Bay State’s Mary Harada Sets US W75 5,000m Record

SACRAMENTO –  Oneithea
“Neni” Lewis set a new world age-group record in the women’s hammer
throw Thursday  at the 2010 USA Masters Outdoor
Track & Field Championships at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex on the
campus of Sacramento State University in Sacramento, Calif.  The event runs through Sunday.

Throughout the Championships, many of the world’s
best athletes ages 30-96 will demonstrate speed, power, skill and
endurance, showing that age is no barrier to lifetime fitness and
competition. The Spanos Sports Complex was the site of the 2000 and 2004
U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field, and will play host to the 2011
World Masters Athletics Championships, July 6-17.

Amazing series leads to world record for
Lewis

Oneitha Lewis fouled on her first attempt in the
W50 hammer throw competition, and knew that she had to come through on
at least one of her remaining five attempts to win the competition. She
did much more than that.

Each of her remaining five throws bettered the
listed American record of 48.18m/158-1 set by Vanessa Hilliard in 1996,
and three of those tosses sailed further than the listed world record of
51.73m/169-8 by M-Leena Parviainen of Australia in 2002.

Lewis, who also owns the world hammer throw
records in the W40 and W45 age groups, saved her best for last in
posting the new W50 hammer world record of 55.46m/181-11 on her final
throw to win the competition easily. Look for Lewis to also compete in
the shot put and discus in Sacramento.

Also in women’s hammer throw competition, the
amazing Flo Meiler of Shelbourne, Vt., who owns the world indoor and
outdoor pole vault records in the W75 age-group, set the American record
with a toss of 21.25 meters/69 feet 9 inches, which improved upon the
previous record of 20.66m/67-9 by Bernice Holland in 2002. Meiler is
entered in 11 events this week in Sacramento.

Harada, Blecker set 5,000m records

The gun went off for the first event of the
Championships  (W55-79 5,000m) at 7 a.m. this
morning and that event produced the first record-setting performance of
the meet as  Masters Hall of Famer Mary Harada of
West Newbury, Mass., set the American W75 age-group record when she
finished first in 26:55.11.  Her performance
bettered the previous AR of 27:10.76 by Algene Williams in 1991. Harada,
who lowered the W75 mile AR twice last month, is also entered in the
800m and 1,500m.

Also in the 5,000m, Rick Blecker of Club
Northwest set a new American record with his win in the M55 age group
with his time of 16:14.55. His performance bettered the previous listed
standard of 16:27.1 set by James O’Neill in 1981.

In women’s pentathlon action, U.S. champions
included Rachel Guest (W35-3,225 points), Carly Senn-Griffiths
(W45-3,478), Betsy Westman (W50-1,972), Kay Glynn (W55-3,540), Rhona
Trott (W60-3,319) and Jane Simpson (W65-1,260).

Men’s pentathlon winners were Michael Janusey
(M50-3,452 points), Larry Rodenbeck (M60-3,058), Hiroshi Tarumi
(M65-2,883), Emil Pawlik (M70-3,354), Bill Jankovich (M75-2,586),
William Platts (M80-3,294), Bill Carter (M85-1,769) and Bill Maxwell,
who set an American M90 record with his total of 2,629 points.  

For more information on the 2010 USA Masters
Outdoor Championships, including the complete results, visit: www.usatf.org.