NEW JERSEY MASTERS SUCCEED AT THE NATIONAL TRACK MEET
Masters athletes were expecting weather conditions to be far superior to the 2006 USATF National Track and Field championships. After all, Orono Maine would have to be cooler than Charlotte NC where the meet was held last summer. Alas, it was not to be. Maine was experiencing unusual heat during most of the meet that lasted from Thursday, August 2nd to Sunday, August 5th. While it may not have been quite as hot as Charlotte, it was awfully close.
Still, all are competing in the same conditions and compete they did, including several New Jersey athletes. Some names will be familiar to area runners as these tracksters are also road runners, where they usually excel in their age divisions.
Catherine Stone Borkowski of Ringwood placed second in the W45 four hundred meter dash with a time of 1:04.42. Central Park Track Club teammate Sid Howard of Plainfield also took home a silver in his premier event, the M65 800 meter run with a time of 2:30.98. Howard did not fare as well in the 1,500 meter run though where he placed fourth in 5:25.25.
Sal Allah of Piscataway was the favorite to win the 400 and 800 meter dashes in the M45 division and he did not disappoint. Allah was the picture of running grace winning the 400 in 50.96 and the 800 in 1:59.51. Allah is the current record holder in the 800 at 1:54.18, but the conditions in Orono with heat and a strong headwind on the home stretch made any chance of hitting that time out of the question.
Tony Plaster of Neptune who runs for the Shore Athletic Club in shorter road races and cross country took home a bronze in the M55 division in his favorite event, the 800 meter dash. Plaster finished in 2:16.25.
Harold (Harry) Nolan of Navesink also runs for the SAC. No one will ever refer to his style as anything except unusual, never graceful. Still Nolan’s seemingly excessive arm movement and head bobbing gets the job done. He got it done in two out of three, winning the M60 5,000 meter run in 18:59.6 and the 1,500 meter run in 5:02.29. In his third event, the 800 meters, he took second in 2:22.65.
Another SAC road runner, competing in his first ever track event surprised even himself with strong performances. Richard Hill of Middletown, placed third in all three of his events in the M70 division. His time in the 800 meter dash was 3:05.70, and 23:10.23 in the 10,000 meter run. But without a doubt his most memorable performance was in the 2,000 meter steeplechase which he finished in 10:01.19.
No stranger to the steeplechase, Randy Miller of Montville, competing in his ninth steeplechase of the season finished sixth in a full field of M45 athletes in a time of 11:57.17. Miller, who sometimes goes by the nickname of Skip, literally looks as though he is skipping effortlessly over the 36 inch steeple barriers, never once striking the immovable obstacles.
Hurdles are moveable and when you hit them they often go down and very often you go down with them. The 400 meter hurdle run is an exhausting event and spectators witnessed several spills at the last hurdle when the tiring athletes, many in the lead or in the top three, ended up on the track.
Phil Bujalski of Colonia had no trouble winning the M50 division “short” hurdles in 16.04. Two days later he was easily leading his 400 meter race when the final hurdle jinx caught him as well. Bujalski went down and failed in his attempt to get back on his feet in time to save the win. It appeared that, like some of the other hurdlers who had gone down, his spikes may have been snagged by the track surface and he was locked momentarily where he had fallen.
Roger Price of Piscataway had no spills, but an injury induced winter layoff may have held Price back a bit. Still he easily took two bronzes home in his M55 division. Price, who competes for the Raritan Valley Road Runners, finished his 5,000 meter run in 18:33.24 and his 10,000 meters in 38:33.65. Price and Tony Plaster had their own close race in the 1,500 meter run, far off the lead, but a fun contest for them with Plaster finishing in 5:00.27 to Price’s 5:00.92, 8th and 9th respectively.
Jim Leitz of Bayonne, who runs for the Clifton Road Runners in the M65 division, was another competing at his first track meet. He took home a third place medal in the 10,000 meter run which he finished in 43:48.32. Leitz also ran in the 5,000 meter run where he placed fifth in 21:50.17.
Wendi Glassman of Elizabeth, competing for SAC in the W50 division took home a silver medal in the 800 meters with her time of 2:50.31 and a bronze in the 1500 meter run with her time of 5:55.18.
And finally, for those runners who think they are too old to compete at track and field, I offer this name. Champion Goldy.
Goldy, of Haddonfield, competes at the throwing events, but he is also a sprinter. In fact he won both of his sprints. He finished the 200 meter dash in 44.05 and the 100 meters in 19.48. Goldy is 90 years old.
Originally published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, August 12,, 2007
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2007
