Team Ontario won 14 Gold medals at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sacramento from July 6-17th. Ontario had the largest Canadian contingent with 87 members entered in the meet.
M80 Ed Whitlock lead the Team with three Golds – 1500m, 5000m, and the 10,000m. Ed’s 5:48.93 in the 1500m broke the 5:59.11 World Record (Yoshimitsu Miyauchi JPN ’04). Ed beat the listed WR in the 5000m with his 21:32.87 (photo), but it wasn’t as fast as his 20:58.12 that he ran at the CMA Championships in Toronto.
Ed ran 42:39.95 in the 10,000m – breaking his World Record 42:59.16 that he set at the CMA meet. To finish off the Championships, he ran a 400m leg in the Relay (photo).
W55 Rita Quibell won both the 800m (L) and the 1500m – beating Penafiel Fernandez MEX each time.
Rita ran the 800 in 2:37:00 and the 1500 in 5:22.48. She broke Jan Horne’s 2:50.6 ONT record set in 1988. That’s Canadian Kathy Martin finishing in 3rd place in the 800. Kathy holds the CAN 1500m record of 5:12.62 that she set in Riccione ’07.
M45 Mike Sherar passed the first seeded American on the turn and blasted the homestretch to win the 800m in 1:58.11 – on a night that was filled with Canadian 800m Finalists. Mike holds the CAN record of 1:55.34 that he set last year.
M80 Earl Fee had some stiff competition in his age group,
but prevailed in the 800m to win in 2:53.71
a bit off his CAN record of 2:48.
Earl also won the 200m Long Hurdles in 37.31 – just off his 36.95 CAN record.
M45 Geoff Outerbridge from Ottawa won the Pole Vault in 4.20m. Geoff broke his 4.06m ONT record that he set at last year’s Nationals. There was a strong Canadian contingent in the PV.
W55 Wendy Alexis of Ottawa had a clean sweep of the sprints with a win in the 100m in 13.81 and the 200m in 28.66
Photo of the 200m finish.
M50 Chris Deighan of Newmarket powered through the Steeplechase, winning in 10:27.06 – breaking Roland Anspach’s 11:42 ONT record from 1977. Chris is getting closer to Art Taylor’s 10:18 CAN record that has stood for 32 years.
Chris ran 2:05.77 in the 800m – surpassing his own 2:07.68 ONT record set at the Nationals in June.
Chris TIED his 4:19.71 ONT record that he set at the Nationals in the 1500m. That’s right…tied it!
Brand new to the age group – M40 Rich Tremain
won the 1500m in 4:03.37
Rich left his move a bit too late in the previous 800m – picking off the field until he ran out of track and finished second in 1:55.76 – breaking Ray Tucker’s 1:58.1 ONT record from 1988.
M45 Dan Fiorini won the Marathon in 2:47 (will post the official mark) Photo by Annie Bunting
W45 Annie Bunting
broke the ONT records
in both the 800m (L) and the 1500m. Her 2:23.54 in the 800 broke Faith Nesdoly’s 2:24.88 record from 2005. Annie’s 4:54.26 1500 broke Diane Palmason’s 5:04.3 ONT record from 1983!
M40 Lawrence Williams broke Kerry Smith’s 23.20 ONT record in the 200m with a 23.11 finish in the Finals.
W55 Nanci Patten Sweazey established
an ONT record of 9:33.80 in the Steeplechase
M70 Vern Christensen broke his own 9:24.69 CAN and ONT record in the Steeplechase with a 9:07.08. Vern was the Team Manager.
W55 Linda Wilson broke June-Marie Provost’s 29:24 ONT record with a 29:12.87 in the 5000m Racewalk
M35 Ovidiu Negoita had a 6.22m mark in the long Jump – beating George Pachovsky’s 6.18 ONT record set in 1980 (photo from the HJ)
M40 Kevin Lake broke his own 4.30m ONT record
with a 4.45m Pole Vault
M35 Zoltan Sara broke his own 1.85m CAN and ONT records with a 1.90m clearance in the High Jump – good for the Silver medal.
M75 Emil Muller broke his 14.50m ONT record with a 15.18m Weight Throw. Emil still holds the 15.20m CAN record – set when he was a Quebec resident. (photo courtesy of Ken Stone)
w75 Jean Horne broke June-Marie Provost’s 38:49 ONT record with a 36:57.78 finish in the 5000m Racewalk. Photo courtesy Stafford Whalen.