INDIANAPOLIS -- Bettering the existing American records* in the masters men's 65-69 1500 and mile, Dan King (Boulder, CO/USATF Colorado) earned recognition as the 33rd USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024.
King, 65, ran 4:43.49 in the 1500 and 5:04.52 in the mile at the Beverley Lewis Memorial meet in Santa Barbara, California. Those efforts clipped more than two seconds off the ratified 1500 AR of 4:46.05 that was set by Gary Patton in 2011, and more than seven seconds off the 5:11.74 mile AR that was run by Thomas Bernhard in 2016.
In August at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden, King took top honors in the men's 65-69 1500 in 4:49.47 and also captured gold in the 8km cross country event in 30:38 to lead the U.S. squad to victory in the team race. He later won his age group at the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City with a 5:09 effort.
Other top performances from last week:
Graham Blanks of Harvard was the runner-up in the men’s championship race at the Pre-Nationals meet at Wisconsin, clocking 22:40.5 for 8K.
Gary Martin of Virginia won the individual men’s crown at the Panorama Farms Invitational XC meet with a 22:58.9 8K that put him 13 seconds ahead of the next finisher.
Jenny Schilling was the women’s individual winner at the Panorama Farms Invitational, leading her Virginia squad to the team trophy with a 20:09.7 6K effort that won by 18 seconds.
Ethan Strand of North Carolina took the men’s top spot at the Princeton Invitational XC meet, running 22:34.4 for 8K.
*-- all records subject to verification by the USATF Records Committee.
Now in its 23rd year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2024 Winners: January 17, Weini Kelati; January 24, Cooper Teare; January 31, Nico Young; February 7, Fiona O'Keeffe; February 14, Elle St. Pierre; February 21, Grant Holloway; February 28, Jalani Davis; March 6, Elle St. Pierre; March 13, Rachel Glenn; March 20, Grant Fisher; March 27, Myrle Mensey; April 3, Jordan Davis; April 10, Hillary Bor; April 17, Jacious Sears; April 24, Christian Miller; May 1, Payton Otterdahl; May 8, Gabby Thomas; May 15, Ja'Kobe Tharp; May 22, Rai Benjamin; May 29, Joe Kovacs; June 5, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone; June 12, McKenzie Long; July 10, Valarie Allman; July 17, Rai Benjamin; July 24, Quincy Wilson; September 4, Ja'Kobe Tharp; September 11, Grant Holloway; September 18, Nora Cary; September 25, Jessica McClain; October 2, Brittany Brown; October 9, Fiona Bayly; October 16, CJ Albertson; October 23, Dan King.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.
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