Day One of USATF Masters Outdoor Championships Conclude With Multiple Winners Crowned

Today had the 5000m, Shot Put, Pentathlon, Hammer Throw and Weight Throw Winners Crowned!

LEXINGTON, Kentucky – The first of four days of competition have concluded for the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships at the University of Kentucky Track and Field Complex.

The Atlanta Track Club leads all teams with 131 points and the men’s team standings with 69 points. Leading the women’s division is Philadelphia Masters with 72 points.

On day one, athletes competed in 5,000-meters, 400m prelims, men’s shot put, women’s hammer, women’s weight throw, and the men’s and women’s pentathlons.

Three-time Olympian Michelle Rohl took the women’s 55-59 5,000m with a time of 18:33.83, only 15 seconds slower than her own American record in the event for her age group. She will also compete in the 800m, 1,500m, and 10,000m. Most recently, Rohl won gold in the 5,000m and silver in the 800m and 1,500m at WMA Championships in Finland.

Jef Scott ran the fastest 5,000m (16:28.08) of all athletes in the 25-54 range to win the title in the men’s 50-54 age group.

In the men’s 60-64 5,000m, Steve Schmidt ran 17:37.03, less than a minute from the American record for 60-64-year-old men.

Gloria Krug of Philadelphia Masters earned first with an impressive mark in the women’s 90-94 weight throw (19-10/6.06m). Also in the weight throw, Myrle Mensey of Throwing and Growing nearly threw for an American record in the 70-74 age group with a mark of 49-2/15.00m. The record is 49-6/15.09m.

Tami Graf, 86, of the Potomac Valley Track Club, won the women’s 85-89 5,000m with a time of 47:31.40. At the most recent WMA Championships, Graf won five medals, the second most of all entrants at the USATF Masters Championships.

Florence Meiler of Sprinticity was the sole entrant for the women’s 85-89 pentathlon, but that didn’t stop her from posting a near record-breaking point total. Meiler finished with 4,372 points, the most points of all women’s pentathlon finishers and less than 100 points from her own American and world record for her age group.

The 50-54 men’s pentathlon featured Wale Aka-Bashorun, who scored 3,276 points overall.

In the men’s 400m prelims, the fastest time came from Atlanta Track Club’s Adeboyewa Adeleke (54.65Q) in the 40-44 division.

Durann Dunn, 40, also known as “The Freeze” of the Atlanta Braves, qualified for the men’s 40-44 400m final with a run of 59.42Q as the fourth fastest qualifier of his age group. Dunn recently medaled in the 100m and 200m at this year’s WMA Championships and will be offering two Freeze Bobbleheads and an Atlanta Braves 2021 replica World Series ring in a raffle with the proceeds going to the USATF WMA Travel Grant Program. Tickets are being sold at the National Masters News table for $10 a ticket.

Events continue Friday beginning at 8:00 a.m., Saturday beginning at 7:00 a.m., and Sunday beginning at 8:00 a.m. The full schedule can be found here. Results may be found here.

The 2022 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships will be broadcast live from Lexington, Kentucky Thursday through Sunday, July 28-31. The USATF.TV broadcast will require a RunnerSpace +PLUS subscription.

Broadcast Schedule. Times Eastern.