Southern California Striders

Kathy Bergen bulldozes through pandemic with latest AOY award, plans winning 2022

Depending on your view, Kathy Bergen chose the exact right or wrong time to turn 80. It was December 2019, when only a few had heard of COVID-19. But while some elite masters hunkered down and bloated up, Kathy kept on trackin’ — her eyes on the record-setting prize. She’s a legend of age-group sprinting and high jumping — inducted into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2008 and named USATF Masters Female Athlete of the Year in 2015. What to do for a W80 encore? How about another AOY? “I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award,” Kathy…


Magdalena Kuehne dies at 88; SoCal triple-jump record-setter and Masters Hall of Famer

Magdalena Kuehne worked for decades in the garment industry and as a costumer, dressing stars at Universal Studios, NBC and Warner Bros. She worked on the TV shows “Growing Pains,” “West Wing” and “Friends” and movies including “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Continental Divide” and “Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.” But her Southern California Striders family and friends around the world know Magdalena for wearing Team USA colors as a Masters Hall of Famer, with hundreds of great marks in sprints, throws and especially the triple jump.            Her daughter, Karen, reports that Magdalena died in a hospital May 17 —…