SHORE AC MEN AND WOMEN TAKE 11 GOLDS AND RACE TO USATF EASTERN REGIONAL TEAM TITLES BY LARGE MARGINS! MASTERS CAP IT ALL WITH NATIONAL RECORD!

By ELLIOTT DENMAN

NEW YORK, N.Y. – With no USATF National Club Championships (most unfortunately) on the 2018 schedule, Shore Athletic Club athletes descended on the USATF’s Eastern Regional Championships at the world-class Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, NYC, Sunday, July 22, 2018, and did a superb job of it in this meet that ranked as the biggest scored team event available to them all year.

In this meet that was scored 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for each of the 20 events apiece for men and women (with only club-representing athletes garnering points),  thirty-five different club teams gathered from East of the Mississippi River and
Shore AC men and women led them all  by very large margins!

In men’s scoring, it was Shore AC on top with a total of 144 points (with  Central Park TC-NB second at 63 and Next Level AC third at 51.) In women’s team scoring, it was Shore AC on top with 127 points (with Rock City second at 68 and Next Level AC third at 62.)   It was a truly tremendous job by one and all – and the Shore AC scorers ranged from youngsters to the Masters (who set a USA age-65 relay record to cap it all!)

On the men’s side, our list of Shore AC gold medalists had Jeremy Bascom (10.43 100 after 10.40 heat); Calvon Bowden (14.71 110HH); Rich Luettchau (23:49 3000 racewalk); Brandon Jones (14.74 TJ) and our 4x100 (41.00) and
4x400 (3:27.73) relay teams. 

On the women’s side, Jenea McCammon led the way with double wins in the 100H (13.67) and 200 dash (23.99.)  Olga Kosichenko then won the 400 (56.42), Amarys Berry the shot put (13.73) and Veleisha Walker the discus (47.11.) And the list of Shore AC medalists and scorers rolled right on.

The men’s 100 was a feature event, with Shore AC producing five of the eight finalists.  Back of Jeremy Bascom’s 10.43 in places 4-5-6-7 were teammates Delano Davis (10.75 after 10.64 heat), Dorien Johnson (10.78 after 10.46 heat),
Brandon Jones (10.82 after 10.79 heat) and Kevin Thompson (10.88 after 10.82 heat.) It was a major pleasure welcoming Kevin back into the Shore AC lineup!

Aleigh McIntyre ranked 10th (10.83) and Matt Bernardo 35th (11.84) of 41 who ran.  The 200 saw Delano Davis (21.35) take the silver.  The 54-man field also saw Kevin Thompson rank 12th (22.31) and Desmond Howell 16th (22.79.) 

Garvey Moore (50.22) and Desmond Howell (50.47) ran 6-7 in the 400.

Team co-captain Larry Ramirez “stepped up” big time with gutsy, close-miss silver-medal performances in first the 400 hurdles (56.35) and 800 (1:56.47.)

Masters stars Jeff Conston added a ninth in the 1500 (4:39) and Barry Blake a sixth
(32:34) in the 5000 racewalk.

Brandon Jones’s busy day continued with his seventh in the LJ (6.78.)

Abel Gilet was a brilliant tripler in the throws, placing third in the discus (44.20), fourth in the
shot put (13.87) and fifth in the hammer (31.25.)

Michael Brazzel then notched a second in the javelin (65.86) – four weeks after his superb seventh in the USA Outdoor Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa.

And some of the most cheering news of all came in the concluding 4x400 relay. After Garvey Moore anchored the over-all 3:27.73 win, the Masters quartet of Emanuel Brody, John Kilduff, Ivan Black and Noah Perlis ran a scoring fourth place in
5:07.10 to set a USA men’s 65-up national record!! 

Meet announcer Dennis Kornfield lauded the record-breaking foursome as the Icahn Stadium fans gave them rounds of cheers for the feat!
     
The Shore AC women, of course, were equally terrific. After coming off a stint of active-duty military training, new member
Valetta Burgess ran fifth in the 800 at 2:31.94.

And the Shore AC throwers were superb. After winning the shot put, Amarys Berry placed sixth in the discus (33.58.)

In addition to her discus win, Valeisha Walker placed third in the javelin (39.85) and fourth in the shot put (12.21.) Esmerada Reyes had a busy day with a second in the javelin (40.99) and fifth in the high jump (1.40.)

Samantha Morillo placed second in both the shot put (12.75) and discus (39.30.)
 
Ashley Walsh placed third in the shot (12.49) and fourth in the hammer (37.69.)

Completing a 1-2-3 Shore AC slam in the discus was Jennifer Odoemene with her 39.29 third, and that followed her 42.03 third in the hammer.

Bernadette McGowan rounded out the tremendous Shore AC team showing in the throws with her fourth in the javelin (33.52), and fifths in the shot (12.10) and hammer (36.94.)

So there were cheers all around on this great Shore AC day. Special cheers went to Coaches Michael Robinson, John McCree and Anthony Washington for their major roles in all this, along with co-captains Nicholas Reid and Larry Ramirez.

Additionally, our Shore AC athletes did their respective colleges and universities proud, too.
  
We came from LIU, St. John’s, Hampton, Albany, Buffalo, Brookdale, Rutgers-Camden, Stockton, Queens, East Carolina,
Newberry and Georgian Court – and several others as well.

Bottom Line:  One more great day in our distinguished club’s distinguished history, which dates back to 1934.

Xxxx
  
Writer’s Note:  Have I used too many superlatives in this story?  Consensus opinion: definitely not. 
​ELLIOTT D.