ceremony at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
Trenice Mullis Dubow, competing in the 60-64 division individually, would not ordinarily expect to be finishing 2nd for the team. Amy Bartholomew-Koepp, who would typically be much closer to the front, was either coming in injured and just jogging the course for the team points, or sustained an injury during the race. I hope it was the former.
Genesee Valley Harriers 19:20 Atlanta Track Club 23:57
Men 50+ The Greater Springfield Harriers who have dominated this division all year, stayed home. The Atlanta Track Club did not waste the opportunity. Working with a squad of mixed 50+ and 60+ athletes, they had enough firepower to win handily. Newcomer, Chip Owens, led the way with a 4:56. GVH's Dale Flanders came next but then it was all Atlanta as Ken Youngers and Jeff Haertel came in 3rd and 4th only a second apart. Youngers had dropped down from 60-64 ad for Haertel it was his first race of the year, coming back from injury. Atlanta wanted to be sure they had insurance so they also asked Kirk Larson to run for the 50+ squad. Larson would modestly say he was not one of the three scoring runners but I am sure everyone appreciated that Larson ran strong and had either Youngers or Haertel not been there, the team still would have won with Larson the 3rd scoring runner.
GVH was in somewhat the same boat. With John Van Kerkhove still on the comeback trail and Mike Nier not able to be there, Mark Rybinski dropped down from 60-64. While that did not allow them to battle Atlanta for first but it did allow them to battle for 2nd place with Playmakers Elite/New Balance. Playmakers is also missing three of their stalwarts from past years, Kerry Barnett, Dave Bussard, and Ruben Henderson. In their absence, Eric Stuber, Tim Lambrecht, and Michael Hammond put on a good show, pushing GVH all the way. Stuber raced across the line just 3 seconds back from Flanders, with Lambrecht only 2 more seconds back. But then Van Kerkhove came in next for GVH 16 seconds later, with Rybinski right on his heels. And they needed all of that because Mike Hammond of Playmakers came in at full tilt only 14 seconds later. When the dust had cleared, GVH had the 2nd place finish by one second over Playmakers; GVH averaged 5:29.66 per runner, while Playmakers averaged 5:30.0. Close!
Atlanta Track Club 15:37 GVH 16:29 Playmakers Elite-New Balance 16:30
Women's 50+ The powerful Athena Track Club had two runners up front, Doreen McCoubrie and Marisa Sutera Strange but they had no third runner. Checkers AC did send a complete team and happily took an unchallenged first place. The team of Amy Fakterowitz, Elizabeth Randell, and Judy Arlington turned in the fastest time of the day, averaging 6:22 per runner; they are a strong team!
Amy Fakterowitz (L) and Judy Arlington (R) ran for the Checkers AC Team that won the Women's 50 and Up Division at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
Checkers AC 19:05
Men's 60+ This could have been another tight battle between the Atlanta Track Club and the Boulder Road Runners. But Atlanta announced that they had clinched the Masters Club Grand Prix title at Atlanta last week. Only a few of their 60+ runners were coming to Flint and they were asked to run with the 50+ squad. In the absence of Atlanta, the Boulder Road Runners had a comparatively easy victory, although Shore AC gave them a challenge.
Following the lead of Roger Sayre, Ann Arbor's Michael Young came across 18 seconds later to provide a foundation. But then Shore brought three runners across in a span of 9 seconds--Kevin Dollard, Scott Linnell, and Mike Mooney. Because Jeffery Barros came in between Dollard and Linell, then Doug Bell was able to seal the deal for Boulder by coming in just 14 seconds after Mooney. That tight Shore AC pack, however, put it out of reach for Ann Arbor, despite the best efforts of Hugh Kuchta and Michael Mester.
Boulder Road Runners 17:16 Shore AC 17:35 Ann Arbor Track Club 18:40
Women's 60+ This was the most competitive division on the Women's side, with only 8 seconds separating the two teams, Ann Arbor Track Club, and Atlanta Track Club. Mary Richards got things off with a bang for Atlanta as she came in first, but Ann Arbor's Maggie Hibler was only 4 seconds back. Who would be next? When Ann Arbor's Carol Poenisch came in next, 24 seconds back, things were looking good for Ann Arbor.
Carol Poenisch finishes strong as the 2nd Ann Arbor finisher on the Women's 70+ Team at the 2018 USATF Masters 1 Mile National Championship |
She had a gap of 10 seconds on Cindy Lucking so that gave Ann Arbor a six second lead at that point. But when Lucking's running mate, Terry Ozell finished only 5 seconds back, that put the lid on it. The 2-3 punch of Lucking and Ozell had delivered the goods.
Ann Arbor's Mary Aseltyne was less than a half minute behind Poenisch and on many days that would be close enough, just not today.
Atlanta Track Club 21:57 Ann Arbor Track Club 22:05
Men's 70+ What with Lloyd Hansen and Terry McCluskey aging up, and Doug, the 'Silver Bullet' Goodhue finally recovering most of his fitness after a long up and down rehab period, Ann Arbor is now a force to be reckoned with in Men's 70 and up. The Atlanta Track Club has a solid 1-2 with Dave Glass and Jerry Learned but, as of now, they lack a strong third runner to run up close to those two. Hansen got things started for Ann Arbor as the first runner across the line. It looked like Learned might give Atlanta the 2nd place finish but McCluskey nipped him at the finish line.
When Goodhue sprinted across the line next, that sealed it for Ann Arbor. It is not clear if Glass was laboring with some niggling injury, or just learning to run the mile. He confided after the race that it was his first time ever running a 1 mile race. In either case, despite coming in over a minute ahead of me in the 5K six days before, Glass just sprinted past me in the final few hundred meters and beat me by 2 seconds. Ron Mastin finished the scoring for for Atlanta a bit later.
David Cohen was a game teammate for Ann Arbor, running for the team despite being just back from Sweden where 6 days before he had run in the Ultravasan 45K race.
Ann Arbor Track Club 18:42 Atlanta Track Club 20:17
Women's 70+ The Atlanta Track Club team of Catherine Radle, Carol Rhodes, and Susan Hartman was unchallenged and enjoyed their second victory in a row, adding this to the 5K National Championship they earned in Atlanta last week. That puts them in the driver's seat for the Masters Grand Prix title in this division. They are entered in the 5 km Masters Cross Country Championship in Buffalo. If they successfully complete that race, it would give them their third event and they would win the prize.
The Atlanta Track Club's victorious Women's 70 Plus Team consisting of [L to R] Carol Rhodes, Catherine Radle, and Susan Hartman [Photo by Carter Sherline] |
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Photo Credits:
Photos identified as 'by Carter Sherline' are among the many photos he took. They can be viewed at: frogprincestudios.smugmug.com/
Photos identified as 'by Melissa Gacek' were provided gratis by Melissa Gacek, who finished 2nd overall int he Women's Race and then took photos of the Men's Racea afterwards. You can view her photos at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/v15uCKPtKQxS6iiK8
Photos with the Crim logo in the lower left corner are complimentary photos provided courtesy of the HAP Crim Fitness Foundation's Festival of Races.
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