Team USATF Masters Torun Collects another 15 Medals on Day Two at the WMA Indoor Championships; Including One World Record and One American Record
It was another double-digit medal haul day for the USA Masters Team Tuesday, March 25 as 13 individuals and one team claimed medals. Highlights of the day were the World Record set by Neringa Jakstiene (W55, Memphis, TN) in the long jump with a leap of 5.22m on her way to gold, and the American record set by Sue McDonald (W55, Santa Barbara, CA) in winning her semi-final 400m race, lowering the record set by Lorraine Jasper in 2012 from 66.79 to 64.50 seconds.
Joining Jakstiene on the gold medal podium step were Gloria Krug (W85, New Oxford PA) in the shot put (6.29m), Bill Jankovich (M85, Racine, WI) in the long (2.61m), and Heide Moebius (W80, Lancaster PA) in the 6k cross country race.
USA silver medals were earned by W85 Irene Obera (W85, Fremont CA) in the shot put (5.18m), Bruce McBarnette (M60, Sterling, VA) in the high jump (1.65m), Greg Vidos (M55, Lafayette, LA) in the high jump (1.75m), and Ron Gray (M85, Denver CO), who leapt 2.51m in the long jump.
Rounding out the day’s count were the bronze medals claimed by Kurt Gruenbacher (M55, Lenexa, KS) in the javelin throw (43.85m), Penny Ingles (W40, Fairfax, VA) in the weight throw (10.14m), Tom Foley (M60, Plymouth MA) in the high jump (1.65m), Joy Upshaw (W55, Lafayette CA) in the long jump (4.66m), cross country runners Tami Graf (W80, Lusby MD) who ran the 6k course in 56:42, and Roger Sayre (M60, Golden CO), who ran the 8k course in 30: 37. Finally, the W70 cross country team of Moebius, Graf, and Kathleen Frable (W70, Ivins UT) earned the final US medal of the day with their bronze medal finish.
In garnering the 15 medals on day two, Team USATF showed a propensity for having two medalists in one event – Krug and Obera with gold and silver in the W85 shot put, Jankovich and Gray with gold and silver in the M85 long jump, Jakstiene and Upshaw with gold and bronze in the W55 long jump, McBarnette and Foley with silver and bronze in the M60 high jump, and Moebius and Graf with gold and bronze in the W80 6k cross country accounting for ten of the day’s total.
After two days, Team USATF stands tied for third place in the official overall medal standing with the Great Britain and Northern Ireland with 29 medals each. Germany leads the medal table with 66, followed by host Poland with 43. Spain and Finland round out the top six with 28 medals each.
Wednesday’s highlighted event will be the finals in the 400 meters, with Team USATF having qualified a total of 27 (15 women and 12 men).
Compiled by:
Sandy Triolo, MTF Communications Subcommittee Chair (mtfcommchair@gmail.com)
Jerry Bookin-Weiner, MTF Vice Chair (mtfvicechair@gmail.com)
Amanda Scotti (ascotti.nmn@gmail.com)
