Masters USATF Cross Country National Club Champions Crowned

BETHLEHEM, PA – The course was damp from an inch of rain earlier in the week; light rain Friday afternoon and overnight added to the problem. The footing over most of the course was good; there were a few troublesome spots. Most runners agreed that it could have been worse and was, in many respects, a perfectly normal cross-country challenge. Admittedly the problem got worse with each batch of runners who traversed the course. The Masters athletes proved they were up to the challenge.
 
In the team competition, scoring is based on the top-five finishers for each team for Men 40-59; for Men 60 and up and in the Women’s contests, the top-three runners score. Masters Men 60+ went off over an 8 Km course at 10:00 a.m. under cloudy skies and 46-degree temperatures. The Greater Lowell Roadrunners took first in Men’s 60+ with 23 points; their top-three runners all finished in the top 11. Minnesota’s Run ‘n’ Fun club was 10 points back, with the Greater Philadelphia Track Club (TC) another ten seconds back in third. In M70+ Ann Arbor TC earned a highly contested victory, repeating their 2018 win, with 22 points; their top two runners finished first and fifth. They edged the San Diego Striders by three points, with Greater Philadelphia TC four points back in third. In M80+ the Clifton Road Runners finished first with 8 points ahead of the Atlanta Track Club with 13. Masters Women of all ages ran at 11:00 a.m. over a 6 Km course. In 40+, Southern Cal’s Jane’s Elite, with 21 points, got their third Club Cross victory in a row as all three scorers were in the top 10. Team Red Lizard came second with 29. The Nittany Valley Running Club edged out Impala Racing by two points for the final podium spot. In an extremely tight W50+ contest, Sirius Athletics of Georgia, edged the Athena TC 26 to 28, with Club Northwest only two points back in third! The W60+ contest was almost a ‘walk in the park’ by contrast as Club Northwest claimed the victory with 11 points to 20 for Atlanta TC in second. The race for the final podium spot was close with Pike Creek Valley Running Club slipping past Potomac Valley TC 37 to 39. The Atlanta TC took the W70+ crown unopposed. Men 40-59 raced over a 10 Km course at high noon, over muddy portions that the other races did not encounter, and over the already roiled muddy stretches traversed by the earlier competitors. West Valley TC enjoyed the most dominant win of the day, amassing a mere 31 points, with all runners finishing in the top 10. Cal Coast TC with 97 and the Bowerman TC, with 139 took second and third among the 32 teams contesting the event. The Greater Springfield Harriers took their third straight Club Cross win in M50+, with 51 points as their three top runners finished in the top four. Club Northwest, with 67 and TC Running Company with 104 took second and third.
 
Each of the three races has age-grading winners, the fastest runners for their age, across all age divisions; an overall winner, who typically comes from youngest or second-youngest 5-year age division; and winners of the other 5-year divisions.
Men’s 60+ Joe Sheeran, 62, won the age-grading in 2017 and finished second last year. He had no trouble this year, winning by over three percentage points with a 92.44 score. Cracking 92% in Cross Country, through the mud, is impressive! Daniel Johnson, 62, and John Barbour, 65, rounded out the podium with 88.98 and 88.78 respectively. Sheeran was the first runner across the finish line in the M60+ race.
 
Age Division Championship Podiums: 60-64 Sheeran 28:42, Mark Reeder, Daniel King 65-69 Barbour 30:43, George Braun, Joseph Reda 70-74 Terry McCluskey 34:13, Gene Dykes, Rick Katz 75-79 Tony Marshall 35:28, Doug Goodhue, Jan Frisby 80-84 John Elliott 50:08, Roland Ratmeyer, Andrew Sherwood.
 
Women Nora Cary, 64, took top age-grading honors with another sterling performance at 90.70, with Marisa Sutera Strange, 56, and Carmen Ayala-Troncoso, 60, taking second and third with 89.78 and 89.00. Sascha Scott was the first runner to cross the finish line in the Women’s race.
Age Division Championship Podiums: 40-44 Sascha Scott 22:22, Margaret Brennan, Nancy James-Klinger 45-49 Janet McDevitt 23:26, Grace Padilla, Cheryl Capone 50-54 Laura Latchford 23:17 Hronn Gudmundsdottir, Nancy Thomas 55-59 Strange 23:54, Lorraine Jasper, Laura Bruess 60-64 Ayala-Troncoso 25:19, Beth Stalker, Cary 65-69 Lorraine McPhillips 32:00 Mary Ann Gurka, Sandra Rinderer 70-74 Kathleen Allen 36:27, Irene Herman, Deborah Barchat 75-79 Catherine Radle 44:57 80-84 Heide Moebius 39:31, Madeline Bost, Tami Graf
 
Men 40-59 Peter Hammer, 53, had the top age grade of 89.07, followed by Nat Larson, 57, and Mark Zamek, 56, with 88.88 and 87.61. Jacques Salberg was the first athlete to cross the finish line.
 
Age Division Championship Podiums: 40-44 Peter Gilmore 33:00, Eric Loeffler, Jorge Maravilla 45-49 Jacques Sallberg 32:55, Dave Slavinski, Jaime Heilpern 50-54 Peter Hammer 34:36, Sandu Rebencuic, Craig Godwin 55-59 Nat Larson 35:55, Mark Zamek, Jeff Devlin
 
There were 247 finishers in Men 60 and up; 444 in Men 40-59; and 288 in the Women’s race. All were announced as record fields. The 2020 USATF Masters Grand Prix series next heads to San Diego, CA, site of the 2010 USATF Cross Country Championships. Athlete Information is here and the entry form is here.
 
Submitted by
Paul Carlin
USATF Masters LDR/Media Coordinator
Running Professor LLC/www.runningprof.com