LOUISVILLE — Day one of competition at the USATF Masters Indoor Championships at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, Kentucky was nothing short of exciting, with American and personal records shattered event after event.
The first American record of the day came from Perry Shumaker (Unattached) in the women’s 50-54 3000m. The 51-year-old blazed her way to a 10:07.36 finish to cut nearly four seconds off of the existing record of 10:11.03. Close behind was Olympian and women’s 55-59 record holder Michelle Rohl (Greater Philadelphia TC), who sped through the finish in 10:30.50.
Kay Glynn (Unattached) smashed the American pentathlon record that stood 16 years in the women’s 70-74 division, tallying 3632 points across five events. The 70-year-old started the day strong with a 11.88 finish in the 60m hurdles, which bettered the open American record for the event of 12.83. Her field event prowess put her a head above the rest as she cleared 1.19m in the high jump and landed a 7.00m throw in the shot put. She moved on to a 3.97m leap in the long jump and ran a 4:27.61 in the 800m. The previous record of 3093 was set by Christel Donley in Boston in 2007.
Marianne Martino (High Altitude Racewalk Team) absolutely shattered the women’s 70-74 American record in the 1500m race walk, finishing in 9:34.58 – nearly 30 seconds faster than the previous record of 10:04.14. Her finish was more than a minute faster than her nearest competitor.
Erin Taylor Talcott (Unattached) walked her way to a new American record in the 40-44 division with a blistering 8:02.48, absolutely obliterating the previous record of 12:06.65. Carolyn McAndrews (Unattached) and Vanessa Stephan (Unattached) also walked under the previous mark with their 8:22.24 and 10:14.21 clockings, respectively.
Records fell left and right in the men’s 1500m race walk. Norman Frable (So Cal Track Club) clocked a 9:25.87 to better the men’s 75-79 American record by nearly nine seconds. Joel Dubow (Atlanta Track Club) knocked nearly a minute off of the men’s 80-84 American record with his 10:07.28 clocking. 88-year-old Alan Poisner (Unattached) added another record to the bunch when he crossed the finish line in 10:48.16 – breaking John Star’s 2016 time of 11:26.24. Dave Talcott’s (Unattached) 8:03.78 knocked 23 seconds off of the 60-64 record while Jim Scott (Unattached) slashed the 65-69 record down to 8:08.76 and Alexey Popov (Raleigh Walkers) clocked a record time of 8:29.32 in the 35-39 division.
In the men’s 80-84 weight throw, Robert Cahners (Unattached) smashed his age group American record with a fourth-round heave of 15.92m. The previous record, held by William Gramley, was 14.17m set in 2016. Cahners landed three legal throws far enough to beat the previous record – but that was just the beginning. Cahners was back in the throws cage once again for the super weight, where he took down another age group American record with a 9.20m heave. The mark bettered Wayne Sabin’s 2014 record by 19cm.
An incredible battle for first unfolded in the women’s 70-74 400m 400m between Hannah Phillips (Potomac Valley Track Club), Pat Kelly (SC Striders Track Club) and Sherrel Harmon (Central Park Track Club). The three were head-to-head with the final straightaway to go before barely pulling apart. Phillips earned the title in 1:30.65 with Kelly and Harmon a second and a half behind in 1:31.97 and 1:32.01 for the silver and bronze, respectively.
Competition resumes on the track for day two on Saturday, March 11 at 8:00 a.m. ET with the women’s 65 60m heats. Field action begins at 8:00 a.m. with the W75-94 Weight Throw.
Fans can watch the competition live on USATF.TV+ starting at 8:00 a.m. ET and follow live results here.
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