The first Masters Southern California Track and Field Championships was held on June 1, 1974, at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton. Masters class Track and Field had officially started in 1968 in nearby San Diego.[1] Since its first annual meet, the Masters Southern California Track and Field Championships has been held every successive year except 2020, when the meet was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, the meet has been organized under a succession of organizations: the Southern California Association of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), The Athletics Congress (TAC), and currently USA Track and Field (USATF).
The June 1975 meet included athletes Daniel Aldrich, Bryant Avery, Walt Butler, Ken Dennis, John Dobroth, Bill Fitzgerald, Pete Mundle, Nick Newton, Parry O'Brien (Olympian), Tom Patsalis, Paul Spangler, Art Vesco, and John Whittemore as competitors.[5] The Los Angeles Times reported that Bill Fitzgerald set a M50 World Record in the mile at 4:37.1 and M50 American Record in the 880 yard at 2:07.2 at the meet.[6] In June 1977 the LA Times stated, "Valley Track Club members Jerry Hackett of Canyon Country and Ernie Portillo of Canoga Park won divisions of the 880-yard run in the annual AAU District Masters Track and Field Championship.[7]
The July 1980 National Masters Newsletter issue reports that the June 1980 meet produced four new records.[8]
The Janes Elite Racing Club set a Masters American Record in the 4 × 800 m relay at the June 2018 meet.[9]
The SCA Championship has also seen its share of United States and World Masters Age Records, single age records, meet records, and stars during the meet, including Walt Butler, Todd Christensen, Robert Culling, Burl Gist, Bert de Groot, Kenny Dennis, John Dobroth, A. Redmond Doms, Bill Fitzgerald, Arnie Gaynor, Joe Greenberg, Dave Jackson, Carol Johnston, George Ker, Gunnar Linde, Leland McPhie, Gary Miller, Herb Miller, Peter Mundle, James Oleson, Tom Patsalis, Del Pickarts, Charlie Radar, Nolan Shaheed, Larry Stuart, Jack Thatcher, Clarence Trahan, Bob Watanabe, Stan Whitley, Leo Williams, Kathy Bergen, Adreana Cano, Linda Cohn, Sue Dimarco, Shirley Kinsey, Christel Donley (Miller), Rita Hanscom, Sue McDonald, Johnnye Valien, and Janet Wilson, among others.[15]
USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking. The USATF was known between 1979 and 1992 as The Athletics Congress (TAC) after its spin-off from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which governed the sport in the US through most of the 20th century until the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 dissolved its responsibility. Based in Indianapolis, USATF is a non-profit organization with a membership of more than 130,000. The organization has three key leadership positions: CEO Max Siegel, Board of Directors Chair Steve Miller, and elected president Vin Lananna. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can be USATF members, but permanent residents can only participate in masters events in the country, and they cannot win USATF medals, prize money, or score points for a team, per World Athletics regulations.
Kathryn Joan "Kate" Schmidt is an American former world record holder in the javelin throw. A native of California, graduate of Woodrow Wilson Classical High School, and alumnus of UCLA, she won bronze medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. She qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but did not compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. She placed fourth at the 1984 Olympic Trials.
Payton Jordan was the head coach of the 1968 United States Olympic track and field team, one of the most powerful track teams ever assembled, which won a record twenty-four medals, including twelve golds. He was born in Whittier, California. Jordan was exceedingly successful as a collegiate track coach for a decade at Occidental College and for 23 years at Stanford University. A star three-sport athlete in his youth, Jordan more recently became one of the most dominant track athletes of all time, as a sprinter, in senior divisions. Jordan died of cancer at his home in Laguna Hills, California on February 5, 2009.
Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups. For international events the first age group is 35 to 39. Men as old as 105 and women in their 100s have competed in running, jumping and throwing events. Masters athletes are sometimes known as "veterans" and the European Masters Championships, for instance, is known as "Eurovets". This and other high level events including biennial World Championships cater largely to elite-level athletes, but many masters athletes are novices to athletics and enjoy the camaraderie offered by masters competition at the local, National and International level. Most National governing bodies for track and field hold annual Masters championships. Prestigious National meets such as the Penn Relays and the United States Olympic Trials put on exhibition events for top masters athletes. Masters athletics is growing Internationally with over 6000 athletes competing at recent World Championships. World; National and Regional records are maintained for each age group.
Bob Humphreys was a retired male track and field athlete from the United States. He competed in the men's discus throw and the shot put event during his career. His career highlight was a gold medal in the discus at the 1963 Pan American Games, setting a Pan Am Record at time.
Sylvia Mosqueda is an American long distance runner notable for hard front running over an extended career at an elite level.
Jacqueline Hansen is a former long-distance runner from the United States who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on two occasions.
Ronald Howard "Ron" Whitney is a retired American hurdler and sprinter. Known for his fast finish, he was sixth in the 400 m hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He had entered the race as one of the favorites, having been ranked #1 in the world in 1967 and winning the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the event for the second time earlier that year. At the Olympics, his first heat victory established a new Olympic record, only to be surpassed by David Hemery two days later.
The Southern California Striders is a track and field athletics club based in Los Angeles, California. From its foundation in 1955 through the 1980s it was an elite club producing numerous national and Olympic champions. For a time in the 1970s it was called the Tobias Striders for sponsorship reasons. From the 1990s to 2006 the club was restricted to masters athletics and still produces national champions in older age classes. After 2006 it became a nonprofit open to all ages.
Jim Sorensen is an American Track and Field athlete, known primarily for running middle distance races. He is the current Masters M40 world record holder at 800 metres and former Masters M40 world record holder at 1500 metres.
Ernest Nicholas Newton Carter was an American track and field athlete, coach and official. He ran the 1500 metres in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, finishing a non-qualifying 3rd place in his heat.
Sharon Day-Monroe is an American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion.
Leonard "Leon" Coleman is an American hurdler who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Hope Bender is an American track and field athlete, known for multiple events and hurdles. She competed for the Santa Barbara Track Club and coached at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos before moving to San Marcos, Texas to train at Texas State University in Fall 2023. Bender studied to be a Biotechnology engineer.
Shuttle hurdle relay (SHR) is a type of a relay race in track and field in which participants jump (sprint) over hurdles. The shuttle hurdle relay is contested at the Drake Relays, Desert Conference Relays, Kansas Relays, Mt. SAC Relays, Penn Relays, Texas Relays, Akron Relays, Alabama Relay, Appalachian Conference Relay, Florida Relays (Gainesville), Knoxville Relay, Long Beach Relay, Santa Barbara Relay, So Cal Relays, Tennessee Relays, Towson Relays, and Tri-State Relays. The SHR was also included at the 2019 IAAF World Relays and 2021 competition.
The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1968. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced in 2020 to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
The USATF Masters Indoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national indoor championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1975. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced from 2020 onwards to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
References
↑ 1968 San Diego Masters Track Field Championship. Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, CA, June 11, 1968 Retrieved Oct. 14, 2020
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
