DONE
Five individual
contests and three team contests already have a winner. Marisa Sutera
Strange has locked up the W55 win with
5 wins and 500 points; Nat Larson has the M55 in his
pocket with 495 points on 4 wins and a 2nd place; David Angell
cannot be caught now with 480 points in M40; nor can Brian
Sydow, in M45, with 475 points on 5 events; Catherine
Radle, has an insurmountable lead with 390 points in W75. This is Angell’s 3rd
consecutive Grand Prix title; he has now won the Grand Prix every full year he
has been a Masters athlete. Larson also racked up his 3rd in a row
and Strange has her third title in the last four years! Sydow has a 210-point
lead with two events to go so he attains his first Grand Prix victory. None of
Radle’s rivals are within 200 points of her total, so Radle has her first Grand
Prix victory sewn up!
Start of the Men's 40+ Race at the USATF Club XC Championships in Spokane, WA last December to Kick off the 2019 Masters Grand Prix Circuit Photo Credit-Robyn Doloughan |
In the
Club Grand Prix, the Atlanta Track Club has two titles already. Their W70+ team has 400 points with 4 wins, but
no other team can score more than 300 points even if they would win the final
two contests. Their M60+ team has
again beaten back challenges from the Boulder Road Runners, Shore AC, and
the Genesee Valley Harriers with 500 points. The Greater Springfield
Harriers have the M50+ division
sewn up with 480 points on 4 wins and a 3rd place finish. Even if one
of their two closest rivals, Atlanta
and GVH, would win the last two events, neither could exceed
470 points. For both Atlanta squads, this is their 2nd
consecutive Grand Prix win. Greater Springfield collected their 3rd
straight title. The rest of the divisions remain highly contested!
![]() |
Start of the Women's Race at the USATF XC Championships in Tallahassee, Fl in February--The beat goes on-Race #2 in the 2019 Masters Grand Prix series |
UNRESOLVED
W40 Jill Braley has the lead at 370 points
but she needs to score additional points at either San Diego or Tulsa.
Otherwise Vanessa Lordi, the defending Grand Prix Champion, with 320
points, could edge her; Lordi entered both events early, but not Braley.
W45 Alexandra Newman leads with 320 points
but is pressed by Nancy Thomas with 290. However, Thomas has just turned
50; if she races again this year, she and her totals go into the W50
competition. No one else has over 200 at present so Newman can ice it by
raising her total over 400 with a 6th place or better finish in San
Diego. W50 Amy
Fakterowitz leads at 460 points from 5 contests. The only athlete who can
catch her is Mary Shah, who has 420 points on 5 races. Shah would need a
1st and a 2nd place or better in the last two races. That
makes Fakterowitz a strong favorite. W55 See Done above.
W60 This division is still highly contested. The defending Champion,
Cynthia Williams, leads, with 395 points from 5 events. Her Atlanta teammate,
Patrice Combs, is in 2nd and is the favorite right now. Her
390 points come from just 4 events. If she should win one of the last two
events, her total would shoot to 490; if Williams won an event, that would
displace her lowest of 5 scores, 65, and raise her total, but only to 430. Two
other Atlanta runners, Margaret Taylor and Mireille Silva are
also in the hunt. They have 380 and 350 points, respectively. Jennifer Teppo
is a long shot, with 200 points on two events. She is the fastest of these
talented runners. If Atlanta decides not to travel for those two contests,
Teppo could still win. W65 Kathleen
Allen leads, with Jeannete Groesz within striking distance. Allen
has 345 points on 4 events; Groesz has 285 on 3 events. But, as in W45, Groesz
is about to age up. She needs the points from the last 2 events to vie for the
win. But once she competes, she ages up to the next age division and brings her
points with her. Groesz will be contending, if at all, for the 70-74 title. Allen’s
teammate, Cynthia Lucking is not completely out of it, but Allen is in a
strong position. W70 Carol
Rhodes has a big lead with 350 points on 4 events; Sharon Gerl is
the one contender most likely to overtake her, with 200 points on 2 events. Gerl
came in ahead of Rhodes at Cross Country Nationals in Tallahassee. If Rhodes
runs the Cross Country event, she can put it out of Gerl’s reach by finishing 10th
or higher. W80 Tami
Graf, the defending Champion, is tied with Madeline Bost, last
year’s W75 Champion. Bost has won the Grand Prix in her Age Division every year
since its inception in 2014; she is a tough competitor.
One of Bost’s
advantages has been that she is more willing to travel and compete than many of
her potential rivals. If Graf enters the 5 Km XC in San Diego this year, that
would put pressure on Bost to keep in step. Bost defeated Graf in Flint, to pull
even in points. If Bost would win in San Diego, she would move ahead. Then we
would have to see about Tulsa; perhaps a 15K might not be a race too far?
![]() |
Start of the 10K Championship Race at the James Joyce Ramble in Dedham MA Photo by Michael Scott |
M50 Kent Lemme, going
for a ‘3-peat’, but struggling with some minor injuries this year, has the lead
with 410 points on 5 events. Mike Nier has 340 points on 5 events. With
his Greater Springfield team having the M50+ Club Grand Prix all locked
up, it is possible Lemme will skip the last two events. If he does so, that
leaves an opening for Nier to move up. M55 See Done above.
M60 Ken Youngers won the inaugural Individual
Grand Prix in 2014 when he was in 55-59 but he has not won since. He has 470 on
5 events; winning an event at this point raises his total by replacing one of
his 90 point totals and moves him to 480. Roger Sayre has 390 points on
4 events. If he wins an event, he jumps to 490. It could go either way. M65 Reno Stirrat has
the lead with 410 points in 5 events, but Joseph Reda has 390 points on
4 contests. He can jump ahead of Stirrat with a good result at either San Diego
or Tulsa. But Stirrat can raise his total the same way. Defending Champion, Kirk
Larson, is at 345 points on 4 contests. If neither Reda nor Stirrat compete
in the final 2 events, Larson could be a surprise winner. A hundred points
would propel him to 440 and a win if his two rivals give him the opening. M70 Lloyd Hansen, who
won the 65-69 Grand Prix in 2014 and 2015, leads with 475 points on 5 events. Hansen
would likely have closed the contest out at the 1 Mile Championship in Flint. He
is currently injured, taking a break from running.
Jerry Learned trails
closely with 455 points on 5 events and Dave Glass follows with 415 on
5. If Hansen has to skip the last two events and Glass would win both, he too would
have 475 points, but Hansen holds the 1st tie-breaker edge
[head-to-head competition]. Learned can reach 485 if he would win both. No one would want to bet against him; Learned
is a gutsy runner. Terry McCluskey has 370 on 4 events; repeating his
win at Spokane would vault him to 480. M75 After a long bout with a leg injury, Hall-of-Famer,
Doug Goodhue, returned to form and won the Grand Prix last year for the
first time since 2014. He leads this year with 395 points on 4 events; Jan
Frisby is 2nd with 295 points on 3 events. Goodhue’s only loss
in 4 tries was to Frisby, at the 1 Mile, and then only by a single second.
Frisby has already signed up for both San Diego and Tulsa so he will push Goodhue
to the max. Goodhue is very competitive and a fierce cross country runner. Before
Flint, it had been several years since Frisby beat a healthy Goodhue. Most
likely Goodhue will get his 2nd consecutive title. But if Goodhue
does not close it out in San Diego, Frisby could push him all the way. M80 The main contenders are John
Elliott who took the 75-79 title in 2014. He has 200 points from 2 wins. Sid
Davis has 170 points from 2 events, and Richard Williams has 100
points on 1 event. David Turner has just aged up into the 80-84 division
and brings 180 points on two events with him. He has entered at Tulsa, but not
San Diego. If Elliott and Davis choose not to compete out west, Turner is the
likely winner. Williams has to win in San Diego and then decide to travel to
Tulsa for a 15K. M85 No
contestants will have the required 3 race minimum. M90 Two athletes have qualified for the Award in this
lofty age division, Nathaniel Finestone, leading with 300 points from 3
wins, and Richard Soller, with 290 points from a win and two 2nd
place finishes.
If neither competes again, which seems likely, Finestone wins!
TEAMS
M40+ Last year’s winners, the Garden
State Track Club New Balance, got off to a slow start this year but have
been gathering steam. They are in 3rd with 305 points on 4 events, behind
the Atlanta Track Club with 370 on 5, and GVH, with 310 on 4. The race in San
Diego is likely to be quite competitive; Tulsa may be a better bet for adding
points. But that strategy has its own risks; that is the last GP event-no
recovering from a bad day, should it happen. GSTC-NB has strong longer distance
runners, especially if the Frieder brothers are back from injury. If they would
win at Tulsa, that might be enough for the GP repeat win.
M50+ See DONE above.
M60+ See DONE above.
M70+ The Ann Arbor Track Club
won this division last year with 500 points. They skipped two events in the
spring, but they added 200 points at Atlanta and Flint. At 400 from 4 events, they
are within striking distance of their archrivals, the Atlanta Track Club,
with 450 on 5 and the Genesee Valley Harriers with 440 on 5. This
division race is a ‘barn burner’; anyone could take it!
W40+ The Impala Racing team
has 445 points on 5 events but have not quite shaken Atlanta with 380
points on 4 events. If Atlanta finishes 4th or better in one of the
final two events, they vault above 445 points. But the Impalas are not
standing still. This one could go either way, but it appears the Impalas are
focused on getting the win. Both are entered at San Diego; if Atlanta can get
the win and the Impalas finish 2nd, they would be tied going into
the final race of the season. Hang on to your hats, folks-This could go down to
the wire!
W50+ The Athena Track Club
has won this division every year since the Club Grand Prix started. With 300
points on 3 events, they trail GVH with 330 points on 5 events, and the Atlanta
Track Club, with 450 points on 5 events. To win Athena needs to contest the final two
events and score at least 160 points. But Atlanta can still drive their score
up a little. Atlanta is in the driver’s seat, but no one is counting Athena
out!
W60+ Atlanta would have
this one locked up if the Team Red Lizard squad were not such a strong
adversary. Atlanta has 480 points on 5 events and Red Lizard has only 290 on 3.
But the Red Lizards have the edge, 2-1 in head-to-head competition. If the Red
Lizards win both San Diego and Tulsa, they would have 490 points and the win!
W70+ See DONE above.
Terrific
competition is the rule! By the end of October, the winners will all be known;
they will mount the stage in Bethlehem PA in December to accept the accolades
of their fellow athletes.
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Masters Grand
Prix Rules and complete standings for the Individual (Women, Men) and Club
Grand Prix contests can be accessed through:
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