2014 USATF Outdoor Open Track & Field Championships

► MUT New Mountain, Ultra, Trail 2021 Grand Prix schedule

Posted by Jean Pommier on Jul 30, 2021 in Mtn-Ultra-Trail Running, pausatf | 0 comments

The USATF Pacific Association (PA) Long Distance Running (LDR) committee announces the return of its Mountain, Ultra, Trail (MUT) Grand Prix for the second half of 2021, after a cancellation in 2020 due to the pandemic. This Grand Prix series has run since 1991 and offers both individual and team competitions with awards, race entry discounts and prize money to top scorers at the end of the season. We are particularly grateful to local Race Directors for their resilience and outstanding efforts in organizing races during these uncertain times.

Here is the calendar of scoring events for the remainder of 2021:

• 8/1: Skyline 50K
• 8/21: Headlands Hundred 100M (20% discount to PA members, code available through Club captains or MUT chair for individuals)
• 9/12: Star City Trail Half Marathon (pending County permit confirmation)
• 9/25: Firetrails 50M
• 10/2: No’to’mom 100K (National championship) and 50K team relay ($75 discount for PA teams, code available through Club captains)
• 10/9: Ruth Anderson 50K and 50M
• 10/23: Quicksilver 100K
• 11/13: Stevens Creek Trail Half Marathon (pending Park permit confirmation)
• 11/28: Quad Dipsea 28M

To take into account the late notice as well as the shorter than usual season, here are a few amendments to the scoring rules for this season:

• Top 5 scores (instead of 7), both for teams and individuals;
• Only two distance coefficients: 1.0 < 75km, 1.5 beyond (meaning no 2.0 coefficient on the 100-miler, but 1.5);
• No minima of sub ultra score this year;
• For the team relay, teams must be composed of PA members; and clubs can enter more than one team;
• Discounts for the 2019 Grand Prix champions apply to this 2021 Grand Prix.

To secure a spot, PA runners must enter as soon as event registration opens, or the calendar is published for the events already opened. As usual, membership needs to be active prior to the race, for score eligibility.

Wishing the best of luck to all PA members for this Grand Prix, while remaining healthy,

Andrew Crawford, LDR Chair

Jean Pommier, MUT Chair

Nakia Baird, MUT Scorer

► PA Complete Olympic TF schedule with event times, athletes, and results links

Posted by Dave Shrock on Jul 30, 2021 in Coach, Elite Athlete, Masters LDR, Officials, pausatf, Road Racing, Track & Field, XC, Youth | 0 comments

Peter Thompson of the Spirt of Oregon Foundation has created an great resource of the complete Olympic TF schedule with event times, competitors, and link to results on this linked excel sheet.

TOKYO Olympic T&F schedule – WHOLE USA time zones with RESULTS HYPERLINKS

Also handy is the NBC viewing guide: https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-watch-track-and-field-tokyo-olympics

Go team USA!

► YF, YTF RETC All Comers Meet PHOTOS!

Posted by Cynci Calvin on Jul 29, 2021 in Coach, Masters T&F, Officials, pausatf, Track & Field, Youth | 0 comments

► TF Women’s Decathlon Champs at San Mateo 21-22 August

Posted by Dave Shrock on Jul 28, 2021 in Coach, Elite Athlete, Masters LDR, Officials, pausatf, Track & Field | 0 comments

The Women’s Decathlon Association is hosting their national championship at College of San Mateo Sat/Sun, 21/22 August.  Open to all women competitors.  Click here for information and registration: https://womensdecathlonassociation.com/2021-championship

► XC 2021 Detailed XC Grand Prix Schedule Posted

Posted by Ong Les on Jul 26, 2021 in pausatf, XC | 0 comments

► RR PA LDR runner, Fred Zalokar’s body found near summit of Mt. Clark

Posted by Tom Bernhard on Jul 20, 2021 in pausatf | 0 comments

► PA PA Loses Track Star, Coach Willie White; Memorial Service Info & Pac 12 Feature

Posted by Cynci Calvin on Jul 20, 2021 in Coach, pausatf, Track & Field, Youth | 0 comments

July 24 Memorial Service Information

Pac 12 Feature Article

► RR PA LDR Runner, Fred Zalokar, missing in Yosemite

Posted by Tom Bernhard on Jul 19, 2021 in Elite Athlete, Masters LDR, Road Racing | 0 comments

► RR   2021 Freedom Fest 5K Scoring

Posted by Tom Bernhard on Jul 15, 2021 in pausatf | 0 comments

Updated 2021 Race Scoring

Updated 2021 Age-Graded Performance Standings

2021 Updated Team Payouts

Updated 2021 Individual Payouts

► ELITE PA & PA-Connected 2021 Olympians!

Posted by Cynci Calvin on Jul 14, 2021 in Coach, Elite Athlete, pausatf, Race Walking, Road Racing, Track & Field | 0 comments

USATF Pacific Members and PA-Connected Olympians

Compiled by Fred Baer and Cynci Calvin, and updated 7/15/2021.

KCRA’s Deirdre Fitzpatrick Interview with Robyn and Nick

• 20 km Race Walk Women 1. Robyn Stevens (1:35:13) Vacaville, CA; 1st Olympic Team
• 20 km Race Walk Men 1. Nick Christie (1:30:48) Vacaville, CA; 3rd Olympic Team
• Men’s Hammer: 3. Alex Young (Bay Area resident coached by Stanford Throws Coach Amin Nikfar… see “Who Knew” section below); 78.32m/256-11
• Women’s Discus Throw: (Stanford ’17) 1. Valarie Allman 229-5. This is the #3 all-time performance by an American. Allman holds the American record at 230-2, and she had the No. 2 all-time performance, 229-8, in the opening day qualifying round at the Trials.
• Women’s 5,000 Meters: (Stanford ’18) 1. Elise Cranny 15:27.81.
• Men’s 5,000 Meters & 10,000 Meters: (Stanford ’19) 2. for each event Grant Fisher ; 13:02.53 for 5K; 27:54.29 for 10K.
• Men’s 5,000 Meters: 4. alternate (Alameda, California – Oakland Magazine Feature) Cooper Teare 13:28.08 and ran the fastest final 400m
• Women’s High Jump: (UC Berkeley ’09 ) 2. Inika McPherson 6-4. (McPherson did not clear the Olympic standard of 6-5 but expects to be added when World Athletics releases its final Olympic rankings.)
• Men’s Decathlon: (Stanford ’18) 4. alternate  Harrison Williams 8,306 points.
• Men’s Marathon: (Stanford ’11) 2. Jacob Riley 2:10:02
• Women’s Hammer: (UC Berkeley ’22; for Canadian Olympic Team) Camryn Rogers (75.52 meters, 247-9)
• Women’s Marathon (Stanford ’02; for Canadian Olympic Team): Malindi Elmore (2:24:50)
• Women’s Javelin: (Stanford ’19; for Australian Olympic Team): Mackenzie Little (60.90 meters, 199′-9.6″)
• Men’s 400m: (Stanford ’16; for Australian Olympic Team) Steven Solomon (46.82)
• Women’s Pole Vault: (Stanford ’12; for Greek Olympic Team) Katerina Stefanidi (4.8 meters, 15′-9″)

More! San Mateo resident and UC Berkeley Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Robyne Johnson is the Team USA Assistant Coach for the women’s jumps and multi-events, the same position she held for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cal Bears Announcement

CLICK HERE for a complete list of the coaching staff for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Who Knew?

Here’s a shout out to two athletes (Alex Young – Hammer and Tiana Bartoletta – sprints, long jump) who are listed as USATF Pacific members in the Trials’ news reports, but they are relatively recent arrivals to this association. Learn more below…

Alex Young – Hammer

Photo by August Frank, Oregon News Lab

While reading the Day three report (see below) of the 2021 Olympic Trials, Alex Young’s name popped up in the Hammer Throw recap, with his USATF association listed as USATF Pacific. Alex, as the report shows below is now an Olympian, after placing third in a stellar field. Here is additional information about Alex and his USATF Pacific affiliation.

Alex’s coach, Amin Nikfar, who is a dual US/Iranian citizen, was born in San Jose before moving to Santa Clara, where he was a two-time state shot put qualifier at Wilcox High School. His coach at Wilcox was two-time Discus Olympian Mike Buncic. Two-time Olympian and IAAF competito, Nikfar is a Cal Berkeley grad, where he competed in and coached throws, then coached at N. Arizona University (2006-2009), then back to CA to coach at St. Francis HS in Mountain View (2014). After one season at University of New Orleans, he moved on to three stellar seasons coaching at Southeastern Louisiana University (2016-2018). Nikfar returned to California to coach one season at Stanford (2019), and in 2020 moved back to North Carolina for a coaching position at the University of North Carolina.

Alex Young hails from LaVergne, TN and competed collegiately for Southeastern Louisiana University. Here Nikfar coached him to the U.S. hammer and weight throw titles and an NCAA weight throw championship in 2017. Young was an IAAF World Championships qualifier and NCAA hammer runner-up. Young has followed Nikfar for his post-collegiate throwing career, moving with him to Stanford and North Carolina. It was during his stay at Stanford that Young established his USATF Pacific affiliation.

Alex Young Runnerspace.com Interview post-Trials Hammer Competition

USATF Oympic Trials Day Three Hammer Event Report

“Kicking off day 3, the greatest competition in U.S. hammer throwing history saw Rudy Winkler (Ithaca, New York / USATF New York) finally take the American record away from Lance Deal after 25 years, as the defending Trials champion landed the 16-pound orb out at 82.71m/271-4 on his second attempt to add seven inches to Deal’s record. Winkler opened the competition by breaking the Trials record set in 1992 by Jud Logan with an 80.75m/264-11 and then followed up with his monster throw. In round four he hit 82.10m/269-4 and he ended up with five of his six throws beyond 80m/262-5. His record throw moved him to No. 20 on the all-time world performer list.

Winkler wasn’t the only one hitting peak form at just the right time, either, as Daniel Haugh (Marietta, Georgia / USATF Georgia) and Alex Young (LaVergne, Tennessee / USATF Pacific) both notched lifetime bests in the final round to claim their first Olympic berths. Haugh improved to 79.39m/260-5, and Young’s final toss landed at 78.32m/256-11. The trio will give Team USATF its greatest ever squad in the men’s hammer, led by gold medal contender Winkler. Hal Connolly in 1956 was the last American to win Olympic gold in the event, and Deal, who was the 1996 silver medalist in Atlanta, is the last U.S. medalist.”

Tianna Bartoletta, 100m, Long Jump

Cal Berkeley photo

From her youth until the present Tiana has excelled in the long jump and 100m sprint. The Elyira, Ohio native attended University of Tennessee. Her post collegiate career is highlighted by 3 Olympic Gold Medals – one for the 2012 4×4 100m relay which also produced a World Record time, and two in 2016, one for the long jump and one for a repeat win in the 4×4 100m relay. In late 2019, Tianna began coaching jumps and sprints at UC Berkeley, hence her USATF Pacific affiliation.

Tiana qualified for the 100m semis at this year’s Olympic Trials, but her quest to compete on the 100m Team USA ended in the next round. In the Long Jump, Tiana made it to the finals but finished 10th, so she will not be defending her 2016 Long Jump title at her 3rd Olympics.