Top Masters Running Clubs and the 2024 USATF Masters Grand Prix

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS 

The 2024 USATF Masters National Grand Prix is in the books. The Awards Ceremony was held on Saturday afternoon, December 14, 2024, in Tacoma WA. The Grand Prix kicked off with the December 2023 Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee Fl, continuing to the 2024 championships, starting in January - Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA; February - 5 km Championships in Atlanta; April – 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA; May - 1 Mile Championships in Danville CA; August - 10 Mile Championships in Flint MI; September - 12 Km Championships in Highlands NJ; October - Half Marathon Championships in Indianapolis IN; November – 5 Km Masters Cross Country in Boulder CO. 

It is a challenge to put together a strong team. For Men 40+ and 50+, you need five for Cross Country and all other teams need at least three. For all road races it requires three. The trick is that a team typically needs to travel outside its home area at least once, usually twice and sometimes more to have a shot at a GP win. Competition among traveling teams is robust in the middle Masters years; less so in the early Masters years, before 50+ and the later ones, 70+ for Women and 80+ for Men.  Luckily, older runners can drop down and run in a lower club age division. Clubs which would otherwise struggle to enter a 40's or a 50's team can supplement with sone of their older runners, just to get at least some points from more events. Teams earned up to 100 points at each championship they competed in. The best five scores are added up; the top score possible is 500 points. Only those teams who compete in at least three events are eligible for an award. 

TEAMS-MEN

 40+ Champion Atlanta Track Club 215 points. Only Atlanta and the Shore Athletic Club, out of New Jersey, managed to compete in the three events required for an award. Atlanta C Weiss, E Heintz, M Gerber, M Bett, M Castleberry (S Crabtree) contested the highly competitive championships in Tallahassee. They finished tenth and picked up 35 points. Those points proved to be crucial. 

Eric Heintz #678, Battling Runners from Santa Cruz TC and Bouler Road Runners, securing critical points for Atlanta's M40+ Efforts at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee FL Photo: Michael Scott

Shore E Ross, J Maranzani, H Leddy, G Weisinger, P Nowicki finished seventh in Richmond, moving ahead, with 50 points. Atlanta P Griffith, C Hales, N Deeter (D Heslep) won the M40 5K championships on their home roads, raising their total to 135; Shore E Ross, J Musante, S Linnell finished fifth. Shore's total rose to 110. Atlanta was ahead by just 25 points. Shore J Maranzani, C Whitehead, D Campbell (A Yearsley) made a bid for the GP win, taking third at Highlands. But Atlanta F Weir, C Cadiou, T Gresham (J Learned, L Hartley) answered with a third at Indianapolis and that clinched it for Atlanta. 2^nd Shore AC 190. 3^rd Vacant.  Several teams competed in two events but did not compete in the third that would have put them in the hunt for the win or at least a podium finish. West Valley Track Club Club Cross 1st; One Mile 2nd Indiana Elite Athletic Club Club Cross 2nd, Half Mile 1st Tracksmith Hares Club Cross 3rd, 10K 1st Garden State Track Club Club Cross 4th, 12K 1st Cal Coast Track Club Club Cross 7th, One Mile 3rd. This was Atlanta's first GP podium since 2019 when they finished 2nd with 420 points. This is the first year Shore has qualified for an M40+ award of any kind since the shortened Grand Prix season of 2020/2021 when they finished 9th. 2024 represented a nice step up for both clubs.

50+ Champion Atlanta Track Club 425 points. Four teams fielded competitive traveling teams, acquiring the three event results needed to qualify for an event. Atlanta, the defending GP Champs, served notice that it intended to win the 2024 Grand Prix; they competed at the first four events. Atlanta finished sixth at Tallahassee B Fields, F Dolan, S Bell, A Black, F Weir (M Strickland, L Hartley) and fourth at Richmond F Dolan, F Weir, B Sydow, M Strickland, N Pedersen (L Hartley). They pulled well ahead by winning at home in Atlanta S Bell, C Harris, F Dolan (C Carroll) and on the road in Dedham MA F Dolan, S Bell, B Sydow (F Weir, B Slavens). 

Steve Bell left and Frederick Dolan right Finishing in a Virtual Dead Heat, running 1-2 for Atlanta's M50+ winning effort in the Masters 10 Km Championships at Dedham Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Shore competed in the latter three, finishing fifth at Richmond J Conston, J Demetrick, K Dollard, E Puma, M DiLeva, fifth at Atlanta J Conston, K Dollard, H Leddy, and fourth at Dedham J Conston, R Shields, H Leddy. That gave them a 55-point edge over Genesee Valley Harriers, out of Greater Rochester NY. GVH scored 260 points from a 5th at Atlanta M Andrews, M Mertens, D Flanders (G Jensen), a 6th at Dedham M Andrews, V Tchamov, J Brigden, a win at the Ten Mile championship D Flanders, M Mertens, G Jensen (E Moore), and a classic cobbled together 8th at the 12 Km D Flanders, G Jensen, J Kasperski, with two of the three scoring runners from the 70+ division dropping down. The Greater Springfield Harriers, out of Massachusetts, pulled ahead of GVH by finishing second at Dedham MA N Larson, M Hixson, M Staples (A Heuck, S Brena). GVH moved past both GSH and Shore into second place with their win at Flint. It was time for Atlanta and Shore to reassert themselves and they did it with gusto, going 1-2 in Highlands over 12K. That clinched the win for Atlanta. Shore needed one more good score to be sure of second place and got it with a second-place finish at Indianapolis. That represented another step up the rungs of the GP ladder. Shore had finished 7th in the 50+ GP in 2022, 3rd last year and now 2nd. 2^nd Shore AC 350. 3rd GVH 260. Tht gave GVH their second straight 'Top 3' finish in the M50+ GP. As with 40+, there were a few teams with just two events. West Valley Track Club Tallahassee 1st; Danville 1st Boulder Road Runners Tallahassee 2nd; Boulder 1st Chattanooga Track Club Tallahassee 7th; Atlanta 5th Atlanta 'B' Atlanta 2nd; Dedham 14th.

60+ Champion Atlanta Track Club 490 points. Atlanta, Shore and GVH contested the GP again, with the company of the Ann Arbor Track Club, out of Michigan. Shore, who finished 2nd ot Atlanta in 2023 and won the M60+ GP in 2022, started with authority, winning at both Tallahassee M Zamek, R Lee, H Notaro (M Salamone, D Schwartz) and Richmond M Zamek, H Notaro, M Salamone (M Hersey). But Atlanta was not far back, finishing fourth R Becker, L Dragstedt, K Youngers (C Hannan, N Skipper) and third in the same events. Atlanta dominated from that point forward. In the spring season alone, they won two events, the 5K J Glidewell, L Dragstedt, K Youngers (C Hannan, G Oshust) and the 10K L Dragstedt, D Black, K Youngers (G Oshust, M Spencer). They had 350 points and were 60 points ahead of Shore, which had added a second-place finish at Dedham M Zamek, M Hershey, K Dollard (G Weisinger). Atlanta closed it off with wins at Flint R Becker, D Black, K Youngers (M Anderson, W Irvin) and Highlands K Youngers, L Dragstedt, C Hannan (G Oshust, M Anderson).

David Black finishing as #2 runner for Atlanta's M60+ team at Flint in the Masters Ten Mile Championships Photo courtesy of Crim Fitness Foundation

Shore did not make it easy. At Dedham, Shore M Zamek, M Hersey, K Dollard (G Weisinger) took 2nd. At that point they were 60 points behind Atlanta but only because Atlanta had four events and Shore just two. Once Zamek aggravated an injury after Dedham and they lost another runner, it was tough for Shore to keep pace. Nonetheless, Shore took 3rd at Flint H Notaro, K Dollard, S Linnell and Highlands C Gensib, K Dollard, D Schwartz (M Hersey). They could not catch Atlanta but made sure they kept all others at bay. GVH started strong with a second-place finish at Clubs A Evans, J Mora, M Gardella (J Van Kerkhove, G Passamonte) but only contested two more events. They finished 4th at Dedham M Mertens, W Crandall, G Jensen and 4th at Highlands M Mertens, W Crandall, T Riccardi for a final total of 230 points, and were just outside the top three. Ann Arbor started out slowly with a 9th at Tallahassee S Schmidt, L Sak, W Freeman (A Pratt, M Mester) and a 5th at Richmond L Sak, W Freeman, A Pratt (P Carlin, M Mester). Ann Arbor did not compete in the next three events; they were in 4th place, sixty points outside the top 3. But Ann Arbor came on strong in the latter part of the season, finishing second at Flint S Schmidt, L Sak, S Fiske (W Freeman, M Mester) and Highlands R Power, L Sak, W freeman (P Carlin, M Mester) and ensuring their third place finish with a win at Indianapolis S Schmidt, R Power, L Sak (S Fiske, W Freeman), M Mester. That gave Ann Arbor two 'Top 3' finishes in a row for M60+. 2^nd Shore AC 450. 3^rd Ann Arbor 380. The HOKA Aggies only ran two events Club Cross 6th; One Mile 1st to earn 155 points. To be fair, they would have needed to enter at least three more events to have had a shot at Top Three.

70+ Champion Boulder Road Runners 500 points. After finishing second to Atlanta in the shortened post-covid Grand Prix season of 2021, Boulder has been unstoppable. They won in 2022 with 490 points and raised that winning score to a perfect 500 points last year. They are still at the top! Boulder competed in the first six events, at Tallahassee B Kirschner, G Ostwald, D Bell, D Chesnut, Richmond D Bell, G Ostwald, R Katz (J Frisby), Atlanta D Bell, B Kirschner, R Katz (J Frisby), Dedham D Bell, D Chesnut, G Ostwald (J Frisby), Danville D Chesnut, D Bell, R Katz, and Flint D Bell, D Chesnut, G Braun, winning them all. They had their 500 points, and no one could beat them! 

Doug Bell leading the Boulder Road Runners to the M70+ Team Win on a Frigid Day at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Michael Scott

2^nd Atlanta 420 competed well, they were always a couple of steps behind Boulder but, typically, a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. After collecting 40 points at Tallahassee J Learned, P Taylor, M Williams (S Benedict) for their 9th place finish, Atlanta started rolling. They finished third at Richmond W Irvin, J Learned, A Joyce (P Taylor) and picked up silver medal finishes at Atlanta K Larson, J Learned, W Irvin (A Joyce, P Taylor) and Dedham K Larson, J Learned, E Owens (D Glass). Finishing off the season with a third-place finish at Danville, Atlanta had 380 points and had set a very tough standard for any team trying to catch them. The only teams that had points from two events at the end of the spring season were 3^rd Ann Arbor 375, River City Rebels and the Syracuse Track Club. The latter two had concluded their GP participation for 2024. Ann Arbor T McCluskey, P Carlin, D Goodhue had finished 8th at Clubs in Tallahassee and third in Atlanta D Kurtis, A Pratt, P Carlin. Shore AC finished 4th at Dedham. That was their only score in the first part of the season. Ann Arbor D Kurtis, E Matsuo, A Pratt (T McClusky, P Carlin( and Shore R Boyle, R Stirrat, K Wilson finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively behind Boulder at the Ten Mile Championships in Flint. That left AATC with 215 points and Shore with 150. With three events left, both teams could, in principle, catch Atlanta. Ann Arbor was not able to field a complete team at Highlands for the 12 K. But both Shore and Atlanta entered. Shore R Stirrat, P Auteri, K Wilson (B Bosmann) claimed the win with Atlanta W Irvin, J Learned, A Joyce (P Taylor, S Benedict) third. Their third gave Atlanta a bit of breathing room, raising their total to 420, as Shore surged past Ann Arbor, ahead now 250 to 215. There was little doubt that AATC would field a team for the HM at Indy. As it turned out, this one was Shore's to miss. Ann Arbor D Kurtis, E Matsuo, T McCluskey (A Pratt, P Carlin) made the most of it, winning the 70+ division and re-passing Shore at 315 to 250. That 65-point lead was critical. Shore was expected to challenge for the win at the 5 Km Masters XC Championships at Boulder. Ann Arbor was not sure they could field a team. They had to call on a long-time Club member who re-joined USATF; he had last competed for AATC ten years earlier. With just the three needed for a complete team making the trip, everyone had to run and finish the race. Their job was to finish the race and collect at least the 55 points for 6th place. That would be enough for AATC to finish 3rd in the GP, even if Shore won. The ability of AATC to have three runners finish was in doubt that morning. Paul Carlin (that's me) had somehow come down with food poisoning or a nasty stomach bug on the day of travel from Michigan to Dallas to Denver. . It would have been sensible to skip the race. At least that was clearly the view of the doctor who spoke with me at the ER six hours after the race was over, when I was getting an IV for dehydration. I ran and finished dead last, something I had never managed before at any national championship. But, paired with fine runs by the first two runners, Ann Arbor L Sak, J O'Brien, P Carlin had a complete team, the fourth-place finish in the championship and 70 points needed to secure third place in the 70+ GP. Shore had a great race, competing for the win. Their top two runners claimed 1-2 but they lacked the depth to hold out against Boulder. Boulder had the win, Shore J Linn, R Stirrat, K Wilson was second and Ann Arbor A Pratt, J O'Brien, P Carlin finished 5th. AATC outscored Shore in the Grand Prix, 375 to 340.

80+ Champion Vacant. Atlanta has won this division the last two years; they fell one short of the three events needed this year. In 2022, Atlanta's M80+ team won the 5K championships in Atlanta and the Club Cross Championships a few hours' drive away. They also traveled to Rochester NY and Highlands NJ, to ring up 390 GP points and a resounding win. In 2023, they traveled to San Francisco for Clubs and Indy for the 1 Mile Championships, in addition to the 5K. They won with 280 points. Hats off to Atlanta's M80+ runners! They are the only 80+ team that has traveled outside of its home area for a national championship, apart from Club Cross, in recent years. I hope they get back on track in 2025.

TEAMS-WOMEN 

40+ Champion Impala Racing 330 points. 2^nd Atlanta 265 J Braley, J O'Brien, P Coppel (H Guarneri) enjoyed the early lead from a ninth-place finish at Tallahassee. But Impala J Cooke, S Forde, A Newman answered with a third-place finish at Richmond. 

Jacqueline Cooke leads the Impala Racing W40+ team to a vital Bronze Team Medal Finish, securing important Grand Prix points at the USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Michael Scott

Even though Atlanta J Braley, A Koepp, B Presten (H Guarneri) won the 40+ division of the 5K Championships on their home roads, Impala E Gottlieb, A Newman, G Wahl finished fourth to maintain a slim ten-point lead. Impala J Cooke, J A McCarthy, E Gottlieb surged ahead for good with a win at Danville to Atlanta’s H Guarneri, L Hinz, A Eno sixth place. Atlanta’s only hope was to compete at Boulder and hope Impala would not. But Impala A Carroll,. M Holmes, I Herman finished 3^rd to Atlanta’s H Guarneri, L Hinz, A Eno fourth place for the GP win. 3^rd Vacant. Team Red Lizard, out of the Portland area, won the 40+ championships at Clubs in Tallahassee and Cross Nationals in Richmond. But that was it for them. Had they managed to compete at the 1 Mile in Danville, they would have been in the hunt for a 'Top 3' GP finish. The same is true for the Garden State Track Club. GSTC earned 170 points from its 4th place finish in Tallahassee and its win in Highlands NJ. Impala was back on top. They finished 2nd in the 2021 Grand Prix contest which spanned four pre- and post-covid championships. In 2022 the dominated with 420 points and a 150-point margin of victory. The following year and Impala 40+ team did not contest a single championship. It is good to see them in the hunt again--not only in the hunt but winning the 40+ GP Championship.

50+ Champion Impala Racing 460 and 2^nd Shore Athletic Club 450 battled tooth and nail for GP supremacy throughout the year. Impala S Forde, A Longworth, A Newman got off to a narrow lead, finishing 6^th to Shore’s A Puma, M Massell, K Musante 7^th in Tallahassee. But Shore L DeLea, A Marzulla, M Massell surged ahead with a win at Richmond. Impala started to claw their way back with wins at Atlanta S Forde, H Gudmundsdottir, S Gibbs and Dedham S Forde, H Gudmundsdottir, S Gibbs (A Newman) against Shore’s third in Atlanta A Puma, M Massell, K Musante and fifth-place finish in Dedham A Puma, M Massell, S Stirrat. 

Samantha Forde leads the Impala Racing W50+ Team to Victory, and 100 Grand Prix points, at the Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Michael Scott

At that point, Shore led 275 to 250. Impala S Forde, S Gibbs, G Wahl won at Danville to move ahead but Shore A Marzulla, A Puma, M Massell answered with a win at Flint, putting them back ahead by 25. When Shore A Marzulla, L DeLea, A Puma (M Massell) finished second at Highlands and Impala H Gudmundsdottir, S Gibbs, A Newman (G Wahl) won at Indianapolis the score stood at Impala 450, Shore 420. It would come down to the final event of the year at Boulder. Both teams already had five scores; any score at Boulder would only add points by being above the lowest of those five scores already counting. Shore C Nie, L DeLea, A Marzulla (A Puma, S Stirrat) finished second and Impala S Forde, A Newman, G Wahl fourth. But Shore’s lowest counting score had been 60 so that 90 points raised them to 450. Impala’s 60 points replaced their lowest score of 50, raising them to their winning total of 460. What a thrilling contest! 3^rd Vacant. Garden State Track Club scored 190 points with a 2nd place finish at Clubs in Tallahassee and a win at Highlands in the 12K. They were just one championship away from a 3rd place GP finish. The same was true, essentially, for Liberty AC, out of Massachusetts. They finished 2nd at Atlanta and second at Dedham. All they needed was one more event. The Boulder Road Runners, from Clubs and Boulder, had 125 points. The Genesee Valley Harriers had 110 points from Tallahassee and Dedham. This great rivalry continues. In 2022, Shore took the 50+ win with 440 points to Impala's 385. Last year, Impala finished 2nd with 370 points and Shore 4th at 280. This year was the tightest GP race of all! Impala is on top, at least for now.

60+ Champion: Shore Athletic Club 490 points. Shore was battling in this division too, this time with 2^nd Liberty Athletic Club 460, out of Greater Boston, the defending 60+ GP champions. They were tied at 370 after the first four events. Shore claimed wins at Tallahassee S La Burt, N Cary, D Capko (D Brathwaite, S Stirrat) and Dedham S La Burt, N Cary, D Brathwaite, sandwiched around third and second at Richmond N Cary, D Brathwaite, S Stirrat (L Nowicki) and Atlanta S La Burt, D Capko, D Grocki. Liberty, in contrast, won at Richmond M Cass, A King, V Bok and Atlanta M Cass, A King, v Bok (M McNulty), finishing third at Tallahassee M Cass, A King, V Bok and second at Dedham M Cass, J Shakar, V Bok, M McNulty. No other team was within a hundred points. Shore took a big step forward by traveling to Flint S La Burt, N Cary, D Capko (D Brathwaite, S Stirrat) and coming back with the win and a hundred GP points. That put them at 470, almost uncatchable! Liberty M Cass, A King, M McNulty contested the 12K on Shore’s home roads. Had Liberty won that one, they could have soldiered on at either Indianapolis or Boulder with the hope of a GP win. Shore S La Burt, N Cary, D Grocki (D Rothman) came away with the win, with Liberty second. That clinched the championship for Shore. 

Suzanne La Burt ran an American Record time to lead Shore AC's W60+ Team to Victory at the 2024 USATF Masters 12 Km Championships in Highlands, NJ, securing the 2024 W60+ Grand Prix win at the same time Photo Credit: Jason Timochko

3^rd Atlanta 410 competed well, finishing fourth at Tallahassee M Silva, M Allen, P Combs (B Chandler), second at Richmond K Huff, M Allen, R Tanner and third at Atlanta P Combs, K Huff, M Silva (L Hinz, B Chandler). They did not manage to get a team to Dedham, though. That left them 130 points behind the two leaders. With Shore and Liberty firing on all cylinders, Atlanta’s best hope was to land on the GP podium. They accomplished that with a second at Flint K Huff, M Keane, R Tanner and a third at Boulder K Huff, R Tanner, C Lucking. That kept them sixty points clear of Impala, who finished strongly with a win in Danville N Simmons, M Montgomery, S Cordes, fourth at Flint S Gibbs, D Quan, JA Rowland and second at Boulder S Cordes, M Montgomery, C Keller.  

70+ Champion Atlanta Track Club 390. This division championship went to Team Red Lizard, out of Oregon, the last two years. But injuries and other issues prevented them from competing in 2024 after winning at Club Cross in Tallahassee. That left the field open for the Atlanta Track Club, who had finished 50 points behind Red Lizard last year. After Atlanta finished second at Tallahassee N Hudnall, T Ozell, K Allen, they reeled off three straight wins, at Richmond C Lucking, A McCarter, J Hodges-Hite, 

Cindy Lucking Braves the January Cold to lead the Atlanta Track Club's W70+ Team to Victory at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Michael Scott
 

the 5K in Atlanta C Lucking, T Ozell, K Allen (A McCarter), and Dedham F Levinson, A McCarter, J Hodges-Hite. That was all Atlanta needed to claim the GP win. No other teams managed the three events necessary for an award. The only other team to log two events was Atlanta's B team. 2^nd Vacant. 3^rd Vacant.

Atlanta had the best 2024 Grand Prix year, with three wins in the Men’s divisions and one in the Women’s. Add to that a 2^nd and a 3^rd place finish; that gives them an impressive six Grand Prix Podium finishes across the eight divisions that awarded prizes this year. Impala competes only on the Women’s side. They had two wins out of the Women’s four Grand Prix divisions. Boulder had one win, but it was their third consecutive win in the Men’s 70+ division. Win next year and they match the uninterrupted string of four wins in the Men’s 50+ division achieved by the Greater Springfield Harriers from 2017-2021 (omitting the Covid year of 2020 when there was no National Grand Prix competition). The 2025 Grand Prix competition began at Tacoma with the Club Cross competition. Next was Cross Nationals at Lubbock TX. The 10 Km Masters Championships in Dedham will kick off the road portion of the Grand Prix!

Top Masters Athletes and the 2024 Individual Grand Prix Titles

The 2024 Masters National Grand Prix is in the books. The Awards Ceremony was held on Saturday afternoon, December 14, 2024, in Tacoma WA. The Grand Prix kicked off with the December 2023 Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee Fl, continuing to the 2024 championships, starting in January - Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA; February - 5 km Championships in Atlanta; April – 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA; May - 1 Mile Championships in Danville CA; August - 10 Mile Championships in Flint MI; September - 12 Km Championships in Highlands NJ; October - Half Marathon Championships in Indianapolis IN; November – 5 Km Masters Cross Country in Boulder CO. 

Athletes could also earn points toward the Individual Grand Prix from their best Non Stadia event (Cross Country, 10K or Half Marathon) at the WMA Outdoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, in mid- August.  Team points were not available because any team competitions at WMA are national team competitions. Athletes and Teams earned up to 100 points at each championship they competed in. The best five scores are added up; the top score possible is 500 points. Only those who compete in at least three events are eligible for an award. This article focuses on the Individual Grand Prix. A second article is planned, focusing on the 2024 Team GP.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 

WOMEN 40-44 Champion: April Lund 290 points. Lund finished third in Richmond but came back to win the 5 Km Overall and 40-44 Championships in Atlanta. 

April Lund white singlet and Stephanie Pezzullo to Lund's right, viewer's left swiftly move to the front of the pack at the 2024 USATF Masters 5 Km Championships in Atlanta GA Photo Credit: Compliments of Atlanta Track Club.

Lund added 100 points from her top American finish in Sweden; she was top 40-44 American at both the 10 Km and Half Marathon Road races. 2^nd Elizabeth Camy 240. 3^rd Whitney Heavner 150. Camy competed for Cal Coast at Club Cross, picking up 55 points for a fine top ten finish individually; she helped her team to the F40+ bronze medals. With a second at Dedham and a third at Danville, she had the three events required and enough points for the GP 2nd place. Heavner picked up points at Club Cross from a top 20 finish there. She added a tenth-place finish at Richmond and capped the season off with a 5th place finish on the roads over 12 Km in September. Carrie Dimoff, Melissa Dock, Stephanie Pezzullo, Renee Metivier, Natasha Yaremczuk, Hidi Gaff, and Michelle Yates each ran strong at two championships but never managed to toe the line for the third event that would have qualified them for a GP award.   

45-49 Champion: Hiroko Guarneri 360 points. Guarneri built her point total steadily in the first half of the season, finishing eighth in Tallahassee and 6th in Richmond. On the roads, she picked up a 9th in Atlanta, and 7th at Dedham. She ran for her team in Danville, helping them to a 6th place finish, their third event. Guarneri's finish was not as good as her fifth best, so it did not do her any good in the individual 45-49 GP race. Guarneri added a third place at Boulder, on the turf, to top off her scoring. 

Hiroko Guarneri competing at the 2023 USATF Club Cross Country Championships in Talahassee, FL Photo Credit: Mike Scott

2^nd Jacqueline Cooke 295. 3^rd Alicia Martinez 260. With Guarneri scoring points in the first 5 events, Cooke and Martinez were playing catch up the whole way. Cooke, out of the San Francisco Bay area, finished higher whenever she ran but she competed at national championships less frequently than Guarneri. Cooke won at Richmond. That 100 points moved her within 30 points of the leader. When she finished 2nd at Danville, those 95 pints left her 120 points behind Guarneri. Cooke's final event was the 10 Mile Championships at Flint. Cooke needed at least one more event to win but it did not happen. Martinez finished just 24 seconds behind Guarneri at Club Cross, netting five fewer points. Unlike Guarneri, who competed in the next four events, Martinez waited until WMA in Sweden for her next competition. Finishing in the top 25, Martinez earned 100 points for being the top American 45-49 finisher in the 8 Km XC event. She then entered and finished in first place at the Half Marathon in Indianapolis, netting another hundred points.

50-54 The 50-54 GP Championships were much more competitive. Nine athletes competed in the events necessary for an award; six scored over 300 points!  Champion: Samantha Forde 460 points. Forde finished fourth at the highly competitive Club Cross championships in Tallahassee. She followed that with second place finishes at Richmond and Atlanta, added another fourth at Dedham and netted 90 points for a bronze medal finish at Danville. 

Samantha Forde L leads Amy Gannon midway through the Women's 6 Km Race at the USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

Five events in and Forde was nearly uncatchable at 450 points! But Forde was also running for her 50+ team. She did not need the points, individually, but she competed on the turf at Boulder. The Mile High altitude affected all. But Forde still managed a second-place finish. Those 95 points replaced her lowest total of 85 points, raising her final winning score to 460. 2^nd Alexandra Newman 375. 3^rd Three-way tie: Abby Dean, Euleen Josiah-Tanner, and Alysia Puma 365. Newman, a teammate of Forde's who lives and trains in Golden CO, was almost as active. Newman finished 22nd at Tallahassee but added many more points at each of the next three events. An eighth at Richmond, followed by a sixth at Atlanta and ninth at Dedham. left Newman with 210 points. She was behind Dean, who enjoyed bronze medal finishes at Richmond, Atlanta and Dedham. Dean and Josiah-Tanner were tied at 270. Josiah-Tanner had bronze medal finishes in the 45-49 division at Tallahassee, Richmond and Dedham. When she turned 50 later in the year, she brought those points with her into the 50-54 GP. Puma had less lofty finishes than those two but was ahead of Newman with 240 points. Dean and Josiah-Tanner both added 95 points as second-best American finisher at WMA, Dean 5th overall in the 10 Km Road Race and Josiah-Tanner 7th in the 8 Km XC, both behind Hortencia Aliaga. Aliaga, Josiah-Tanner and Rebekah Kennedy scored for Team USA's Gold Medal effort. [The 10 Km Road Race had no national team scoring.] Had Dean or Josiah-Tanner competed in another event, they would have challenged Newman for second and put some pressure on Forde. But Gothenburg and the World's was their last championship of the season. Puma, on the other hand, competed at Flint, Highlands and Bolder, finishing 4th, 8th and 9th. She clawed her way into a three-way tie with Dean and Josiah-Tanner for third place in the W50 GP.

55-59 Eight athletes had the required three championship events and four scored over 300 points. Champion: Fiona Bayly 395 points. Two of the top three finishers got off to slow starts. Bayly  won the 5 Km in Atlanta in February. In the middle of August her GP total was still 100 points from that one win. Bayly made up for it in the late summer and fall. 

Fiona Bayly claiming the 55-59 Win at the 2024 USATF Masters 12 Km Championships at the Sandy Hook Gateway Recreation Area in Highlands, NJ Photo Credit: Jason Timochko

She finished second at the Ten Mile Championships and put things out of reach with wins at the 12 Km in mid-September and the Half Marathon in early October. 2^nd Laura Delea 365. Delea did not compete at Clubs nor in Atlanta. She finished second at Richmond on the turf in January to gain 95 GP points. 2024 turned out to be an up and down year for Delea due to various challenges. At the beginning of September, Delea had just those 95 points. But, despite feeling under-trained, she finished the year by competing at the 12 Km, the Half Marathon, and the 5 Km XC Championships in Boulder. She managed a podium finish at each one. Three bronze medals added 270 points to her total and delivered her to second place. 3^rd Maureen Massell 360. Massell, by comparison, competed in the first four events, with a fifth at Richmond and a 7th at Atlanta her high points. She was in second place at the end of April with 200 points. The leader at that point was Melissa Chiti. Chiti had 250 points from a win at Richmond, a fifth-place finish in Atlanta and a seventh at Dedham. She added 100 points from Sweden, in August, when she finished as top American and 5th overall in the 10 Km Road Race. Chiti did not compete in the fall. That gave Massell the opportunity to catch her. Massell finished second at the 10 Mile championships and added a sixth-place finish at Indianapolis int he Half Marathon. Those two scores gave Massell 360 points for her best five events, just enough to move past Chiti and claimed the third spot in the 55-59 GP.

60-64 Champion: Suzanne La Burt 500 points. La Burt competed at five events and won them all. La Burt took the early lead with wins at Tallahassee, Atlanta and Dedham. She added wins at longer distances in the late summer, with the 10 Miler at Flint and the 12 Km at the Jersey Shore! 

Suzanne La Burt flies to the Finish and the 60-64 Win at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

This was La Burt's third consecutive Grand Prix win and her first with a perfect 500 points! 2^nd Mary Cass 480. Cass had another impressive season. La Burt was the challenge she could not overcome. Apart from La Burt, Cass had no equals in the championships contested within the US. She finished second to La Burt at Tallahassee, Atlanta, Dedham and Jersey. When La Burt skipped the XC Championships at Richmond, Cass got the win and 100 points. Cass also enjoyed teaming up with Kris Clark, 1st overall, and Mary Swan, to claim the Bronze W60 Team medals at the 8 Km XC race at the World Championships in Sweden. Her final total of 480 MNGP points would have won most other division championships. 3^rd Kris Huff 445. Huff led the way for Atlanta at Clubs, picking up 35 GP points. But she picked up her most important points from 4th place finishes at Richmond, Atlanta, and Boulder. An experienced Marathoner, Huff added silver medal finishes at the longer distances, the Ten Miler in Flint and the Half Marathon in Indy. Although she fell 35 points short of Cass, Huff outdistanced Amanda King by over a hundred points. Leslie Nowicki finished 5th.

65-69 Champion: Nora Cary 500 points. Cary, a teammate of La Burt’s, also entered five events and won them all. Cary, despite being in her last year in the 65-69 ag=e division, also established herself at the head of the division right from the start. Cary claimed the wins at Tallahassee and Richmond with minutes to spare; she had no peers. Admittedly, at Dedham, Stella Gibbs, gave her a scare. Cary pulled away in the end to finish seven seconds ahead of Gibbs. When they met four months later at Flint for  the Ten Mile Championships, Cary's win was more decisive. Her 1:11:01 on that challenging Crim 10 Mile course left her two minutes ahead of Gibbs as she claimed her fourth win of the season. 

Nora Cary on Her Way to the 65-69 Crown at the 2024 USATF Masters Ten Mile Championships in Flint MI Photo Credit: Courtesy of Crim Fitness Foundation

Three weeks later she finished off her perfect 500-point season with a win on the closest thing to a 'home' course, the 12 Km Championships in New Jersey! Cary added the 2024 crown to her GP win in 2021! 2^nd Stella Gibbs 490. It is pretty tough to score 490 Grand Prixx points and not come away with the win, but that was the outcome for Gibbs. She won the 5K in Atlanta, the 1 Mile in Danville, and the Half Marathon in Indianapolis. But, as noted above, she could not get past Cary at Dedham nor Flint. 3^rd Two-Way Tie Susan Stirrat and Lisa Vaughn 395. Stirrat got off to a quick start, finishing 8th at the competitive Club Cross Championships and adding a bronze medal finish at Richmond. That gave Stirrat 155 points before Vaughn had competed in her first championship of the season. Vaughn got on the board with a 6th place finish at Atlanta and met Stirrat at Dedham. Vaughn finished less than a minute and one place ahead of Stirrat. Stirrat still had the lead for the GP third place, 220 to 145. Neither contested the 1 Mile nor traveled to Sweden for WMA. They met in Flint. Once again, Vaughn had the edge, finishing fourth to Stirrat's 5th at the Ten Mile Championships. Vaughn inched closer; it was now 220 to 300. Both contested the 12 Km. This time it was Stirrat with the slight edge, finishing 6th to Vaughn's 7th. Stirrat led 375 to 300. When Vaughn contested the half marathon at Indy and Stirrat did not, that gave Vaughn a chance to flip the table. Vaughn's 2nd place finish at Indy gave her 395 points and a 20-point lead. As it turned out, Stirrat contested the outcome at Boulder and Vaughn did not. Because Stirrat was already counting scores from 5 races and her lowest score was 65, only points above 65 would help her. If she finished third, that would give her 90 points. Replacing 65 with 90 would add 25 points and put her 5 points ahead of Vaughn. Finish 5th or worse and Stirrat would finish 4th in the GP. Stirrat hung tough over the hills and valleys of the mile high Boulder turf. She claimed the 4th place finish which gave her a tie with Vaughn. Both Stirrat and Vaughn would receive third place GP awards. Like Cary, Stirrat is in the last year oof her residency in the 65-59 division. Earning a GP plaque in your last year in a division is a nice achievement!

70-74 Champion: Helene Myers 410 points. There are two avenues to Grand Prix championships. The runner can dominate in enough races. Or the runner can run enough races so that runners who are finishing higher cannot muster enough contests to come out ahead. Myers is committed to the Grand Prix; she competed in nine of the ten events! 

Helene Myers finishing off her race, earning Grand Prix points at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

Myers had her best point total from Sweden; she was the 2^nd American in the 8 Km Cross Country competition, netting 95 points. She garnered additional points by finishing fourth, eighth, third and sixth at Richmond, Danville, Indianapolis and Boulder, respectively. 2^nd Cynthia Lucking 385. 3^rd Norma Hudnall 265. Lucking enjoyed the early lead; she claimed silver medals at Tallahassee and Atlanta and won the division at Richmond. She had 290 points from her first three championships! But Lucking would not compete again until the 5 Km XC at Boulder. Her second place there cemented her second-place finish in the GP. Hudnall finished 3rd at Tallahassee and 4th at Atlanta. Hudnall's third score came from Sweden where she finished third American, 19th overall.

75-79 Champion: Andrea McCarter 485 points. McCarter, competing in seven events, won her division at Richmond and Indianapolis. She added second place finishes in Atlanta, Dedham, and Danville. Competing in 7 events, McCarter finished 3^rd at Tallahassee and second at Boulder but did not need those points. 

Andrea McCarter Finishes off her Silver Medal effort at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott 

This was McCarter’s second consecutive win. 2^nd Irene Herman 265. Herman finished 5th at Danville and finished atop her division at Boulder. The trip to Sweden netted Herman another 85 GP points for being 4th American, 23rd overall in the 6 Km XC race. Jeannie Rice and jo Anne Rowland each enjoyed two championship wins but neither made it to a 3rd event. Terry Foody had a 4th at Tallahassee and a third at Atlanta.

80-84 Vacant. Myrna Barnett won at Tallahassee and finished 2nd at Atlanta. Neither she nor any other athlete competed in the required three events. 

85-89 Champion: Joyce Hodges-Hite 395 points. Hodges-Hite competed in four events, winning her division at Richmond, Atlanta and Boulder and finishing second at Dedham. This is Hodges-Hite’s second consecutive Grand Prix win. 

Joyce Hodges-Hite in the Early Stages of Her Silver Medal W85 Effort at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

In 2023, Hodges-Hite was the first in the Women’s 85-89 age category to achieve the three-event minimum for a Grand Prix Award. In fact, she achieved a perfect 500 GP points last year!  

MEN 40-44 Champion Dickson Mercer 325 points. 2^nd Brian Flynn 275. Mercer had to overcome Flynn's early lead, from the Cross Country events in December and January. At the end of January, Flynn enjoyed a 130-point GP lead. Flynn had finished 5th at Club Cross and followed that with a second-place finish at Richmond. Overcoming some late season challenges, Mercer was only able to muster participation points at Clubs in Tallahassee. Still off his best at Richmond, Mercer finished 13th for 40 GP points. But Mercer got it rolling on the roads. A 95-point performance in Dedham brought Mercer within 35 GP points of Flynn. He picked up an additional 95 points in Sweden, finishing 2nd American and 10th overall. That gave Mercer the lead and he held it. Flynn finished his season with a 12 Km win in New Jersey. When Mercer finished third in the same race, that iced it for Mercer. He had 325 points and the GP win. Mercer finished 2nd in 2023 and moved up to take the crown this year. 

 

Dickson Mercer kicking Hard to the Finish and 2nd place in Men's 40-44 at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

3^rd Chuck Terry 205. Terry finished 4th in Atlanta but suffered an off day in Dedham where he finished 13th for just 40 points. He rebounded to end his GP season with a fine 5th place finish in the 12 Km Championships on the Jersey Shore. Joseph Gray won his two outings at Dedham and Boulder but did not fit in a third event. Jesse Davis and Neil McDonagh turned in a gold and a silver medal performance but lacked the third outing needed. 

45-49 Champion David Angell 480 points. Angell was atop the 40-44 standings from 2017-2019. He is now starting a new string with his second straight win at 45-49. Despite having an off day at Tallahassee, Angell rebounded with wins at Richmond and Atlanta. Angell had another fine race at Dedham. The 45-49 division was stacked, so a fine 33:00 effort resulted in 4th place. Still, that 85 points gave him 325 points after the first four events of the GP season. No one was within a hundred points of him. Angell added to his lead with a win in the 10 Mile Championships at Flint and a second place finish at the 12 km in New Jersey. He finished with a nifty 480 points for the GP win!

David Angell headed for the 45-49 Win at the 2024 USATF Ten Mile Championships in Flint MI  Photo Credit: Courtesy of Crim Fitness Foundation

2^nd Matthew Dipretore 185. Dipretore sandwiched a 6th place finish in the 5 Km at Atlanta between two tenth place finishes at Richmond and Dedham. Mario Vazquez, Edward Ross, and Aaron Totten-Lancaster each enjoyed two good outings but never got the third result needed to qualify for an award.

50-54 Champion Frederick Dolan 420 points. Dolan got off to a modest start. He competed at Clubs in Tallahassee for his Atlanta team, gathering just 20 individual points. But Dolan followed that one up with a sixth, seventh and a fourth at Richmond, Atlanta and Dedham, respectively. Dolan had 250 points and his closest competitor was 60 points behind. Dolan added silver medals at Flint and Highlands to finish off his winning total. It was a nice improvement from 2023 when he finished 5th in this 50-54 GP. 

Frederick Dolan finishes off his Silver Medal 50-54 Effort at the 2024 USATF Masters 12 Km Championships at the Sandy Hook Gateway Recreation Area in Highlands, NJ Photo Credit: Jason Timochko 

2nd Craig Chasse 280 points. 3rd Brian Sydow 240 points. Chasse could not stay with Sydow in any of the three races where they both competed. But Chasse was more consistent in competing at Masters national championships. From the Cross Country Championships at Pole Green Park in Richmond VA to the Ten Mile Championships in Flint MI, Chasse was there, toeing the starting line. By the end of the spring season at Danville, Chasse was still 50 points behind Sydow. But he had a big finish in store. In Sweden, he was the 2nd American to finish the 10K Road Race, racking up 95 big points for the GP. That brought him past Sydow into 2nd place, with 40 points to spare. Chasse finished 5th at Flint, followed by Sydow finishing 5th in the 12 Km Championships at Highlands. Each added 80 points to their total, so Chasse finished 2nd, 40 points ahead of Sydow. As it turned out, Sydow needed all 240 of those points to finish in the top three. Jason Newport enjoyed a strong finish to the season, claiming the Bronze Medal at lint and Indianapolis; he raised his final total to 230 GP points, just ten shy of Sydow. Jaime Helpern, with a first and a second, Mark Andrews, with two second place finishes, and Todd Rose, with two third place finishes and 180 points, all had two good outings. Had any of them competed in a third championship, they would have been in the mix for a top 3 GP finish.

55-59 Champion Scott Siriano 400 points. Siriano, the defending champion, did not start his scoring until the third event of the season. With a seventh place and sixth place finish at Atlanta and Dedham, Siriano was in fourth place at the time. His GP defense got a big boost in Sweden; he was top American in the 8 Km Cross Country, earning 100 points, and moving into the lead. Once he had the lead, Siriano cemented his win with a fifth-place finish at Flint and a sixth at Boulder. 

Scott Siriano heading for the Finish Line and another 75 Points Toward His 55-59 Grand Prix Win-at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

2^nd Jeffrey Conston 375. Conston started off strong with a 4th place finish at Richmond, followed by a 9th at Atlanta and a 7th at Dedham. That gave him 215 points and a 65-point lead over Siriano. Fred Weir competed for Atlanta, earning participation points at Club Cross. With a 6th place at Richmond, a fifth at Atlanta, and an 11th at Dedham, Weir had 210 points and was just behind Conston. Joe Shairs followed in third with 175 points from a 6th place at Tallahassee and a 2nd place finish at Dedham. At Dedham, Shairs finished ahead of all of the main GP contenders except Fernandez, who did not enter the 10 Km championships. But that was the final competition of the season for Shairs. After skipping the 1 Mile, WMA, and 10 Mile championships, Conston finished strong with a 6th place finish at the 12 Km Champs and a 4th place at Indy. That allowed him to withstand a late push by 3rd John Fernandez 295. Fernandez won the 5 Km Championships at Atlanta and followed that with a win at Flint. He very nearly made it three in a row. At the Half Marathon championships, Fernandez and Craig Godwin enjoyed a terrific duel with Godwin able to pull away for the win in the closing stretch to the finish. Those 295 points allowed Fernandez to nip Weir for third place in the GP with just ten points to spare. Weir's 6th place finish at Indy left him at 285. Dale Flanders and Mark Hixson, finished 5th and 6th. Frank Zoldak, with wins at Tallahassee and Boulder, Shane Anthony, with a 2nd at Richmond and a win at the 12 Km Championships, and Scott Ursum with bronze medal performances at Flint and Indy, were all one race short of being in the mix for a top three GP finish. 

60-64 Champion Nat Larson 500. Larson is the ‘Iron Man’ of the Grand Prix competition. He entered 2024 as a six-time defending champion. The last year someone other than Larson won his age division Grand Prix was 2016, when Larson scored 460 points, losing the GP championship by just five points. The next year, Larson scored a perfect 500 points. He has now scored the maximum points possible in five different years, and every year since 2019, when he scored 495! Larson started off his 2024 defense afire, with wins at Tallahassee, Richmond, and Dedham. But there was a lull after that, when Larson was dealing with a niggling injury. Heading into September, Larson was in second place; there were four other athletes within 40 points of his total. Larson soon put matters to right once his injury was under better control, if not fully healed. Larson won at Highlands and Boulder to finish off with two more wins and his fourth consecutive year of scoring the maximum GP points available. 

Nat Larson claiming his 60-64 Win at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

2^nd Lester Dragstedt 450. Dragstedt is the lynchpin of his Atlanta 60's team. The 45 points for 12th at Club Cross were soon augmented by a 5th place finish at Richmond, a win at Atlanta and a 4th at Dedham. That gave him 310 points and the lead. Mark Zamek blasted out of the gate with 2nd place finishes at Tallahassee, Richmond and Dedham, for 285 points. But Zamek suffered a tendon injury in May, needed to focus on rehab, and did not enter a fourth championship. The closest athlete to Dragstedt at that point, other than Zamek, was David Black, with 200 points, highlighted by a third at Atlanta and a 6th at Dedham. 3^rd Michael Mertens 400, was ten points behind Black, with a 5th place at Atlanta, a 9th at Dedham and added points from Tallahassee and Richmond. Dragstedt extended his lead for the GP 2nd place by finishing 2nd American, and 16th overall, in the 8 Km Cross Country race at WMA in Sweden. Dragstedt's 3rd place finish in the 12 km Championships brought him to his final total of 450 points and left him with no worries about 2nd place, even when Mertens finished strong. Almost inactive int he 2022 GP, Dragstedt moved up to 5th last year and second this year. Mertens enjoyed a stretch from Flint to Boulder where he finished 5th, 6th, 4th and 5th. That brought him to 400 points, outdistancing Black, who enjoyed a nifty 4th place finish at Flint but did not compete again otherwise. Rick Lee and Henry Notaro both competed in four events, finishing 4th and 5th, respectively, in the GP. Zamek and Black tied for 6th. Kevin Ostenberg and Steve Schmidt enjoyed two strong outings but with just two events completed, were not competitive for the GP top three.

65-69 Co-Champions Roger Sayre and David Westenberg 475. A tie is a rare occurrence. Even rarer, at the end of the season, not only did Sayre and Westenberg have 475 points but 3rd Ken Youngers 475 did also. There is a 2-part tie-breaker process for first place in the Grand Prix. First is head-to-head competition. Both Sayre and Westenberg prevailed in head-to-head competition against Youngers, so Youngers was relegated to third place. On head-to-head competition, Sayre and Westenberg were even at 1 win and 1 loss to the other. The second tie-breaker, invoked only if the first tie breaker fails to resolve a tie, is the number of wins (100 point performances). In this case, Sayre had two, top American and 4^th place overall at the WMA Half Marathon championship in Sweden, and a win at Indianapolis.

Roger Sayre adjusting his gloves mid-stride on his way to a 4th place 65-69 finish at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

Westenberg enjoyed wins at Richmond and Dedham. Hence, they tie for the championship. 

David Westenberg Green Singlet #436 on his way to a 65-69 Win, with Ken Youngers #359 right behind at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

3^rd Youngers 475. In 2023, Sayre and Westenberg had finished 1st and 3rd in the Grand Prix. Youngers, who missed the middle part of the season due to injury, finished 8th. Early in the season it appeared that the battle for the top spot would be between Westenberg and Youngers. Youngers competed in each one of the first five events; he finished third or second in each of them except Richmond. Youngers had his back go out in the final kilometer of that 8 km race, winding up in fifth place, a few seconds behind Sayre. At the end of May, after the 1 Mile Championships in Danville, Youngers had the lead with 450 points to 385 for Westenberg. Sayre's only GP points at that time were from a 4th at Richmond and a second-place finish at Atlanta, 180 in total. Sayre and Westenberg both competed at WMA in Sweden. Westenberg's best Non-Stadia outcome was the 8 Km XC where he finished fifth overall and 3rd American, teaming with Dan King and Sayre to earn Team Gold for Team USATF. Sayre also raced in the Half Marathon race, finishing fourth overall and first American. Sayre's best effort netted him 100 points; Westenberg earned 90. Those points raised Sayre's total to 280 points from 3 events; Westenberg/s GP total rose to 475 on 5 events. He was now 25 ahead of Youngers. With his main focus being track and dealing with some minor issues, WMA was Westenberg's last race in the GP series. Youngers finished 2nd in the 10 Mile Championships and won the 12K Championships. That raised his total to 475 on his best 5 events. All that was left now was for Sayre to win the Half marathon, which he did, raising his total to 380. Both Youngers and Sayre would contend for the GP win at the last Championship of the season, the Masters 5 Km XC Championships at Boulder CO. If Sayre won, he would have 480 points and move ahead of Westenberg. If Sayre finished 2nd he would tie with Westenberg (and Youngers unless Youngers finished 1st or 2nd in the race). If Youngers finished 2nd or first, his GP total rises to 480 or 485, respectively. Clearly Sayre finished 2nd to tie with Westenberg and Youngers finished third, leaving his total at 475 also. As noted above, Sayre and Westenberg finish ties for the GP 65-69 Championship with Youngers third. Those three had incredible years, enjoying a great battle for GP supremacy. John Blaser and Kevin Dollard were not quite at the same level but enjoyed finishing 4th at 395 and 5th at 370, respectively. Rick Becker and Dan King both won two events but did not compete in a third event. 

70-74 Champion: Joseph Reda: 470 points. Reda did not compete in the first three events of the season. Entering the 4^th contest of the season at the end of April, Reda had no Grand Prix points and was not in the top forty. The leader heading into the 10 Km Championships at Dedham was 2^nd Doug Bell 445, with 250 points from a 6th at Tallahassee, a 4th at Richmond and a 2nd place finish at Atlanta. Eugene Meyers was second with 210 points from 11th at Tallahassee, 3rd at Richmond and 7th at Atlanta. James Linn had 200 points from wins at Richmond and Atlanta. Linn only competed in one more event so could not keep up on GP points. Bell kept the pressure on his rivals with a 3rd place at Dedham and a 4th at Danville in the 1 Mile. His 5 best events now totaled 425 points. His teammate, 3^rd Douglas Chesnut 435, now had 250 points as he added fourth at Dedham and a 2nd at Danville to his 7th place points from Tallahassee. Myers finished 11th at Dedham and 6th at the 1 Mile, raising his total to 325. Reda was now on the board with wins at Dedham and Danville for 200 points. Don Morrison was at 240 with a 2nd place finish at Richmond, a 4th at Atlanta and a 9th place at Dedham. Bell had a big lead, but his 425 points were from 5 events; his total would only rise if he finished better than 6th in a race and the rise the difference between the new event points and the highest existing event points. The same was true of Myers except that his lowest score was 50 points; Myers needed to finish 10th or better to raise his total. It was a real battle royal with so many rivals in contention for the GP win. And that was not even mentioning Reno Stirrat who had finished 5th in the 65-69 GP in 2023. Stirrat, now 70, had gotten off to a slow start, coming out of injury rehab. His 5th place finish at Dedham showed he would likely be competitive the rest of the year. Myers was the only one of these athletes to compete in Sweden. His finish as 3rd American in the 6Km XC gave him 90 points, raising his total to 365. All of the main contenders met at the 10 Mile championships in Flint. We usually think of Bell as primarily a 10K and below runner. But he surprised many by finishing second on2 that hilly course in Flint. Reda finished 4th, with Stirrat 5th, Chesnut 6th and Morrison 7th. Bell's 95 points raised upped his GP total, replacing the 75 he had from Tallahassee. That gave him 445. Chesnut and Morrison moved closer, at 325 and 310, respectively but their next addition would be their fifth event. It seemed unlikely either would catch Bell. Reda and Stirrat both signaled that, with three events left, they could still factor into the race to be among the top 3. Reda was at 285 and Stirrat at 195. The big surprise at the next event was Reno Stirrat coming away with the win. Stirrat is often in contention for division championships. This was his first division Championship in a long time. The win moved him to 295. Reda was still off his best but the 85 points for 4th place moved him to 370, within striking distance of Bell. Reda took care of business at Indy. He walked away with a fine win, beating not only other contenders like Chesnut, Morrison and Myers, but also Denny Kurtis, who finished 5th at Atlanta, won at Flint and finished 2nd to Reda in this half marathon championship. That 100 points moved his total to 470, giving him a 25-point lead over Bell. Because Bell's lowest score so far was 85 points, Bell could not catch Reda on the final event of the year even if he won the 5 Km XC championship. Reda enjoyed the GP win at 470; Bell finished 2nd at 445. In 2019, Reda had prevailed in a dandy season-long duel with Stirrat. Now, five years later, Reda tested himself in the first year of a new age group and found he still had what it takes to be a national GP Champion! 

Joe Reda Finishing Off a Tightly Contested 70-74 Race with a Win at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott 

Chesnut finished 3rd at the 5 Km XC Championships to move past Morrison into 3rd. Morrison was 4th, with Myers 5th. Despite closing with a win at the 12 K, and a silver medal at Boulder, Stirrat finished 6th with 390 points. Linn closed off the season with a win at Bouder. he was three for three in the championships he entered. But you needed 400 points or more to break into the top 5 in this highly competitive GP division!  

75-79 Champion: Gary Ostwald 490 points. Ostwald, in this highly competitive division, wasted no time. He won at Tallahassee and finished 2^nd at Richmond and Dedham for 290 points. Nonetheless, at the end of the spring season, after the 1 Mile Championships in Indianapolis, Ostwald was in fifth place. 2^nd Jerry Learned 475 had competed in all five events, finishing 4th at Tallahassee and Richmond, 3rd at Atlanta and Dedham, and winning at Danville in the Mile, for 450 points. That set down a baseline; no one would win this division with less than 450 points! 3rd Rick Katz 455, had 360 points from 3rds at Tallahassee and Richmond, a 2nd in Atlanta and a fourth at the Mile. Paul Carlin (That's Me!) was ten points ahead of Katz, but only because I competed in all five events. Gene Dykes was also in the mix at that point. He won at Richmond, Atlanta and Dedham, for 300 points. Dykes, however, is so committed to the Marathon and his beloved Ultras, that he has difficulty reserving a time to compete at Masters national championships. That was the same again this year. Dykes was done for the season. No one knew that at the time, not even Dykes, who thought he could fit in two events over the summer and fall. It seemed unlikely that anyone other than Dykes would beat Ostwald at a championship this year. At WMA in Sweden, Ostwald, 4th overall, and Learned, 6th overall, teamed up with Gary Patton, 5th overall, to claim Team Gold in the 6 Km XC race at the World Masters Athletics Championships. Ostwald received 100 GP points as first American and learned 90 for being third American. That moved Ostwald to 390 points. With the final race of the season being in Boulder, close to his hometown of Denver, everyone assumed he would close with a strong effort there, whether he competed in Flint, New Jersey or Indianapolis or not. Learned's total grew to 455 as this 90 replaced one of his two 85-point scores in his best five. Ostwald, and his teammate, Katz, did skip the other three events. Learned won the 12K and finished 2nd at the Half Marathon. That added twenty points to his total, now at 475, as his other 85 and one of his 90's got replaced. I ran in all three, finishing 2nd at the 10 Mile and 12K, and 3rd at the Half Marathon. That raised my total to 440. If Ostwald, Katz and Learned showed up at the Mile high Cross Country championships, I had no illusions about my podium chances. The final order was Ostwald-Katz-Learned going 1-2-3. I was well back, adding no points to my total. Ostwald had the GP win, 

Gary Ostwald Leading a Group of Younger Runners On His way to Picking up 95 Points for the GP Contest-at the 2024 USATF Cross Country Championships in Richmond VA Photo Credit: Mike Scott

Learned held on to second place and Katz surged past me into 3rd. Ostwald had finished 3rd in the 75-79 GP in 2022; he has now taken the crown in two successive years. I finished 4th at 440, 15 points behind Katz.  

80-84 Champion: Jan Frisby 490 points. Frisby knew he would age up from the 75-79 age division before the race in Dedham. He also knew the Grand Prix rule that says when you age up to a new division during the Grand Prix year, you carry all of the points you earned in the lower age division with you. It is generally harder to earn points in a lower age division; Frisby wasted no time. Although not at the top of his game, Frisby, nonetheless earned 35 points at Tallahassee and a 5^th at Richmond and a fourth at Atlanta brought his pre-Dedham total to 200 points. He was already the presumptive 80-84 leader, ahead of 3^rd Ed Bligh 285, with 195 points from a win at Tallahassee and a second in Atlanta, and Art Must, with 175 from the same two championships. Frisby was probably more aware of 2^nd Przemek Nowicki 335, who finished ahead of Frisby in the 75-79 GP in 2023, and Hall-Of-Famer, Doug Goodhue. Goodhue finished 2nd in Tallahassee, while favoring a hamstring injury which acted up during the race. Nowicki was off his game at Richmond, finishing well behind Frisby but picking up 65 points nonetheless. Frisby hit the 80-84 division running, scoring wins at Dedham and Danville, raising his total to 400 points. He went to Sweden and was top American, and 4th overall, in the 80-84 division of the road 10K. That 100 points allowed him to drop the 35 from Club Cross and add these 100 points, raising his total to 470. No one would catch him now! Bligh had not competed since Atlanta. Nowicki finished 2nd American and 15th overall in the M75 10 Km Road Race in Sweden. That upped his total to 160. Goodhue competed at Flint, more to keep up his string of consecutive races at his home-state race, the HAP Crim, than to score points. Nonetheless, the 95 points he picked up at Flint reminded everyone that he would be a factor in the race if he came out of rehab. As it turned out, the hamstring got aggravated and Goodhue was done for the season. Nowicki was on an upswing but was more concerned with catching Bligh for 2nd than in trying to catch Frisby for the win! Frisby aggravated an old injury in Sweden. That reduced his training in the fall. Nonetheless he was able to manage a third-place finish in Highlands with a run-walk regime, raising his total to 475. Nowicki finished 5th, raising his total to 240. He moved past Bligh into 2nd place. When Bligh also skipped Indianapolis, Nowicki's 2nd place finish insured him of a 2nd place finish; those 95 points raised his total to 335. Even if Bligh won at Boulder, he could not pass Nowicki for  the GP 2nd place. Frisby had recovered by the time the 5 Km Masters XC rolled around in Boulder. He won and Bligh finished third at 285. That gave Frisby his final winning total of 490 GP points. 

Jan Frisby Claims His First Division Win as an 80-Year-Old at the 2024 USATF Masters 10 Km Championships in Dedham MA Photo Credit: Mike Scott 

Frisby's last GP win was in 2015 when he was in 70-74. Five years later, his best shot at a 75-79 GP win was wiped out by Covid. So this one was sweet!

 Neither Goodhue nor Must competed in any of the fall races. Harold Rosen had been unaware of the Grand Prix until fairly recently. He joined the GP contest with a win at Atlanta in February. He competed for the second time at Indianapolis, winning again. Rosen had 200 points from two races. Perhaps in 2025, he will map out a plan to contend for more championships and give himself the possibility of a GP podium finish. We shall see. 

85-89 Vacant. David Turner competed in two events, finishing third in Atlanta in the 5K and winning in Boulder to finish off his season with 190 points. But it requires three events to qualify for a Grand Prix award so there was no award in this division. Turner has two GP second place finishes to his credit, one from 2014, in the 75-79 di vision, and one from 2019, in the 80-84 division. 2025 is a new year and Turner already has one win under his belt, a win at Club Cross in Tacoma. Perhaps this will be his year for a podium finish in 85-89?

Final 2024 MNGP Standings can be viewed at:

https://www.usatf.org/programs/masters/masters-ldr/masters-national-grand-prix