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CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In what looms as the largest national masters track and field championships ever to be held on the East Coast, the 2006 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships will showcase 43 world champions and nine Olympians August 3-6 at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The meet features athletes ranging in age from 35-95+ in a display of speed, strength and endurance for all ages. Track events range from 100 meters to 10,000 meters, while field events include the full range of jumps and throws.
Olympians scheduled to compete in Charlotte are Ed Burke, Bud Held, Patricia Porter, Jim Barrineau, Karl Smith, Richard Cochran, Henry Andrade, Gary Stenlund, and Bernice Holland. They will be joined by no fewer than 43 athletes who have won world titles in the last year alone, and several Charlotte-area athletes. (See lists at bottom.)
World's top masters to compete
Leading the way to Charlotte is Bill Collins from Houston, Texas, the world record holder for men 55-59 in both the 100m (11.41 seconds.) and 200 meters (23.36). With his "pure diamond" style and affable manner, Collins has won many fans over the years.
A three-time Olympian from Los Gatos, Calif., Ed Burke will compete in the hammer, discus and shot put after setting M65 world records in the hammer and weight throw July 1 at the Pacific Association Masters Championships. In the shot and disc, he will face fellow Olympians Richard Cochran of Wichita, Kan., the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist in the discus. Also look for 1968 Olympian Gary Stenlund of Brandon, Fla., to compete in the M65 javelin.
In the Men 40-44 group, Aaron Thigpen of Brentwood, Calif., stands out. An athlete from San Diego State University who competed on 11 U.S. national teams, Thigpen is the defending champ in the 100 and has a pending American record of 10.72.
World records may be broken in the M45 hurdles, as Karl "The Quick" Smith (University of Texas, 1984 Jamaica Olympic Team) sets his eye on a record time, though world indoor champ and 1984 Olympic Trials qualifier Dexter McCloud of Norcross, Ga., will be tough to beat.
The W55 competition will see the return to the nationals of Phil "All World" Raschker, hailing from Marietta, Ga. The most honored woman in the history of U.S. masters track and field, Raschker in 2004was a finalist for the prestigious Sullivan Award, given for America's outstanding amateur athlete.
An event to watch is the M45 high jump, where a huge battle is anticipated between Bruce McBarnette (Sterling Va., Princeton University grad) and Dennis Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich., Michigan State grad). McBarnette is the current world champion and world record holder outdoors, while Lewis, who was NCAA runner-up as a freshman at Michigan State, cleared 6-8.5 indoors this winter.
The oldest expected entrant is Trent Lane, 96, a Baker, La., resident. Staying in shape by working on the farm where he lives, Lane has a regimen that has lifted him to age-group records in the shot put, discus, hammer, and javelin. The animated advocate for masters track and field will contest those events in Charlotte.
Local stars ready to shine
A number of Charlotte-area athletes are expected to fare well. Among them:
Gerald Vaughn of Charlotte, the 70+ indoor and outdoor world record holder in the shot put and member of the Carolinas Track and Field Club.
Regina Richardson of Clayton, 40-44, world masters record holder in the indoor triple jump (38'7") and another Carolinas T&F Club member.
Kannapolis resident and Current world champion in the M60 4x200 meter relay, Sam Hall, will be competing in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.
Barbara Turkdamar from Matthews, N.C., will be competing in the W40 group, hoping to repeat the success from her dominant performance at the 2001 Masters Championships, where she won a younger age group in the 100, 200, and 400 meter races.
Maxwell Hamlyn from Fuquay-Varina, N.C., who turned 65 in April, will be competing in the 800, 1500, 5000, 10,000 meter races. Hamlyn won the 5000 and 10,000 meters at last year's USA Masters Outdoor Championships in Hawaii and placed 3rd at the 2003 World Championships in the 1500 meters. Max was a key organizer of the Charlotte meet.
Charlotte resident Liz Johnson, silver medalist in the triple jump and 400M Hurdles in the 2004 national championships in Illinois, will again contend in the W45 pentathlon and sprints.
More on tap
In a feature generated by Meet Director Gordon Edwards of Charlotte, famous Olympians and athletes will present awards during the meet. Edwards told masterstrack.com that the meet will have legendary track coach Dr. Leroy Walker for 200-meter awards Sunday; Past USATF Nike Coach of the Year and NCAA title-winning coach Curtis Frye for 400-meter awards Friday; first African American sub-4:00 miler Reggie McAfee for 5,000-meter awards Thursday; two-time Olympic bronze-medal winning decathlete Floyd "Chunk" Simmons for pentathlon awards Thursday; Bobsled Olympian Robert Olesen, UNCC head coach, for high jump awards Friday, Saturday and Sunday; and 2000 Olympian Dawn Ellerbe for hammer, discus, shot put and javelin awards Saturday. Awards for the first six finishers in all events will be presented on the awards stand 30 minutes following the event finals (immediately outside the athlete hospitality tent).
The meet announcer will be Peter Taylor of Fairfax, VA, renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of masters athletes, and who provided information for this release on projected outstanding performers.
The Meet Schedule and list of athletes entered are available at the web site of the 2006 Championships, USAMastersChamps. For more information on visiting the Charlotte area, please go to www.visitcharlotte.com
Media are invited to the 2006 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships. For more information or interview requests, please call Bob Weiner, USATF Masters Media Chair, at 301-283-0821 (office), 202-329-1700 (cell), or locate Bob trackside. Additional contacts: Michael Lennox and Rebecca Vander Linde at 301-283-0821; and Molly Hedrick of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority at 704-331-2737 or 704-877-9374. Media credentials requested.
CURRENT WORLD CHAMPIONS COMPETING IN CHARLOTTE
(Charts from www.masterstrack.com/ Ken Stone)
WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONS, LINZ, AUSTRIA 2006, ENTERED IN CHARLOTTE:
M55 Bill Collins, 60, 200, 400 (Houston, TX).
M35 Don Drummond, 60H (Fresno, TX).
M45 Dexter McCloud, 60H (Norcross, GA).
M50 James Broun, 60H (Sarasota, FL).
M65 Emil Pawlik, pentathlon (Jackson, MS).
M60 Paul Edens, 4x200 relay (Portland, OR).
M60 Sam Hall, 4x200 relay (Kannapolis, NC).
M60 Roger Pierce, 4x200 relay (Essex, MA).
W45 Joy Upshaw-Margerum, 200 (Los Altos Hills, CA).
W45 Lesley Chaplin-Swann, 800 (McDonough, GA).
M45 Kevin Paulk, 800 (Portland, OR).
M65 Sid Howard, 800, 1500 (Plainfield, NJ).
W40 Patricia Porter, HJ (Albuquerque, NM).
M45 Bruce McBarnette, HJ (Sterling, VA).
M50 James Barrineau, HJ (Burke, VA).
M40 Greg Foster, TJ (Lumberton, NJ).
M35 Dan Holton, PV (Burlingame, CA).
M75 John Starr, 3000 walk (Newark, DE).
WORLD OUTDOOR CHAMPIONS, SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN 2005, ENTERED IN CHARLOTTE:
M45 Allen Tissenbaum, 100, 200 (Pittsburgh, PA).
M55 Marion McCoy Jr., 100 (Lawrenceville, GA).
M80 Melvin Larsen, 100, 80H (Ames, IA).
M55 Charles Allie, 200, 400 (Pittsburgh, PA).
W35 Lisa Daley, 200, 400 (White Plains, NY).
M45 James Chinn, 400 (San Marcos, CA).
M60 Roger Pierce, 400 (Essex, MA).
M60 Larry Barnum, 800 (Reno, NV).
M90 Max Springer, 800, 1500, LJ, TJ (Knoxville, TN).
W40 Mary Grene, 1500 (Andover, KS).
M40 Brian Pope, 5000 (Oxford, MS).
M65 Emil Pawlik, 100H, decathlon (Jackson, MS).
M35 Don Drummond, 110H (Fresno, TX).
M40 David Ashford, 110H (Wheeling, IL).
M45 Karl Smith, 110H (Silver Spring, MD).
M45 Darnell Gatling, 400H (Freeport, NY).
M85 Dan Bulkley, 2000 steeple, decathlon (Phoenix, OR).
M45 Bruce McBarnette, HJ (Sterling, VA).
W40 Patricia Porter, HJ (Albuquerque, NM).
W45 Martha Mendenhall, HJ (Tacoma, WA).
M75 Jerry Donley, PV (Colorado Springs, CO).
M50 John Nespoli, shot (Collierville, TN).
W45 Carol Finsrud, shot, discus, weight pentathlon (Lockhart, TX).
M45 Kenneth Jansson, weight throw, weight pentathlon (Wichita, KS).
M60 George Mathews, weight throw (Hayden Lake, ID; Mathews is also USATF Masters Chair).
M60 Norman Frable, 5K race-walk, 20K race-walk (McKinney, TX).
W80 Miriam Gordon, 5K race-walk, 10K race-walk (Hollywood, FL).
OLYMPIANS COMPETING IN CHARLOTTE
At least nine Olympians are entered at Charlotte:
Franklin "Bud" Held (1952, 1956 javelin) of Del Mar, Calif., will compete in the M75 pole vault and discus.
Gary Stenlund (1968 javelin) will compete in the M65 javelin.
James Barrineau (1976 high jump) of Burke, Va., will compete in the M50 high jump.
Patricia "Trish" Porter (formerly Trish King) (1988 high jump) of Albuquerque, N.M., will compete in the W40 high jump.
Ed Burke of Los Gatos, Calif., (1964, 1968, 1984 hammer throw) will compete in the M65 shot, discus, hammer.
Karl Smith of Silver Spring, Md., (1984, 110 hurdles for Jamaica) will compete in the M45 110 hurdles, 200 dash.
Henry Andrade of Corona, Calif., (1996, 110H for Cape Verde) will compete in the M40 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles.
Richard Cochran of Lake St. Louis, Mo., (1960 discus) will compete in the M65 shot put.
Bernice Robinson Holland, 79, Cleveland Heights, OH (1948 hurdles and high jump) will compete in the W75 hammer, shot put, discus, and javelin.
Source USATF
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