More than 1,100 Masters track and field athletes converged on the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track and Field Center in Chicago, Illinois March 21-24 for the 2024 USATF Masters Indoor Championships presented by Prevagen. Across four days of competition, a whopping 19 age-division world records and 31 age-division American records fell to some of the top Masters athletes in the country.
Immediately setting the tone for the four-day competition, pentathlete Neringa Jakstiene (Unattached) hit the ground running with a W60 world record in the pentathlon 60 hurdles. Her 9.66 shaved .01 off of her own existing world record. Jakstiene’s second world record of the day came in the third round of the long jump as she launched herself 4.74m to better her own record of 4.66m. The 60-year-old tallied a whopping 4787 points to better Sue McDonald’s existing world record of 4635. April Lund (GYS Track Club) added to the first day’s success with a W40 American record in the 3000. Bettering the field by more than a minute, Lund finished in 9:45.23 - a time that shaved nearly two seconds off of the existing American record.
Three world records on day one didn’t slow Neringa Jakstiene down as she headed into day two of competition. Jakstiene proved her hurdle ability as she matched the W60 world record she set during the pentathlon with another 9.66 in the open 60 hurdles. Joining Jakstiene in the record books was Toyin Augustus (Nigeria). Augustus clocked a blazing 8.68 to match the W40 world record set by Avril Dillon in Dublin last year. Three-time race walk Olympian, Michelle Rohl (Greater Philadelphia TC) clocked what was perhaps one of the most impressive performances of the competition in the W55 3000 Race Walk. Rohl absolutely shattered the 12-year-old world record of 14:51.24 and obliterated the existing American record of 16:14.01 with her with her 14:19.74 finish. Karen Swisher (Unattached) added to the day’s race walk success with her 18.53.83 W70 American record in the 3000 Race Walk. Swisher chopped almost 10 seconds off of the existing record and bettered the field in her age group by nearly 30 seconds. A series of 400s brought a slew of records across age groups. Elizabeth Deak (Unattached) clocked a W65 world record with her 1:07.66 to shave nearly a second off of the 1:08.39 record set by Canada’s Karla Del Grande in 2019. Deak won by a whopping nine seconds. Kristy Matthews (San Diego Track Club) clocked the second 400 world record of the day with her W50 1:00.00 sprint. The 51-year-old shaved .11 off of Sharon Wilkinson’s previous best. Matthews ran away from the field as she narrowly missed a sub-minute mark, with her nearest competitor trailing by more than three seconds. Mary Smith (Centennial State Track Club) and Emmanuel McGowan (Maximum Quotient Track Club) both clocked American records in the 400. Smith etched her name in the record books with a 1:32.75 to take down the existing W80 record by a second and a half and win her division by more than 20 seconds. McGowan clocked a speedy 1:04.15 for the W55 American record - .16 faster than the existing mark in her division. Establishing herself as one of the most dominant weight throwers Masters track and field, Myrle Mensey (Throwing and Growing) left nothing to chance with stellar performances in both the W75 weight throw and super weight throw. Mensey landed two legal throws well past the existing weight throw world record of 14.34m, with her best throw of the event coming in the second round as she landed a 16.37m heave. Shortly after, the 75-year-old thrower had her sights set on the super weight American record. The existing 7.72m record was gone after Mensey’s first attempt, and she got better from there. The TNT International Racing Club team of Nancy Berger, Angela Staab, Mary Trotto, and Cora Hill took down the W75 world record in the 4x800 with their 22:29.21 clocking. On the men’s side, a M65 non-club team of Michael Lebold, Fred Torneden, Tim Owen, and David Westenberg clocked a 10:08.15 world record. The Greater Philadelphia TC’s W60 team, Julie Hayden, Terri Rath, Lorraine Jasper, and Deb Tornenden, shattered the world record of 13:19.59 by nearly two minutes with their 11:23.32. Their W65 team of Coreen Steinbach, Deborah DeHaven, Claudia Simpson, and Cheryl Bellaire clocked a 14:55.12 to shave nearly a minute off of the existing world record. The New England 65 Plus Runners Club established a world record in the M85 division. Jerry LeVasseur, Joe Cordero, Bill Masterson, and Ram Satyaprasad clocked a 25:43.97. Four age-division American records were broken in the 4x800s on day two. Greater Philadelphia’s W55 team, Julie Pangburn, Catherine Popovitch, Lauren Siegel, and Michelle Rohl, clocked a 13:45.52 to better the existing American record. The BLUEGrass Runners team of Erin Rock, Shannon Florea, Wendy Welch, and Aseel Aziz-Gomez took down the W45 record in the 4x800 with their 11:05.23 clocking. In the M75 division, the So Cal Track Club team of Donald Loewe, Tim Wigger, Larry Rink, and Salih Talib clocked a 14:29.37 to take down the record in their division. The M60 record was broken by the non-club quartet of John Borthwick, David Pinkham, Gerry O’Hara, and Peter Kashulines Jr.) with a time of 9:34.44. A pair of American records fell in the 60 finals. Standout Easter Grant (Southwest Sprinters Track Club) clocked a 7.71 to take down the existing American record in the W40 60 and Garth Robinson (Unattached) clocked a 7.12 sprint to better the M50 American record. James Patterson (Unattached) took down an impressive American record in the M60 shot put with a 16.69m heave. Patterson beat the field by a whopping meter, and all four of his legal attempts would have been good enough for the win.
Four world records fell on day three at the USATF Masters Indoor Championships presented by Prevagen. The first of the day came as Inocencio Cantu (Potomac Valley Track Club) ran his way into the record books in the M90 mile with a 9:45.18 clocking. The 90-year-old runner won his division by nearly three minutes. Sue McDonald (Pursuit of Excellence Track Club) clocked a W60 American record of 5:31.77 in the mile to demolish the existing record of 5:43.75. Her time narrowly missed the world record of 5:30.89. The remaining three world records all came in the 4x200 finals. A W35 non-club team of Christina Trucks, Odeika Giscombe, Amanda O’Connor, and Easter Grant clocked a 1:41.48 to take down their age-division world record. Their mark shaved a second off of the existing record. Joy Upshaw, Elizabeth Deak, Sue McDonald, and India Bridgette banded together to form a powerful non-club quartet to take down the W60 world record with a speedy 1:56.99. On the men’s side, a non-club team of Roderick Parker, Durran Dunn, Roman Marenin, and Antoine Echols, clocked a 1:29.97 in the M40 4x200 for a new world record. Elizabeth Deak (Unattached) dropped down to the 200 following her 400 record on day two, showing off her speed with a 30-flat lap around the oval for a W65 American record in the preliminary rounds of the 200. In the M75 high jump, James Sauers (Atlanta Track Club) cleared 1.43m to tack on .04m to the existing American record. Sauers’ clearance bettered the field by .13m. Emily Adams (Chicagoland Masters Athletics) landed a pair of American records in the W35 weight throw and super weight throw. Her 17.43m toss in the weight throw scared the world record of 17.79 and took down the existing American record of 15.35 handily. Adams turned her attention to the super weight throw shortly after her record-breaking weight throw performance. The existing 8.71m American record stood no chance once against Adams - she landed all five legal attempts over the 10m line, with her furthest mark, 10.78m, coming in round five. Six more American records fell on day three in the 4x200s. Greater Philadelphia TC’s W60 team of Terri Rath, Julie Hayden, Louise Kelley, and Lorraine Jasper clocked a 2:14.98 to take down the existing record by nearly five seconds. In the W65 division, Greater Philadelphia TC put together another star team of Claudia Simpson, Cheryl Bellaire, Deborah DeHaven, and Coreen Steinbach for a 2:28.19 clocking and another American record. The W70 American record fell as the non-club quartet of Joy Flynn, Claudia Rankins, Mary Hartzler, and Diana Daniels clocked a 2:53.62. Moving up to the W75 division, the TNT International Racing Club set a dynamite team on the track to go after the age-division American record. Nancy Berger, Angela Staab, Mary Trotto, and Cora Hill left it all on the track with their 3:51.60 clocking - the first time an American quartet dipped under four minutes in the division. The Southwest Sprinters Track Club sent a M55 team of Francois Boda, John Campbell, Derek Pye, and David Gibbon onto the track with a mission and the quartet delivered. The team clocked a 1:40.13 to set a new American record and shave three seconds off of the previous best. The New England 65 Plus Runners Club’s M85 team Jerry LeVasseur, Joe Cordero, Bill Masterson, and Ram Satyaprasad clocked a 5:01.96 to establish an American record.
The final day of competition at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track & Field Center started with a bang as Elizabeth Deak (Unattached) broke her own W65 200 American record, set in the prelims on day three. Deak slashed her 30-flat time down to a 29.80. Her mark was the first of three American records in the 200 finals. India Bridgette (Unattached) clocked a 28.88 for a W60 American record. Her time bettered the existing record of 28.94 by .06 and was the best in her division by just over a second. Emanuelle McGowan (Maximum Quotient Track Club) earned her second American record of the meet with her W55 26.84. Her time was more than a second faster than the field and made her the first in her division to dip under 27 seconds. Two American records highlighted day four’s field events - one in the W60 high jump and a second in the W75 shot put. Neringa Jakstiene (Unattached) claimed yet another record, this time in the W60 high jump. She cleared 1.45m - .34m higher than anyone else in her division, to tack five centimeters onto the existing American record. One of the most competitive fields of the event came in the W75 shot put. At the start of the day, the American record stood at 8.49m. With Myrle Mensey (Throwing and Growing), Carol Frost (Unattached), and LaTanya Glass (SC Striders Track Club) headed to the ring, the record wouldn’t stand for long. On her first throw, Glass landed an 8.61m put, which ultimately stood as her best of the competition. Glass had the record until Mensey entered the ring for her first attempt - a 9.51m throw - but the real competition had just begun. Mensey held the lead as Frost passed on her first two attempts. With one attempt to secure a spot in the final, Frost landed a new American record 9.92m heave, but Mensey - the American record holder in the super weight throw and world record holder in the weight throw - wasn’t backing down. In the fourth round, Mensey landed what would stand as the winning throw and new American record with her 10.07m put. In typical fashion, an exciting round of 4x400s capped off what ultimately was one of the best Masters track and field meets the U.S. has ever seen. The Central Park Track Club W45 team of Terry Ballou, Dominique Saint-Louis, Nathalie Jones, and Lisa Edwards clocked a 4:34.64 American record to take down the existing best of 4:41.94. The New England 65 Plus Runners Club’s M85 team Jerry LeVasseur, Joe Cordero, Bill Masterson, and Ram Satyaprasad clocked an 11:20.54 to establish an American record. A pair of world records were the picture-perfect end to competition. The Greater Philadelphia TC W60 4x400 team of Louise Kelley, Terri Rath, Julie Hayden, and Lorraine Jasper clocked a 4:58.48 to become the first W60 team in the world to break five. The previous world record, set by Sweden in 2020, stood at 5:00.53, and the quartet shaved more than 41 seconds off of the existing record of 5:39.49. A non-club W35 team of Christina Trucks, Kristy Matthews, Christina Elder, and Odeika Giscombe, earned the final record of the meet with their 4:00.11, bettering the existing record of 4:05.13 by more than five seconds. A full list of results for the USATF Masters Indoor Championships presented by Prevagen can be found here.