By ELLIOTT DENMANQuestion: Over the years, which college town in America stands atop the podium as home to residents and guests coursing serious track and field through their veins?
Eugene, Oregon? Ann Arbor, Michigan? Des Moines, Iowa? Gainesville, Florida? Austin, Texas? Let me tell you they’re all Johnnies-Come-Lately on the collegiate track and field block. Let me remind you that they’ve been doing this running-jumping-throwing thing in Princeton, New Jersey for a century and a half. And they’re still very much at it. Princeton University has been fielding track and field teams since 1873. The Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America - you know, the IC4A – staged its first meet in 1876. The first team champion: the Princeton University Tigers. The first Tiger individual winner: J.W. Mann, champion in both the shot put…and baseball throw. Team USA at the first Modern Olympic Games – Athens1896 – was almost all men of Princeton (oh, with a handful of Harvard guys) and organized by Princeton professor William Milligan Sloane. The Games’ first double winner: Princeton’s Robert Garrett , in the shot put and discus. The second Olympic 100-meter champion: Princeton’s Frank Jarvis in 1900. America’s first great outdoor-meet spectaculars: Those sensational Princeton Invitationals of the 1930s (featuring such greats as Glenn Cunningham, Jack Lovelock, Sydney Wooderson and Princeton’s own Bill Bonthron) racing before vast crowds at Palmer Stadium. Jesse Owens?? His route to quadruple golden glory at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games was built on his epic performances at the ’36 National AAU’s at Palmer Stadium. Over the years, Palmer Stadium had been the scene of nine world record performances. All this while Princeton’s own varsity teams (coached by such notables as Keane Fitzpatrick, Matt Geis, Pete Morgan and Larry Ellis) kept their Tigers in the sport’s highest echelons,for years and years more. All this, too, is by way of saying that the last 46 years of Princeton men’s track – under the expert guidance of Fred Samara, successor to Ellis, his own mentor – have been among the finest of all. With the Heptagonal Championships – now featuring the eight Ivy League schools, and formerly, Army and Navy – the team’s primary focus, the Tigers have been by far the over-all “Heps” dominators in Samara’s tenure. The “Heps” box score through The Samara Era at Princeton: 10 triple crowns (cross country, indoor track, outdoor track), a total of 51 team titles, along with a whopping 502 individual titlists. Samara, inducted into the National Collegiate Coaches Hall of Fame in 2017, has guided Tigers to nine NCAA individual titles, and nine of his top pupils made it to the Olympic Games (as he did, too, in 1976.) Among the most notable: multi-national high jump champion Tora Harris, two-time Olympic steeplechaser Donn Cabral, and celebrated pole vaulter Sondre Guttormsen, whose credentials include three NCAA golds, one Eurpean title (for his homeland of Norway) and 2021 Tokyo Olympian. But Samara’s last two Tiger teams may have been the best of them all. Sondre Guttormsen, along with brother Simen, were vital ingredients in the success of his 2022 Tigers: fifth at NCAA’s indoors, seventh at NC’s outdoors. . Then again, nothing is forever, a fact of life Samara, 73, admitted back in June in announcing his retirement. There came a time and this was it. But all his Princeton colleagues, athletes and friends were not about to let him simply disappear from the Tiger scene without a big, buoyant goodbye salute, either. And they did it in style, too, last Saturday night (Oct. 21, 2023) at the Westin Forrestal Village Center. Over 280 crammed the ballroom – festooned with “Farewell to Fred” signage and presented with “Fred’s Fans” pins - to say their formal goodbyes. At tradition-laden Princeton, this was truly an historic event. No Princeton person had ever been accorded such a sendoff. Not beloved basketball coach Pete Carril. Not even Albert Einstein. An array of Tiger alumni, colleagues, friends and admirers took turns at the dais. Ivy rivalries often criss-cross. Samara, a two-time national decathlon champion and 1976 Olympian, is a Penn graduate Penn coach Steve Dolan is a former Princeton staffer. Said Penn grad Frank Harrison (a two-time Olympic Trials decathlete, himself. who followed in Samara’s shoes as a top-flight all-arounder) put it, “Fred has had a huge role in so many lives.” Augie Wolf was a big raw talent when recruited out of Minnesota by Samara. Said Wolf: “He took a chance on me and turned my life around. I went from 47 feet in the shot put to 67 feet in four years, and the 1984 Olympics. That’s Fred.” Said former Tiger long jumper Jay Diamond: “It took a lot of work by all of us. Nothing happened by accident.” He’ll never forget one Heps meet. “Cornell won it and was celebrating all over the place.” “That’s the way a champion wins, Fred told us. It’s too bad they won’t know how to win again. He made us better men.” Sure enough, Samara’s athletes dug down, won the next edition of the Heps and have been dominating the meet for decades. Diamond’s well-supported vision: A statue of Samara to be installed at the first-class Weaver Stadium facility (erected in 1998 as successor to the historic Palmer Stadium.) “He belongs there,” along with such other Princeton as basketball’s Bill Bradley, football’s Dick Kazmaier and hockey’s Hobie Baker. Diamond’s motion passed by unanimous (alas, unofficial) vote. “We had the best coach in history,” said shot put star C.J. Licata. “We all know you (Samara) were the best. We all wanted to go where you had been.” No speaker was more passionate than Brad Urschel. He’d been voted the best athlete at his Texas high school in 50 years. He came to Princeton. He, too, blossomed out as a world-class decathlete. He’d been an Olympic Trials candidate. But the life he’d known came to a shattering close one night on a West Texas road. Driving with his Dad – to a track meet – their car overturned and Urschel was thrown from the back seat. Despite the crippling injuries after years of rehabilitation, despite a life of obstacles and challenges, there he was this night, on hand to honor Samara. “We can all learn from these events,” Urschel said softly. Urschel has often said he no longer experiences “fear, heaven or hell, states of being.” “We can all learn.” And the full house on “Fred’s night” rose to salute perhaps the most courageous of all these Tigers. Like so many others here, Robert Mack (class of 2000) had been a Samara pupil – and a 10-time Heps titlist at 200, 400 and relays. Now, he’s the university’s director of athletics, a post he’s often said “is truly a dream come true, 25 years in the making.” So it was Mack’s job to confirm Jason Vigilante as Samara’s successor. “Vig” has been a brilliant distance coach with Samara (after previous successes at Texas and Virginia) and will now take the full reins of the men’s track and feld program. “How do you follow in the footsteps of a coach as great as Fred Samara?” he asked. “He truly loves helping people. He loves everyone here, It’s a love he shares with all of us.” And then it was Samara’s turn to say goodbyes. Over the years, he’s coached USA teams at the Olympic Games (Barcelona 1992), along with Worlds, Pan Ams and more. When USA national status in the decathlon seemed to sag, he rallied the USA deca-team back on track to world No. 1 status. He’d traveled the world, but his heart was always in Princeton, N.J. He credited his Princeton predecessor – “I owe everything to Larry (Ellis).” He credited his wife Lorraine) and son Ben (the outstanding coach at Princeton High School.) He lauded the multi-member-strong alumni support group, Friends of Princeton Track. He saluted the coaches and staffers he’s worked with (from predecessor Ellis to Peter Farrell to Marc Anderson and current colleagues Vigilante and Robert Abdullah, and many more.) “I have a thousand stories,” he said. But he couldn’t tell them all. The evening was rolling along. Luggage – for future travels perhaps, and other tokens of appreciation - were presented, Then again, Samara, a resident of nearby Cranbury, may never be too far from this campus. The doors will always be open. And, just in case, Vigilante promised there’d always be desk space in their Jadwin Gymnasium office quarters.
0 Comments
By ELLIOTT DENMANNEW YORK – Last Sunday’s TCS NYC Marathon (Nov. 5, 2023) was the 51st edition of the now-classic and world renowned event. First staged Sept. 13, 1970 as a four-lap race confined to Central Park, that initial event grew and grew – becoming a five-borough trek on October 24, 1976, and continuing to grow and grow in all the years since. This actually was the race’s 53rd anniversary but the NYCs of 2012 (Hurricane Sandy) and 2020 (the Covid Pandemic) were erased due to conditions beyond anyone’s control. So this one made it Number 51 and – just as it happened in Number One (1970) - Team Shore AC was well represented. This should be something of immense pride to all of us. Our distinguished club has been there from the very beginning. . With his brilliant 2:55.18 performance, placing him a superb 857th of all the 51,316 starters, as USA champion in the men’s 60-64 age category, was Shore AC superstar Rick Lee. Only Sergey Apenko of Kazakhstan, who crossed the line in 2:54.46 – just 32 seconds in front of him – bested Rick in the 60-64 bracket. Lee’s 2:55:18 scored 87.8% on the age-graded tables, and equated to a 2:20:03 by a younger man. Terrific, too, was Shore AC’s Donna Grocki in the women’s 60-64 division. She reached the Tavern On The Green finish line in 3:39:57, 18th of the 687 women in 60-64. Yet another high Shore AC age-group placer was James Button, clocking 3:39.57 for 18th of the 574 men who ran in the 65-69 division. SAC’s Diana Stavrou, running in women’s 40-44, ran the city in 4:11.43. And behind Diane was Ken Wilson, on his 4:34.08 in 70-74 scoring. Thus, the Lee-Button-Wilson trio placed an excellent third of all M60 teams in the race. Teammate Harry Pino ran the five boroughs in 5:07:14 in M60 and anchoring the entire Shore AC delegation was veteran racewalking M60 star Marc Bagan in 6:48:41. Perhaps most noteworthy of all, though, was Mrs. Connie Lyke Brown’s 6:21:33 finish in the women’s 80-up age bracket – and November 5 was her 80th birthday! Not only did she move into a new age bracket but she finished NYC for the 44th consecutive year, an all-time record for women in the race. Just one other individual has a longer streak of NYC completions, and he’s New Yorker Daniel Obelkevich, who took 9:24:08 to complete his men’s record 46th straight in this one. Thus, we will now consider Mrs. Brown – wife of famed Shore AC Masters great Dr. Matt Brown –an honorary member of Shore AC. Following a gala party attended by family and friends at The Perry Club, the Browns flew back to their Sarasota, Florida home - where she’ll soon start training for NYC number 45. All this SAC success, of course, was reprising 51 editions of NYC Marathon history. Yes, Shore AC was there from the very beginning. Check it, check it out. Back on Sept. 13, 1970, Bob Love (28th in 3:19:47) earned his spot in club history as our very first NYC finisher – all in Central Park, of course. Just one spot back of Bob Love that 1970 day was Shore AC teammate, the illustrious Dr. George Sheehan in 3:20:30. In 43rd was clubmate Ralph Garfield in 4:07:40. Two spots back of Ralph, 45th in 4:12:09, was none other than Fred Lebow, the man who, of course, would transform the strictly local event to a global mega-event and launch a worldwide frenzy of similar huge races. (And on one memorable day years later, Lebow was the distinguished guest speaker t our annual Shore AC banquet.) Completing Shore AC finishers back in 1970 was Joe Frelinghuysen, 55th in 5:10:34. The very first women to run NYC officially made their appearance in 1971, and that initial winner (in 2:55:22) was Beth Bonner, then coached by yet another Shore AC Hall of Famer, 1968 Olympic 50K racewalker Dave Romansky. Nina Kuscik, second to Bonner in 1971, was to lead the five women’s finishers in the 1972 race in 3:08:41 and a valiant second place was yet another Shore AC Hall of Famer, St. Rose High School student Pat Barrett in 3:19:33. Hugh Sweeny then of Millrose AA and now a Shore AC member, ran fifth in 1971, then sixth in both the 1973 and 1974 NYC Marathons. His clockings: 2:37:42, 2:29:14 and 2:37:27, still quite creditable performances by 2023 USA-runner standards. Also in 1974, Shore AC’s Dr. Colin Beer – a club Hall of Famer, as well – placed 10th in 2:45:10, still the highest placing by a runner then representing the club. Long Branch-born Tom Fleming, of course, was the 1973 and 1975 winner in Central Park, before running sixth back of winner Bill Rodgers in the historic five-borough race of 1976. (The Tom Fleming Memorial 2K Race, now a major Thanksgiving Day morning feature in Glen Ridge, NJ, is directed by Shore AC member Dan Murphy.) Rutgers great/Shore AC member Bill Sieben’s 2:19:11 placed 10th in 1978. Lakewood’s Dean Matthews clocked 2:14:00 for 10th in the famed 1982 race won by Alberto Salazar in 2:09:29. The NYC Marathon welcomed racewalkers for the first time in 1979 and SAC lifetime trustee Elliott Denman would complete 33 straight walks from Staten Island to Central Park, every edition from 1979 to 2011. Many other members of the club’s ultra-successful racewalk team would follow in his footsteps in succeeding years. For a long stretch of NYC marathon history, a very welcome sight, manning the official Shore AC digital display clock at the 10-mile mark at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was John Kuhi, a Shore AC Hall of Famer and lifetime trustee, too, From its very beginnings as a five-borough event, it’s been the generosity of The Rudin Family that has enabled the race to grow into the huge success story it is today. The Rudin Family, too, have been great friends and devotees to the Shore AC cause for many years and the club has always been hugely grateful for this loyal support. And so it went in 2023 and so it’s gone all these brilliant years. Attention all Shore Acers and all NYC Marathon fans. Stay tuned for another epic event, number 52 in the series. Circle the date now: November 3, 2023. By ELLIOTT DENMANNEW YORK – The post-TCS NYC Marathon party, at The Perry Club in Greenwich Village, was bold and boisterous. As it rightfully deserved to be. For Mrs. Connie Brown, there were 1,152.8 very good reasons. That’s 44 times 26.2 which computes to 1,152.8 miles of running, a streak of completing every NYCM edition since 1978, or roughly speaking, the equivalent of running from NYC to Minneapolis. The Streak could have been up to 46 by now. Remember that NYCM 2012 was erased by Hurricane Sandy, and 2020 by the Covid pandemic – but she ran her 26.2 in 2020 anyway – just “virtually.” Call her NYCM’s Streaker of All Streakers. On the women’s side of the list. Toasts were thus raised by one and all there this very special Sunday night, saluting the record 44th straight NYC Marathon completion by Mrs. Brown just a few hours earlier on this perfect-running-conditions first Sunday of November 2023. And, yes-yes-yes, November 5, 2023 - coincidentally-but-conveniently just happened to be her 80th birthday, too. This Sarasota, Florida resident – originally from Westchester County, N.Y. - is by far the longest female “streaker” in NYC Marathon annals. The New York Road Runners keeps precise records of such things and they confirm that no other woman is even close to her 44 in a row, every darn one of them since 1978. Just two other runners – both of the male persuasion – have “streaked” to more NYC completions than she has. They’re David Obelkevich, who ran this one in 9:24.06, and K. Tucker Andersen, who punched in at 6:49.44. It was Obelkevich’s men’s record 47th straight, 45th in a row for Andersen. But Connie had reached the Tavern On The Green finish line in Central well before both of them, clocking in at 6:21.33. Of course, she was in a much bigger rush, to get it done, shower up, and head for The Perry Club party. “It was really tremendous,” said hugely-happy-husband Dr. Matt Brown. “People, family and friends, flew in from all over,” said Dr. Brown, formerly of Edison Township, New Jersey – with his dental practice in nearby Perth Amboy, who is well acquainted with being in the track and field spotlight, too. His specialties were the much shorter distances, the sprints, the hurdles and the relays. He’d snared heaps of major-meet medals on the national and international Masters track circuits. In later years, he’d stretched his vistas to join wife Connie in many a marathon, too. Competing for the Shore Athletic Club of New Jersey, he was voted into the long-standing club’s Hall of Fame years ago. His own exploits over the years should support his own candidacy to the USATF Masters Hall of Fame. Some day, perhaps, the Connie-Dr Matt ticket may even be a husband-wife nomination. But this was Connie’s day. She “went out” comfortably, reaching 10K in 1:19:25, 20K in 2:44:40, the 21.1K midway point (heading from Brooklyn into Queens) in 2:55.18, 25K ( the middle of the Ed Koch Queensboro-59th Street Bridge) in 3:33.24, the 20-mile post (in the Bronx, site of the famed but fictitious “wall”) in 4:42.35, 40K (Central Park) in 6:01.04, and cruising on home at 6:21.33 (or a comfortable 14:34 pace per mile.) In real life. Mrs. Brown, a mom and grandmom, has been a teacher, real estate agent, and all-around athlete. In sun-soaked West Florida, the Browns also indulge in swimming, cycling, tennis, pickleball and golf. Oh – and ther new pastime of ballroom dancing. Why all this at an age when some other seniors settle into rocking chairs? “I guess I like endurance sports,” she’d said in an ABC-TV interview. “When I was playing basketball, everybody wanted a substitute, and I didn’t. I just wanted to stay in and keep playing. “And then I read a book about how good running was for you, for cardiovascular health. I was teaching physical education, so I started incorporating distance running in my curriculum. And I started meeting people in the community who were distance runners.” One thing led to another and another and another, The rest of the story can be found in the New York Road Runners archives. Her very first NYC completion was a 4:04.16 in 1978. Her fastest tour of the boroughs was a 3:37.54 in 1982. Not too long after the return home from the Big City – and its Big Race and Big Party – she was back out running. And preparing for the next assignment – a Half Ironman triathlon, no less. Back home, her calendar did not lie. It never had. The challenge of “streaking” to her 45th NYC Marathon completion was little more than 360 days down the road. Stay tuned. A quartet of Shore A.C. Masters Runners had an outstanding day at the 42nd annual
running of the New York Road Runners Club 5th Avenue Mile. Despite a monsoon rain in the middle of their events, club runners Rick Lee, Dr. Harry Nolan, Spider Rossiter and Ken Wilson turned in outstanding performances in their respective age group races. Running in the 60-64 age group, Lee, 61, turned in a fast win in 5:10, to outpace his rivals, winning by a wide margin. He once again repeated the first place he had achieved in the 2022 Fifth Avenue event. Nolan, 76, also scored a win in the 75-79 age group, clocking a 7:10 in his race. Running is his 37th Fifth Avenue race, he has won at least one or more of the races in every five year 40 and over age group category over the years. In a hotly contested 70-74 division race, Rossiter,70 (6:27) and Wilson, 71, (6:30) landed second and third places as the first two Americans only behind the win by New Zealander Rodger Ward who clocked in at 6:23. Two other shore area runners outdid themselves in the women’s division races. Joan Totaro of Toms River, won the 50-54 mile event in a career best time of 5:34, while Courtney Decker of Avon placed second in the 40-44 women’s race in 5:00 flat. A number of other Shore A.C. runners performed very well in their individual events. Among that group included Gerard Rokosz (23) in 5:22, John Delaney (54) in 5:55, Diana Stavrou (41) in 6:22, and Susan Stirrat (68) in 8:09. This year’s 5th Avenue Mile was well attended, with over 8,500 runners competing in a variety of age groups. Due to the impact of the hard rain, thunder and some lightening, a number of later races scheduled had to be cancelled, except for the Professional Division men’s and women’s races which took place later in the afternoon. The event was held on September 10th. By ELLIOTT DENMAN
MIDDLETOWN, NJ - Vincent Ciattei oudueled Eric Holt, 3:52.56 to 3:52.57, in a dazzling Monmouth Mile elite feature event, Thursday evening, Aug. 31, 2023, and just missed the meet record of 3:52.41 set by Paul Ryan in the 2022 edition of this Shore Area late summer feature. For both Ciattei, the ex-Virginia Tech star, and Holt, the former Binghamton University standout, their 1-2 times in the event staged at Christian Brothers Academy's Dr. George Sheehan track also represented the fastest and next-fastest outdoor mile clockings in the nation this 2023 season, besting the 3:53.57 by John Gregorek at Falmouth, Mass. Aug. 16.. Further, the Ciattei and Holt performances were the second and third fastest outdoor miles ever run in New Jersey - after Ryan's 2022 Monmouth Mile time at Mater Dei Prep had eclipsed the prior in-state best of 3:53.64 by Mushin Jawher of Kenya and Bahrain at Princeton in 2002. And just back of Ciattei and Holt were Kasey Knevelboard (3:53.52), Jack Anstey (3:53.87), Ben Allen (3:55.02), Rob Napolitano (3:59.16) and Lucian Fiore (3:59.38) as seven men bettered the once-magic four-minute mile mark. Just over four were Alejandro Ambrosio (4:02.24), Matt Wisner (4:02.21), James Quttlebaum (4:04.09) and Ryan James (4:04.88) Dazzling as all these top-notch and world outdoor list-quality performances were, however, they were nowhere near the fastest mile ever run in New Jersey - the 3:49.78 then-world record indoor clocking achieved by Ireland record-smasher and World champion Eamonn Coghlan at the 1983 Meadowlands Invitational Meet in East Rutherford, The women's elite mile went to former Clemson star Laurie Barton in 4:28.07 over Judi Jones (4:45.0) and Mara Seykora (5:07.01.) The men's and women's elite races capped a busy late afternoon and twilight Monmouth Mile program directed by Coach Joe Compagni that included youth, high school, Masters and community events, sponsored by Diadora, in cooperation with Runner's High, McLoone's Pier House, Medal Awards Plus, Shore AC and CBA. By ELLIOTT DENMAN
All the G’s were in alignment. Google the Grand Gold rushes of history, the Gusting visions of the cherished inGots just waiting for the next incredibly fortunate digger to Gather and thus buld a lifetime of Glittering Grandeur. And, for sure, you’ll strike Googled Gold at Kalgoorlie, Cripple Creek, Sutter’s Mill, the Klondike, Pilgrim’s Rest,,,and so many more. But there was plenty of gold to be found in Greensboro, North Carolina, Thursday though Sunday, July 20-23, too. And Shore AC stalwarts Fred Monesmith, Rick Lee, Oneithea “Neni” Lewis, Carl Huff and Ivan Black staked their claims to big chunks of it, at the annual USATF National Masters Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T State University’s Truist Stadium. No less than 135 USATF club teams took part and Shore AC wound up an excellent 12th over-all with 133 team points. SAC’s 105 ranked seventh in men’s scoring and its 28 ranked 20th in women’s scoring, with 8-6-4-3-2-1 at stake in each event. And for sure, we’d have fared much higher if our whole lineup had been able to attend. The Lee-Monesmith-Lewis-Huff-Black quintet garnered no less than 11 of those vaunted USATF National Championship gold medals. And plenty more silver and bronze, too. As a famed football coach, trying to soothe his team’s vanquished opponent, once put it, “there was glory in it for all.” Rick Lee, Shore AC’s brilliant and totally tireless distanceman, earned no less than five golds as he dominated the M60 division of the meet that was open to all athletes of ages from 25 to a century-plus. Wow – this is Rick’s summary: 1st in the M60 1500 meters (4:52.41), 5000 meters (18:00.5), 10,000 meters (37:22.29) and in his debut as a 2,000-meter steeplechase, that event, too (7:33.36) For good measure, he ran on the winning M60 4x800 relay team (9:31.06) and placed 7th in the 800 (2:26.44.) Only in the 400 (1:04.13) did he miss the top echelon. But it was Shore AC teammate Fred Monesmith whose all-around talents surely outdid everyone in Greensboro, and they were there from all over the USA – and a whole bunch of other nations. The runs, jumps, hurdles, weights and multis – Fred did them all ! Truth be told, Fred was totally understating his brilliant showing in this post-meet, e-mailed report to his teammates. He tells you that he “only” competed in 11 of the 12 events he originally entered in the M75 category. That, however, was counting the pentathlon as a single event (when it really is five) and not counting the two relays he ran, as well. Here is what Fred told us: “The meet is over and I was able to meet a number of other Shore AC athletes here. I was able to compete in 11 of the 12 events scheduled. (His only miss – due to time conflict - was with the 100-meter sprint, where he’d almost surely have made the finals.) Fred, along with his Shore AC teammates, was brilliant and tireless over the four days of the meet. “I was able to earn 45 points for SAC of our 133 combined team points. My points were in the M75 group as follows: “1st in the Pentathlon (2436 points); 2nd in the weight throw (18.57 meters); 2nd in the pole vault (1.90); 2nd in the discus (34.00); 3rd in the shot put (10.86); 3rd in the hammer (31.46); 3rd in the javelin (31.01); 4th in the triple jump (6.61); 5th in the high jump (1.19); 5th in the 80 M hurdles (19.15); 7th in the long jump (3.16).” “I exceeded the All-American standard for all of my events and was especially pleased to earn a medal in all five throwing events. “ But that wasn’t the whole story. He ran a leg on the winning 4x100M relay and the 2nd place Shuttle Hurdles relay. (Oh, too, he had firsts in the M75 pentathlon long jump, javelin, 200 and discus.) “t was great to throw the shot with (SAC teammate) Charley Roll , ,the discus with Glenn Weaver, and vault with Carlton Huff and to talk with other SAC team members.” Summing it all up, “This meet will likely be the highlight of my Masters career and I was proud to represent our team. By ELLIOTT DENMAN
Our illustrious Shore Athletic Club, with a history that includes having its first USA National champion as far back as 1933, added to its glory list with top performances by its four delegates to the 2023 USA Nationals, staged July 6-9 at the historic Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. Leading the way was brilliant and mighty shot putter Josh Awotunde, with a superb performance of 72 feet, 6 ¼ inches, that gave him the silver medal, trailing only world record-holder and two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser’s winning toss of 75 feet even. Awotunde, the Delsea High School and University of South Carolina graduate, had started the competition slowly, and was in sixth place heading into the fourth round of the Eugene SP event, where he unloaded his 72-6 1/4-effort that propelled him into second place, and there he stayed, even as top tossers Payton Otterdahl and Joe Kovacs were breathing down his back. With his second-place performance, Awotunde’s best of the year and Number Five on the 2023 year list, and proudly wearing his Shore AC singlet for the National TV audience to see, he clinched a place on the Team USA delegation bound for August’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. This will be his second trip to the Worlds; he had placed third, back of Crouser and Kovacs, at the 2022 Worlds, also at Hayward Field, the glistening centerpiece of Eugene’s ongoing reputation as “Tracktown USA” and the American site where track and field is indeed treated as a major league sport. Racewalking brothers Sam and Ryan Allen, both now collegians and graduates of Kingsway High School, kept Shore AC rolling at Hayward Field. Early on the morning of July 9, for the 6.30 start of the men’s National 20,000-meter racewalk, Sam Allen, a rising senior at Cornell University, raced to a strong third place finish with a performance of 1:31:58.57, trailing only Californians Nick Christie (1:25.30) and Emanuel Corvera (1:31:31). Christie, the veteran star, took an early lead and held it throughout. But Sam Allen was closing strongly on Corvera over the last several of the event’s 50 laps. Jordan Crawford next in line at back of Sam Allen, fourth in 1:32:03. Sam, of course, had won the USA National Indoor 1-Mile walk title at February’s Millrose Games at the NYC Armory. Not long after the completion of the Senior 20,000-meter race, it was time for the 10,000-meter racewalk in the concurrent USA Men’s Under 20 (Junior) National Championships. Now it was time for Ryan Allen to excel. Now a rising sophomore at Villanova University, he became a two-time U20 National champion with a convincing win in 46:17.05. Leading throughout, he won by over a lap over walker-up Clayton Stoil. Cheering them on was Mr. Frank Ratti, the official “Shore AC Ambassador to Tracktown USA.” Completing the Shore AC lineup at Eugene was mighty hammer thower Tyler Williams, who also serves as throws coach at Widener University. Williams came through with a 234-9 toss which landed him in 10th place back of champion Rudy Winkler. Winkler, who had excelled for both Cornell and Rutgers, won it all with a heave of 259-4. Williams, along with Sam and Ryan Allen, had warmed up for USA Nationals with top performances at the Elliott Denman/36th Annual New Jersey International Meet, hosted by Shore AC June 17 at Monmouth University’s Joe Compagni Track and Kessler Stadium. NOW – to backtrack and remember some great moments in Shore AC history at Nationals. Back in 1933, SAC’s Eulace Peacock had won the National AAU pentathlon title. And in the 1935 National AAU Championships, Peacock beat Jesse Owens in both the 100-meter dash and long jump finals, stunning results that still rank among the great upsets in track and field history, EDITOR’s NOTE: Given Peacock’s 1933 Nationals win, why did Shore AC list 1934 as its year of birth? Answer: insufficient research. Long after we established 1934 as our official year of revival on the Track and Field scene, further research revealed to us that 1933 Peacock win. By ELLIOTT DENMAN
The USA Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships take place July 20-23 at North Carolina A&T University’s Truist Stadium in Greensboro, and 16 Shore AC athletes will be in action on multiple fronts at the big event. Especially busy-busy-busy-busy will be teammates Fred Monesmith, Rick Lee, “Neni” Lewis and Dr. Harry Nolan. They’ll have little time to catch their breath between their multiple assignments, Having just celebrated his 75th birthday, Fred Monesmith will take part in- all going well – no less than 10 or 11 M75 division events. And that’s amazing-incredible. Heading into Greensboro, here’s what he told his Shore AC teammates: “ As you know, this year in May, I turned 75 years old and will be representing Shore AC in many meets. “ In June, at the Eastern Regional Masters meet in Mansfield, Pa, I participated in eight decathlon events except the 400 & 1500 meters. I finished first in seven events and second in the 100-meter race, losing by 0.01 seconds. I exceeded the All-American standard in all eight events. “ Later in June, I decided to attend the Potomac Valley Track Club decathlon where I earned 5,155 points (new 2023 basis). Over the last two years only four guys have recorded better results in M75-79 decathlon worldwide. I exceed the All-American standard in 8 events. “Last week, I attended the National Senior Games (in Pittsburgh) and was only able to participate in three events due to numerous scheduling problems. I finished first in the discus (35.49m), fourth in the pole vault and tenth in the 100m. sprint. “This coming week I entered 12 events at the USATF Masters meet in Greensboro, N.C. It appears that I will (only) be able to participate in 10 or 11 of these events if I stay healthy. I have a good chance to win the outdoor pentathlon and discus and score some additional team points in all the other events (SP, 80H, HJ, HT, PV, JT, LJ, & WT). If all goes well, I may be able to earn 35-40 points for the team. “During August, I am scheduled to attend the Throws Pentathlon Championship in Chicago and the National Decathlon Championship in Walnut, California. If all goes well, I will win at both of these meets. “ Shore AC Editor’s Note: What a man !! Go Fred Go! The absolutely tireless Rick Lee, who excelled in the truly grueling Comrades Double Marathon (a 53-mile-plus test over mostly uphill terrain in South Africa last month) has signed up for no less than six M60 events – 400 meters, 800, 1500, 5,000, 10,000 and 2000 steeplechase. Those who recognize and salute Lee’s amazing stamina – he also strarred in the super-grueling, super-testing Marathon Des Sables, a six-day, 250K race over the Sahara sands of south Morocco last year – reckon he’ll have no problem handling all those multiple events. Shore AC Editor’s Note: Go Rick Go! National Masters Hall of Famer and multiple record-breaker “Neni” Lewis will compete in the W60 shot, discus, hammer and weight throws. Shore AC Editor’s Note: Go Neni Go ! Nolan, a National Masters Hall of Famer, too. is slated for the M75 800, 1500 and 2000 steeplechase. Shore AC Editor’s Note: Go Harry Go ! And here’s a rundown of the other Shore AC entries in Greensboro: Calvon Bowden, M30 100 and 200. Matt Wallack, M60 100, 200 and 400. Diane Essilfie, W45 100 and long jump. Maurelhena Walles, W45 200 and 400. Jon Smolenski, M40 5000. Marissa Strange, W60 5000. Barry Blake, M65 2000 steeplechase and 5000 and 10,000 racewalks. Glenn Weaver, M75 discus. Charley Roll, M75 shot put. Peter Donini, M55 shot put. Dr. Ivan Black, M70 triple jump. Carl Huff, M70 pole vault. Shore AC Editor’s Bottom Line: Go Team Go, Go Shore AC Go!! (And keep up with the results at: Www.usatf.org. WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – The USA National Track and Field Championships are coming up July 6-9 in Eugene, Oregon.
The World Athletics Championships – the global title event in the most global of all sports, track and field – open in Budapest August 19 and run through the 27th. For an array of elite competitors – and to the delight of those who attended the Elliott Denman/36th Annual New Jersey International meet, and the Shore Athletic Club’s meet organizers – the very good news is that their route to “Tracktown USA” (Eugene) and quite possibly the Hungarian capitol (Budapest) – may now run through West Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey USA. “This is a great meet, I’m so glad they invited me, I’m so glad I came,” said Jonathan Reniewicki, one of the top stars of the Elliott D/NJI Meet, staged Saturday, June 17 at Monmouth University’s Joe Compagni Track at Kessler Stadium. With his brilliant 3:37.06 win in the men’s elite Dr. John Connors 1500-Meter Run, Reniewicki, a 27-year-old Arizona State University graduate who now represents the Under Armour team of top runners – many of them track and field pros – the performance was a major breakthrough and put him “right up there” on the national charts. He’d already been recognized as a top-flight 5,000-meter runner with a best of 13:20.31 for that 3.1-mile event, but now he’s a challenger for top honors in the 1500 – sometimes called “the metric mile,” – too. Which event – or which events – will he run in Eugene? That’s still to be determined. But it’s a question that puts a wide smile on Reniewicki’s face. “Now I’ll have my options, now I’ll have a pair of opportunities,” he told an interviewer after his Joe Compagni Track triumph. His big win at the Elliott D/NJI Meet was both convincing and record-setting. Ben Allen (3:41.30) and Jack Salisbury (3:42.33) ran 2-3 – also under sub 4-minute mile pace – but Reniewicki raced home at least 30 yards ahead and in the process erased the meet record of 3:42.33 set by Australia’s Sam McEntee in 2012. Now – after top-notch Joe Compagni Track triumphs of their own – you can list Ahmed Jaziri, Derek Johnson, Alex Basten, Eric Holt, Emily MacKay, Helen Schlachtenlaufen, Meredith Rizzo, Lydia Olivere, Jeffrey Kline, Jacob Moran and Tyler Mitchell – as athletes to watch, too, in the big meets just ahead. The Elliott D/NJI Meet prides itself on its globalism – over 40 nations have been represented in it since its first edition at Holmdel Hgh School in 1987 – and now the now the meet has a record-breaker from Tunisia. He’s Jaziri, the former NCAA champion from Eastern Kentucky, who hopes to use his blazing 8:15.35 triumph in the Horace Ashenfelter Men’s 3000-Meter Steeplechase race as the clincher to repesent his North Africa homeland at the Worlds in Budapest. The 8:15.35 clocking not only demolished the meet record by over a minute but was the fastest steeplechase time in the USA this year and 14th fastest in the world. And of those 13 quicker marks, all were run at either the Paris, France, or Rabat, Morocco meets, all million-dollar-plus stops on the Diamond League circuit of major pro racing events. Virginia’s Johnson (8:25.73) and Under Armour’s Basten (8:31.11) were Jaziri’s top pursuers, with personal bests of their own. Empire Elite Club’s Holt, who ran a 3:54.09 mile last year at Middletown’s Mater Dei Prep track, dipped down to half that distance and blazed to a 1:47.48 win here in the Rich Kenah 800 Meters. The Chrissy D’Alessandro Shaheen Memorial women’s 1500 Meters was another sizzler. It was as close as they come – New Balance Club’s MacKay (4:01.52) just edging Nike’s Schlachtenlaufen (4:01.55) by inches in a race that saw both crush the meet record of 4:07.89 set by Canadian Olympian Sheila Reid in 2012. Not only that, these 1-2 finishers are now the 4-5 fastest Americans and 21-22 on the world list for 2023. The women’s steeplechase rce was brilliant, too. Rizzo, a Yale graduate representing the Idaho Afoot club, nosed out Olivere, the Villanova star, 9;54.72 to 9:54.91, in a dash for the finish line that saw both demolish yet another meet record. Meanwhile, the throwing events were raging on adjacent fields. University of Maryland’s Kline won the men’s Al Blozis Memorial Shot Put – honoring the late and great former Georgetown University and New York Football Giants star who died heroically in the closing stages of World War II – with a toss of 62-2 ¼. Moran, representing the Boston North Club, led the way in the men’s Bob Roggy Memorial Javelin – honoring the Holmdel great for whom this meet was first staged in 1987 – with his throw of 237-4. Williams, the Widener University coach representing host Shore AC, led the way in the men’s Ira Wolfe Hammer Throw with his 243-11 heave that now ranks him seventh in the nation, Shore AC’s Elisia Lancaster was a double winner in the women’s Al Blozis Shot Put (47-1) and Oneithea “Neni” Lewis Hammer Throw Throw (205-1.) Rhode Island’s Julia Campezato led the way in the women’s Barbara Friedrich Parcinski Javelin (158-0.) The 1-Mile Racewalk events were named for a pair of Shore AC Olympians, meet namesakes Denman and Todd Scully, the famed “Roger Bannister of racewalking “ with his historic 5:55.9 performance - as first man to walk a mile under 6 minutes, at the 1979 Mllrose Games - and saw top honors go to Shore AC’s Sam Allen (6:43.93) and Marist College’s Mia Priore (7:36.25.) Masters (40-up) walk champions were Curt Clausen (8:54.63) and Michelle Rohl (7:45.71), both three-time USA Olympians. A top high schooler in the meet was Northern Burlington Regional sophomore Liliah Gordon, already a Junior Olympic national champion, who won the Dr. Norbert Sander Memorial Women’s Elite 5,000 meters in 17:32.80, yet another meet record. The meet program listed events for men and women in the Youth, Open, Masters and Elite divisions and nearly all events were named for past greats of the sport, the majority of them with New Jersey ties. In that category were such other events as the men’s Frank Budd 100, Andy Stanfield 200, Larry James 400, Renaldo Nehemiah 110 hurdles, Mike Pascuzzo high jump and Norman Tate triple jump, and the women’s Joetta Clark Diggs 800. Other events were titled for Shore AC stars Aliann Pompey, John Kuhi, Arthur Smith, Dr. Matt Brown, Dr. Harry Nolan, Dr. George Sheehan, Paul Richard, George Kochman and Dr, Phil Shinnick, and Jersey Shore Running Club’s Mary Conry. Born as the Bob Roggy Memorial Meet in 1987 – a year after the Holmdel High School, Southern Illinois University and Shore AC javelin superstar, NCAA and USA national champion and world number-one-ranked spearman died after a tragic accident at the US Olympic Sports Festival in Houston – this year’s meet honored Elliott Denman. West Long Branch resident Denman has worn many hats in his long career in sports - USA Olympic 50K racewalker (1956), Asbury Park Press sports columnist and Olympic writer (1964-99), three-time New Jersey sportswriter of the year, past president of the Track and Field Writers of America (1996-98), first varsity track coach at Monmouth University/ then College (1966-68), international racewalking judge (1980-2010), high school, collegiate and USATF official, USA international team leader, and a founding father of the “new” Shore Athletic Club (1964.) Father of three and grandfather of eight, he and the former Jo Denman, originally of Sheringham, England, have been wed for over 60 years. “We beat very-very-very long odds in finding each other,” said Denman. This meet will now go high on his list, too. “Wow! amazing! how it all happened, and all thanks go to my Shore AC teammates. And our many-many-many sponsors. And Monmouth University. And Maurice Bell and Viper Timing. Everything was 100 percent. “They (an organizing committee led by Joe Compagni, Dave Friedman and Erin O’Neill, assisted by Shore AC president Walter MacGowan, former Shore AC intern Dayna Luma, and a whole lot of others) got it all done, and I will always remember this day and be thankful to them. “We even had a Community Mile (in which entrants could “run it. jog it, walk it or stroll it”) which had nearly 100 doing their four laps, in a benefit for two excellent charities, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and Shore AC’s own Development Fund, supporting the club’s year-round programs for athletes of all ages, all events, and all divisions.” Leading these Community Milers was U.S. Marine Corps first lieutenant Greg Nelson, who came up from Fort Lejeune, N.C. . to support the event….and led it in 5 minutes and 50 seconds. “And even The Person Above cooperated,” summed-up Denman.” We had perfect weather, too.” |
AuthorShore AC Archives
April 2024
Categories |