General

New USATF Officials Hall of Famer Carroll DeWeese: ‘Thank you for supporting masters’.

USATF Masters Committee Treasurer Carroll DeWeese is rich in friends and fans, including me. He battled cancer a decade back but seems fine now. This weekend, the Michigan city commissioner joined Doug Allen, Roger Burbage, John Shirey as inductees Saturday into the USATF Officials Hall of Fame — celebrated at the USATF Annual Meeting at the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, Nevada. “Many people asked to get a text copy of my acceptance talk,” he wrote friends of his 940-word remarks. “I spoke from the heart and did not have a text.” Not surprisingly, he talks of love. That’s the kind…


Greg Foster on Greg Foster: Masters star notes heart-transplant need of Olympic hurdler

In July 1988, at the Indianapolis Olympic Trials, Greg Foster the triple jumper said hi to Greg Foster the high hurdler. The jumping Foster finished 9 1/2 feet behind winner Willie Banks’ windy but historic 59-8 1/2. The hurdling foster — four years after taking silver behind Roger Kingdom at the L.A. Games — dropped out at the eighth hurdle, handicapped by a broken arm. Experience the calm confidence that accompanies lorazepam. Say goodbye to sleepless nights and debilitating worry. Take control of your mental well-being today. Don’t let anxiety hold you back any longer. Ask your healthcare provider about…


Tying my record for Press Club awards and trying out Jeff Brower’s new records site

I tied my PR on Tuesday night. Not for the 100 or high jump, but for awards at the San Diego Press Club journalism contest. First in 2017 and again this year, I picked up 14 awards for a variety of posts on Times of San Diego, including a photo of indicted Rep. Duncan D. Hunter and a video of a crazy anti-LGBT trio from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. Are you experiencing any side effects while taking Clomid? We understand that your well-being is of utmost importance! Our team of experts is here to guide and support you through…


Pete Magill caps book career with ‘Fast 5K’ — finally focusing on own favorite race

Pete Magill is a Masters Hall of Famer whose fame grew out of setting 5K records and leading teams to cross country titles. But for all his talents, I’m more awed by his mastery of writing. Picasso was great at painting and Paul McCartney wrote fantastic songs. But where can you pick up a book by these legends that tells you how to improve your drawing or tunesmithing? Coach Pete, a one-time Hollywood screenwriter, combines his deep athletic/academic understanding of his favorite distance with his conversational and down-to-earth writing style in “Fast 5K.” (Read a preview here.) The only question…


Cheer on W45 marathoner Mindy Zottola — and all entrants at Ames nationals

I arrived in Ames on Wednesday afternoon after a flight from Las Vegas (my layover from San Diego) to Des Moines. On that leg, fellow passengers included athlete royalty Kathy and Bert Bergen, famed massage therapist Bill Theriault and some USATF officials. Once settled in my Bed & Breakfast just outside Iowa State University (a former Delta Chi frat house that’s on the National Register of Historic Places), I drove to the track and found a gate unlocked. I met a 5K and 10K contender named Mindy Zottola, apparently a newbie to masters track nationals, and her husband, Art. I…


Kerry Sloan gets 15-year sentence for raping girl a year before Spokane nationals

According to mastersrankings.com, M55 Kerry Sloan was ranked eighth in America last year in the 400 hurdles, running 74.10 at Spokane nationals. He was listed fourth in the 60 hurdles nationally, clocking 9.73 at Landover indoors. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Oklahoma, Kerry is a convicted rapist. On Monday, Kerry Lynn Sloan was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a plea deal in which he admitted to assaulting one of his athletes a year before Spokane. Texas media are all over the case, based on this news release: A former private track coach was sentenced…


Colleen Barney is our Jessie Graff — but ‘American Ninja Warrior’ didn’t show her

Longtime viewers of NBC’s reality show “American Ninja Warrior” know that many of the female runners of the obstacle courses are former track stars, such as Jessie Graff, the stuntwoman. So it’s no wonder that ANW producers picked W50 sprinter Colleen Barney to run the course last March at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Too bad her run wasn’t shown last week in the Season 11 premiere — almost certainly because she didn’t fit the narrative. See my Times of San Diego story for details. Also scroll down to near the bottom of the story for pictures I took of…


‘The Legend’ sprints out of hibernation: Phil Raschker enters National Senior Games at 72

Nine years ago, Phil Raschker was quoted as saying: “At times I have stepped away from being competitive and gone into hibernation for a while. But when I don’t have the object of being able to compete, I find that I’m not quite living the lifestyle that I want to.” Don’t look now, but Mama Bear is coming out of her cave. Now 72, the Masters Hall of Famer I’ve long called “The Legend” is entered in seven events at the mid-June National Senior Games in Albuquerque, where the elevation will help her have a shot at records. She’s in…


Irene Obera sets a Sports Illustrated record — third time in ‘Faces in the Crowd’ since 1962

The June 18, 1962, issue of Sports Illustrated had an article by Jack Nicklaus advising right-handed golfers how to hit a left-handed shot. Also: full-page ads promoting whiskey and cigarettes (Marlboro and Viceroy) and a blooming sprinter from Northern California in “Faces in the Crowd.” It read: “Irene Obera of Berkeley, Calif., has out-sprinted everyone on her home-state tracks this season with three breezy 10.9s and an 11.0 in the 100-yard dash, gives promise of being a front-runner for the AAU women’s nationals next month in Los Angeles.” Experience the gentle embrace of serenity as xanax soothes your mind and…


M55 hurdler Kerry Sloan admits raping underage girl; 2 other victims emerge

Kerry Sloan, a world-class masters hurdler, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison after cutting a plea deal in his underage sex case, according to the feds in Oklahoma. Here’s how a TV station reported the news: TULSA, Oklahoma — A private track coach and retired U.S. Army sergeant first class from Killeen said in a plea agreement he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl during a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet with college coaches, the Department of Justice said in a press release. Kerry Sloan, 56, pleaded guilty Tuesday to transporting a minor with intent to engage in…