INDIANAPOLIS — Achieving an age grading score of 100.7% in winning the women's 65-69 division at the USATF Masters 12K Championships, Nora Cary (Morristown, NJ/USATF New Jersey) earned recognition as the 28th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2024. Cary, 69, clocked 51:41 at the By Hook or By Crook 12K in Highlands, New Jersey, to score just over 100%, the equivalent to the world's best possible time for a 69-year-old. She was 13th overall in the women's race and won her age group by more than five minutes. Her age grade was almost 5% higher than the next best finisher overall. The age grading score, the Performance Level Percentage (PLP), identifies the runners, across all age divisions, who had the best performance relative to the best times in the world. Last month at the USATF Masters 10 Mile Championships, Cary also finished atop the age grade scoring with a 100.3% effort, winning her age group in 71:00. Other top performances from last week:
Ken Youngers, 68, mounted the age grading podium for the second consecutive event, winning the men's 65-69 division at the USATF Masters 12K Championships in 47:01 to earn a 90.50% age grading score.
Brittany Brown won the Diamond League Final in the women's 200 by .25 seconds in 22.20.
Kenny Bednarek ran his eighth sub-20 200 of the year, winning the men's Diamond League Final in 19.67 to beat Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo by .13.
Valarie Allman was the women's discus winner at the Diamond League Final in Brussels with a 68.47/224-7 effort. The Olympic champion closed her season undefeated, with 11 straight wins.
Roberta Groner, 46, won the overall women’s title at the USATF Masters 12K Championships and set an age 45-49 national record of 42:21. She had an age grading score of 92.4%.
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. 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. Join the conversation with USATF on X, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF. Photo Credit: Jason Timochko