09/17/2023 HIGHLANDS NJ
It was a warm morning for a competitive road race, but Jeannie Rice 75, Perry Shoemaker 52, and Nat Larson 60 were still able to set new American Age Division Records. Rice’s 54:53 jettisoned the Women’s 75-79 record set in 2014 by the legendary Libby James. Rice, who recently set 3 75-79 World Records on the track, beat it by over 6 minutes! Shoemaker lowered the oldest of the 5 records by 17 seconds. Shirley Matson’s 1993 record of 44:56 fell to Shoemaker’s 44:39. Larson took down one of the records of the great Tom McCormack, from 2014, his 42:26 dropping it by 24 seconds.
Brian Flynn broke open the Men’s Overall Race early, forging a 25-meter lead by the time they made the first turn at 1.2 miles. Flynn widened the gap after that, for a victory margin of just over a minute in 39:01, the only runner to break 40 minutes! Fabian Daza was 2nd in 40:03, with Robbie Genzel, out of 45-49, claiming 3rd in 40:27. Aaron Totten-Lancaster and David Angell followed in 4th and 5th, just 8 and 14 seconds behind Genzel. In the Women’s race, by contrast, Shoemaker led out a tight lead pack through the first 1.2 miles. Alexandra Niles and Jennifer Pesce, overall women’s winner at the 5 Km championships in Atlanta, this past February, were tucked in tight behind her. There was already a substantial gap back to Abby Dean and Fiona Bayly. Pesce worked her way to the front and took her second overall Masters win this year. Her time of 44:31 allowed her an 8-second victory margin over Shoemaker in 2nd, followed by Niles, 3rd in 45:09. No one else was within two minutes of those three.
The Age-Grading program compares each runner’s time to the best possible time for a runner of their age, by gender, in single years of age. The resulting Performance Level Percentage PLP is a measure of which athletes performed best for their age, using their net time. Not surprisingly, Rice had the top score for women at 103.92%. A way of interpreting this is that Rice performed better than could be expected by the top performer of her age. It is the top PLP recorded this year in a road race! Nora Cary 68, scored a 97.67 PLP from clocking 52:33 in winning her division; and Sabra Harvey 74 netted a 58:58 for a 95.23. Larson had the top PLP for men at 93.74, followed by Rick Lee 62 whose 43:25 net time earned a 92.45 PLP, with Gene Dykes 75, third with his 91.51% from a 50:38.
Age Division National Champions included: MEN 40-44 Flynn; 45-49 Genzel; 50-54 Gregory Putnam 41:12; 55-59 Brian Crowley 42:32; 60-64 Larson; 65-69 Roger Sayre 45:38; 70-74 James Linn 51:49; 75-79 Dykes; 80-84 Doug Goodhue 1:02:42; and 85-89 Roland Ratmeyer 1:36:01. WOMEN 40-44 Pesce; 45-49 Euleen Josiah-Tanner 47:43; 50-54 Shoemaker; 55-59 Bayly 47:34; 60-64 Suzanne La Burt 49:15; 65-69 Cary; 70-74 Harvey; 75-79 Rice; 80-84 Sandra Folzer 1:28:10; 85-89 Joyce Hodges-Hite 2:09:05.
Pesce led the Garden State Track Club TC to victory in the Women’s 40+ team competition; Garden State also took 1st in women’s 50+ in a tight contest with Shore Athletic Club AC and Willow Street AC. Shore AC took the win in 60+, with Oregon’s Team Red Lizard taking the honors in 70+. Flynn led Garden State to victory in Men’s 40+. The Atlanta TC led the way in 50+ and 70+, with Shore AC, the closest thing to a home team, winning 60+.
Masters athletes wind up their 2023 Masters National Grand Prix with the USATF Masters 5 Km Cross Country Championships in Boca Raton FL. Information at: 2023 USATF Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships | USA Track & Field.
Submitted By
Paul Carlin
Consultant to USATF Masters LDR
www.runningprof.com
