USATF annual meeting

Bernard "Kip" Lagat, shown in 2010 Berlin race, is listed M40 WR man but still doesn't hold listed American record.

Records November 29, 2018

Revelations in masters reports: Pete Taylor comeback, $10,000 for John Seto, missing Lagat records

Masters track subcommittee reports have been posted in the USATF annual meeting Document Library. Interesting stuff. We learn, for example, that John Seto was paid $10,000 for maintaining top-25 USATF masters rankings (actually seasonal lists) at his amazing site. We also hear from USA Team Manager Phil Greenwald (I assume) about the Malaga relay issues. Here’s what the team manager report says: Following the meet, there has been discussion in various blogs and social media about the M65 to M80 teams in the 4×100 and the M65 and M70 in the 4X400. The M65/M70 selections were discussed with the people…

General November 26, 2018

USATF could end masters club scoring (titles at indoor, outdoor nationals) under rule proposal

Last January, the WMA Competition Committee issued the world body’s “Rules of Competition 2018-2020.” Buried within, under Scoring, is Rule 151.1: “There shall be no overall Team Championships.” That appears to mean that WMA meets won’t score national teams for the purpose of identifying the top teams. OK fine. But since USATF likes to stay in step with World Masters Athletics, a rule proposal at the Columbus annual meeting this week aims to update USATF rules to end club scoring at masters nationals. (See team results from Maryland indoor nationals and Spokane outdoor nationals.) Have you been struggling with infertility?…

Becca flies over bar

General November 25, 2018

Landslide victory predicted for Willie Banks as USATF’s pick for IAAF Council rep

Becca Gillespy Peter, the PoleVaultPower.com legend who made her masters vault debut at Spokane over the summer, has posted her valued endorsement of Willie Banks, our masters track friend, for IAAF Council. One commenter on Becca’s post said: “Fearless prediction – Banks in a landslide.” Delegates will make their pick this coming Saturday at the USATF annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, where the favorite daughter (and local resident) is Stephanie Hightower, the incumbent U.S. rep to the IAAF Council. If Willie wins, it will be a ratification of my bit role in his career. In 2009, at the Reno annual…

The fountain statue behind Willie isn't crying. It's a lady holding a water container pottery.

General November 16, 2018

M60 Olympian Willie Banks seeks election at Ohio meeting as IAAF rep nominee

Willie Banks may be forgiven if he doesn’t have time to compete in coming years. My M60 jumper friend is leaping into USATF/IAAF politics big time. As I note in my Times of San Diego story, Willie is seeking to replace Stephanie Hightower as the American representative on the powerful IAAF Council. His candidacy is a surprise, and since nobody else had reported this (besides the USATF Document Library), I jumped on it. My first story covers the basics, but notable is something Willie says in his statement of candidacy: “I believe I am uniquely qualified by both experience and…