NE Runner dev site
Highly
accomplished athlete, coach, meet director, administrator and National
Track & Field Hall of Famer Payton Jordan died of cancer Thursday
at his home in Laguna Hills, Calif. He was 91.
Born
in Whittier, Calif., on March 19, 1917, Jordan was an outstanding
athlete at the University of Southern California before becoming a
legendary coach at Occidental College and Stanford University as well
as a record-setting Masters runner.
At
USC, where he was coached by fellow Hall of Famer Dean Cromwell, Jordan
excelled in track, rugby and football. On the track, he helped the
Trojans win two national collegiate team titles and was a member of a
world-record setting 4×110-yard relay team. In addition to his
collegiate success on the track, Jordan helped USC beat Duke in the
1939 Rose Bowl. He won the AAU 100m title in 1941, and after World War
II and a stint in the Navy he became track coach at Occidental College,
turning that small school into a national power.
After
10 years at Occidental, he moved to Stanford in 1957. Over the next 22
years, he took the Cardinal to a second-place NCAA finish in 1963,
produced seven Olympic athletes and numerous NCAA champions. Jordan
served as the head coach of the 1968 Olympic team in Mexico City after
serving as an assistant at the 1964 Olympics.
A successful
meet director, Jordan directed two of the greatest track meets ever
held on American soil — the 1960 Olympic Trials and the 1962 USA-USSR
dual meet that drew 150,000 fans over two days. Both events took place
at Stanford.
Known for his prowess as a masters competitor, Jordan
set numerous records as a sprinter. He set his last masters world
record in the 100-yard dash at the Penn Relays in 1998, at age 80. He
posted his final masters world record in the 100 meters in 1997.
A
member of the USC, Occidental, Stanford and NAIA halls of fame, among
others, Jordan was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of
Fame in 1982. He was awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award by
the U.S. Sports Academy in 1999.
2008 USATF Youth Race Walk Honor Roll
The
USA Track & Field Race Walk committee annually honors the top young
race walkers in America. The following athletes were judged the best in
each of their age groups by a panel of elite athletes and coaches at
the 2008 USATF Annual Meeting in Reno.
The criteria used to
evaluate their performances was the athletes times and places in major
competitions, including the USATF Junior Olympics, USATF Youth
Athletics
Championships, USATF Junior Championships, USA World Race Walk Cup Trials and
the events that comprise the USATF Race Walk Junior Grand Prix Circuit.
All
athletes recognized will receive a Certificate, RW patch, and a T-shirt
from the Race Walk committee commemorating and congratulating them on
their achievements.
A big thanks to RW Committee Secretary
Ginger Mulanax and Maryanne Daniel, chair of the Women’s Development,
for all of the work they did in making this happen.
Young Men
Roberto Vergara – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association
Ricardo Vergara – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association
Evan Crowdus – Kentucky Racers, Kentucky Association
Young Women
Catherine Davis – Southeastern Pennsylvania Athletics club (SEPAC),
Mid-Atlantic Association
Melissa Moeller – Indiana Race Walkers, Indiana Association
Nina Yang- Unattached, NYC, NY, Metropolitan Association
Intermediate Boys
Trevor Barron – South Park TC, Three Rivers Association
Matthew Forgues – Maine Racewalkers, Maine Association
John Randall – Miami Valley Track Club, Ohio Association
Alex Chavez – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association
Intermediate Girls
Christie Bernier – Maine Race Walkers, Maine Association
Allison Chin – Miami Valley Track Club, Ohio Association
Claudia Ortiz – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association
Youth Boys
Sorenson, Tyler – Pleasanton Heat Track Club, Pacific Association
Steven Valadez – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association,
Santosh Dandi – Unattached, Merriam, KS, MO Valley Association
Youth Girls
Nicolette Sorensen – Pleasanton Heat TC, Pacific Association
Lila Haba – Umoja Track Club, Pacific Association
Molly Josephs – Walk USA, Long Island Association
Midget Boys
Nate Roberts – Salem Track Club, Oregon Association
Emilio Mancha – Elgin Track Club, Illinois Association
Daimon Todd – Umoja Track Club, Pacific Association
Midget Girls
Ashley Jacobs, Athletic Track Club, Southwestern Association
Katie Michta – Walk USA, Long Island Association
Jennifer Vargas – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association
Bantam Boys
Justin Liedke – Cornhusker Flyer, Nebraska Association
Adam Haba – Umoja Track Club, Pacific Association
William Katzman – Albuquerque Track Club, New Mexico Association
Bantam Girls
Caitlin Palacio – Unattached, San Jose, CA, Pacific Association
Sydney Beal – South Dayton Flyers, Ohio Association
Erin Jacobs – Athletic Track Club, Southwestern Association
Cherylen Chavez – South Texas Walking Club, South Texas Association
For more information on USA Race Walking, visit: wwwusatf.org.
USA
Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States.
USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, some of the
most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and
junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult
runners in the United States.
For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org
sirgeorge
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