2016 USATF ANNUAL MEETING COMMITTEE REPORTS

The Mid-America Region held two Championship meets in 2016. The Indoor meet was held in February at the Air Force Academy at its indoor facility. The outdoor championship was held in August at the Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO track facility . Both drew close to 150 competitors. The meets were successful because of the work of organizers Jim Weed, Sue Norton, Tim Edwards, George Soule and Christel Donley. We had outstanding officials supplied by the Colorado Association USATF,a number of whom officiated at the USATF Olympic trials. The competition at both meets was excellent with a world record set in the 70-74 age group by Art Parry at 3.35 meters.at the out door meet (Note: because the University was unwilling to put the pole vault pit outdoors the pole vault was held indoors). Art was awarded the age graded pole vault award. The Above the Bar pole vault club helps to run the pole vault and the meet then allows high school vaulters to compete. As a result we had over 50 vaulters at the meet. We are beginning to see other Association beginning to hold Association Championships, generally coordinating with youth meets. The most active is the Missouri Valley Association, led by Larry Staton of the Shocker track club who held both indoor and outdoor meets plus a number of all comers meets. We continue to hold our championship in Colorado as we have not learned of any Association that is interested and has facilities that can actually handle all of the masters events in a one day meet.

Jerry Donley, Masters chair Mid-America Region

Southwest Region 2016

The indoor championships were held at the University of Houston on February 13.

The outdoor championships were held at ,Rice Unversity both meets were hosted by

Gulf Assoc. with William Collins the meet manager for both meets.

The associations saw an increase in the number of athletes competing in their masters

championships this year.

The region is made up of the following associations and their masters chairs are:

Arkansas Louis Sasser IV 479-970-0700

Border Steven Purchase 708-250-1202

Gulf Bill Collins 713-491-3248

Oklahoma Matthias Wickes 918-814-3278

South Texas Debbie Romero 512-999-3596

Southern Alfonso Olive 225-614-8801

Southwestern Lester Mount 214-766-2854

West Texas Chris Lonngren 806-791-1774

2016 Race Walk Committee Annual Report

Ron Daniel, Chairman’s Report

Topics Reported on:

International Team Trials & Events; Youth Video, Pan Am Cup Team Standards (proposed); Standards & Field Sizes; Face Book Slams on US World Team; Race Walk Strategy for US Growth

INTERNATIONAL TRIALS & EVENTS

Olympic Trials – 50k

While the 50k Olympic Trials (which was also the IAAF World Team 50k Trial) was held in 2016, this report begins with the Nov, 2015, National 50k Championship.

At that time, the 50k Olympic Trials qualifying standard was 4:45 (this standard was set before I was Chairman). It was also decided that the 2016 50k OT would also be the 2016 50k National Championship. That was done in order to provide Prize money to the top eight trials finishers. There is no OT specific prize money, only prize money for the National Championship. It was believed that the 50k National Championship, which normally has no qualifying standard, could be entered along with the OT race.

Coming out of the 2015 50k, there were only five walkers who had made the 4:45. And, one of these five was Patrick Stroupe who subsequently retired. Now, we’re down to four starters. Because of the very small numbers, I lowered the OT qualifying standard to 5:15. Within the same week, the IAAF lowered their standard from 4:03 to 4:06.

Both of these changes had a curious affect on our up coming OT. During the Nat 50k, Nick Christie was shooting for a sub 4:03. When it looked like he wasn’t going to make that, he coasted to the finish in order to save himself for the upcoming Olympic Trials 50k; he finished in 4:11. Had he had known that the OG standard was going to be 4:06, had he kept pushing, he may have been able to get that! During the National 50k, when Steve Washburn (first 50k, just 22) fell off the 4:45 pace, he dropped out (instruction from coach) at 40k believing that he would still be able to enter the 2016 National 50k (but not the OT). This would give him an opportunity to try for the IAAF World Team where we had a qualifying standard of 4:35. Jonathan Matthews made a similar decision when he realized he wasn’t going to make the 4:45. Both would have certainly made the 5:15 Olympic Trials standard. After the National 50k there were sill only nine with a 5:15 or better performance. To his credit, Dave McGovern, turned in a legal 50k at the end of 2015 of 5:14:34 to get into the OT. Now, we have ten!

Now it got tricky. In order to allow Steven Washburn and Jonathan Matthews into the Trials, I would have to invite any other walkers who had a legitimate performance in the qualifying period. With a ‘field size’ of 15, I was able to get Steven and Jonathan into the Olympic Trials.

Ultimately, made the US Olympic Team. Nick Christie, Michael Mannozzi and Matt Fourges , qualified for the World Team with sub 4:35 performances.

Both Championships were held in Santee, CA

Olympic Trials – 20k.

In the Fall of 2015, Salem, OR was selected as the site of the 20k OT. Tracy Sundlun was chosen as the Race Director. This necessitated two trips on my part to Salem to oversee the Trials plans. That included working with Tracy to select the course and agreeing on the positioning and moving of the judges for the trials.

As the 20k Trials date approached, some of the same issues regarding the number of starters were being discussed. During a phone conversation with USATF regarding this topic, I was informed that because the ‘field size’ was 15, I had to go down a performance list and take up to 15 performers even if they didn’t have the standard. Had this information been known at the time of the 50k Trial, much of that hassle would have been eliminated. No one on the RW Exec Comm was aware of this either. More on STANDARDS & FIELD sizes at the end of the report.

After a somewhat shaky start (concerns about the location, starting time, course), in my opinion, I felt that the 20k OT in Salem was a very good success. Those that were there are free to voice their opinions’. Salem was a good choice to showcase race walking; but, yes, it lacked the HAYWARD FIELD backdrop. Due to the pre-race efforts of Erin Gray, there were about 2500 spectators lining the course and constantly cheering.

Both Olympic Trials under the direction of Tracy Sundlun were great successes. The special attention given to the athletes and officials in Salem was especially well appreciated. In the week before the competition, the starting time was adjusted from 10:30am to 9:00am as a concern for the weather arose.

Maria Michta-Coffey and , who had previously made the IAAF standard, surpassed the standard that day while making the US Olympic Team.

The one BIG frown on the OT was the procedural error made at the Recording / Red Card Posting Board. A Red Card came in on athlete #18, Erin Gray; however, #8 was placed on the Posting Board. When the 2nd RC came in on Erin, it showed up as only the first RC on the PB. Just before 10k, the 3rd RC came in on Erin. As Maryanne Daniel (Chief Judge) was being called to notify Erin that she was DQd, the PB operator spotted her error. Erin was quite irate when she was shown the Red Paddle because all she’d ever seen on the PB was one RC. While her father filed a Protest, it was denied on the basis that there was no Rule violation. The PB is mainly an aid for the athlete. Unfortunately, in this case not a very good aid. The lesson learned is that the Recorder must frequently check the PB for accuracy. The Recorder and PB Operator are both very experienced in those positions.

IAAF World Team Trials The Racewalkers’ Club of St. Louis hosted the IAAF World Team Trials. While there were four races (M&W 20k, M&W 10k) conducted, they were held concurrently. Even though it was windy, there were several PRs for the day. With the 50k Team decided in Feb, the full team was now available.

With John Nunn deciding to not go to Rome, IT and Nick Christie going for the Olympic Games standard at 50k, we were left with only two men qualifying at 20k. After reviewing the results, I felt that it was worth asking the RW Exec Comm to add Anthony Peters (next finisher in line) to the Team. By adding Anthony, that would make a complete scoring 20k team. In his first year after being a Junior, Anthony was making terrific gains. He was only 94 seconds off the standard. By an over whelming majority, Anthony was added.

By the end of the following week, things got real interesting.

With only three weeks until the World Team Championships, the IAAF announced that there would be women allowed in the otherwise known men’s 50k. It was now a gender-neutral 50k, i.e. there would only be a single team competition at 50k. Any women entered would score amongst the men.

Before the Exec Comm was convened on April 12, a Italian newspaper stated that Erin Taylor-Talcott would be representing the US at 50k in the World Team Championships; within the same week, USATF put out a news release saying the same thing. While it seems to have been any easy choice to add Erin, she was not the next finisher at the 50k Trials. That position was held by Steven Washburn. Following protocol, Steven had to be proposed before Erin. Even though neither had made the 4:35 standard, it was argued that we had just added Anthony Peters who also hadn’t made the standard. Steven and Erin were added at 50k.

Now things got even more complex. Tim Seaman requested that since we were affectively now selecting the World Team outside of the Trials, he requested that we allow Matt Forgues (his athlete) to race the 20k (he was next in line) instead of doing a third 50k within the year. That now opened up another spot on the 50k Team. We concluded the meeting by agreeing to have full Teams at all race distances. The US Team was now 21 athletes, up from 17. We also had three staff plus two medical members.

All-in-all, we still had a respectable team for the IAAF World Team Championships.

IAAF World Team Championships, Rome, Italy

In 2015, the Pan Am Cup was held in Arica, Chile. A main concern of the US athletes was that because of the nearly 20 hours of travel, the arrival on Thursday did not provide sufficient recovery time for the Saturday, Sunday races.. For the trip to Rome, USATF allowed travel from home to commence on the Tuesday before the Sat – Sun competitions. That was well received.

With most everyone arriving by Wednesday, the Team was looking forward to a better than usual performance. What no one was expecting was a flu like ‘bug’ wiping out, nearly, the whole women’s team (including Maria who was a DNF for the first time ever) and a couple of the guys.

In spite of the ‘bug’, there were several vey good performances. First, the PB’s: Steven Washburn had a greater than twelve minutes PB (4:28:20) in his second full 50k, and finished the year as the third ranked US 50k walker; Anthony Peters with a plus two minute PB (1:31:19) , finished as the number two US walker; Meaghan Podloski with a new US U- 20 Record of 49:57; Anali Cisneros missed her PB by one second (50:38); Alex Bellavance, 47:38. Other very good performances: Miranda Melville, 1:34:10, made Olympic Standard once again; Matt Forgues, 1:35:42 (only 42 seconds off his PB), third US; and, Cameron Haught, 45:42.

Needless to say, after the competition there were several Face Book slams on the US Team. More on this at the end of the report.

IAAF U-20 World Championships, Bydgoszcz, Poland

Thirty five of the Worlds best U-20 women met for an evening competition with temps in the mid 70’s. Meaghan Podlaski and Anali Cisneros both had the same goal in mind; break 49:00 for 10,000m. At 5000m, Meaghan held a 5 sec lead over Anali with a time of 24:28.00. They were still together with 1500m to go, when Meaghan ‘ran out of gas’! Anali went on to set a new US U-20, 10,000m record at 49:31.88 (25th) and Meaghan at 50:21.22 (28th). The winning time was 45:18. It was great year for both Anali & Meaghan.

US vs. CAN Jr Dual Meet

In this 28th edition of the US v CAN Junior Dual competition, the US Men defeated the Canadian Men’s team, 16 to 7; the US Women defeated the Canadian Women, 16 to 6. AJ Gruttadauro had a terrific PB of 46:33 to easily defeat Cameron Haught, 48:07 as they went 1-2. The US women went 1, 2, 3 with Anali Cisneros (25:00) finishing just 14 seconds ahead of Meaghan Podloski (25:14), Lauren Harris finished a very close third in 25:17.

NACAC U-23, San Salvador, El Salvador

San Salvador, El Salvador – In high temps and 99% humidity, Anthony Peters did very well finishing 2nd (1:35:04.77) 32 seconds out of 1st; Steve Washburn was 5th, 1:46:21.86. In the woman’s race, Molly Josephs also finished 2nd (53:34.86), the winning time 49:24.70 was a new meet record; Jennifer Lopez was 4th in 58:29.16.

Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

All three of our athletes performed very well under the hot and humid conditions in Rio. Three time Olympian, John Nunn finished in 4:16:12, 43rd. Two time Olympian, Maria Michta-Coffey finished strongly in1:33:36, 22nd.. And, first time Olympian, Miranda Melville, finished very well in 1:35:48, 34th

Youth Video

This video is most useful for coaches, parents and judges who are participating at the Youth Championships. It shows demonstrations of the various faults one sees at the youth championships races. There are also scenes of what legal race walking looks like. During the course of the video, the rules of race walking are presented as the scenes are shown. It was first presented during the Youth Committee meeting at the 2015 Annual Meeting; it was placed on the USATF web site in March 2016.

Pan Am Cup Team Standards (Proposed)

At the Feb Exec Mtg, the following standards were agreed upon, with further discussion regarding the Women’s 50k standard

Men, 20k: 1:35 new (old 1:36)

Women 20k, 1:45 new (old 1:48)

Men 50k, 4:40 new (old 4:45)

Women 50k, 4:45 (assuming there is a NACAC or PAC division)

Jr Men, 10k, 50:00

Jr. Women, 10k 54:30

50k Qual Period, Oct 25, 2015 (date of 2015, 30k) to March 13, 2017

10k & 20k Qual Period, Oct 25, 2015 (date of 2015, 30k) to ** mid April, 2017

At the May meeting, the women’s 50k standard was amended to 5:10

The decision to announce these standards at this time is so that anyone wishing to have a PAC qualifying standard would know more than a year in advance. At that time, there was no host for the 10k, 20k PAC Trials; that date is now known to be April 2, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA.

Standards and Field Sizes.

Now that we, the RW Committee, is aware that we can set the Field Size along with the Standard, my proposal, is to have our standards be modestly difficult but limit the Field Size to whatever the number is that USATF will offer Travel Assistance to. If more make the standard than the Field Size, they are invited. If fewer make the standard, then additional walkers are invited, in performance list order, to fill the Field Size.

Face Book Slams on US World Team

Ignoring the personal attacks on some Team members, I’m focusing on the challenges to our overall team depth. The critics offer no real solutions but merely parrot the usual suggestions (more HS, NCAA etc.); they don’t realize the efforts that are being made. But one area we can delve into is the difficulty or lack there-of of our standards. Yes, we can make them tougher. Will that help, or drive away the few dedicated athletes we have? Something to think about. To be discussed at a future meeting. For the moment, I’m encouraged by the young walkers that are showing great promise.

On our standards, I wish to remind everyone that three years ago I proposed a very modest toughening of our World Cup standard. They were to be either be at 70% of the average of the prior four sea level performance, or 80%. Collectively, the Committee went for the 80% level. Even there that would have been 4:22 for 50k. But because this was ‘too’ close to the 50k Trial, it was bumped back to 4:35.

While the IAAF praises the US for usually sending a full Team, that is not in our best interest. For the present, we should consider abandoning the Team element of the Team Championship, and do as many other federations do and just send only our very best walkers.

Race Walk Strategy for US Growth

In January, 2015, I wrote this multifaceted ‘strategy’ in response to a question from Max Siegel, CEO-USATF; “What can USATF do for Race Walking?”

It is presented in three sections: 1. Education, Media Awareness; 2. Talent Initiative; and, 3. US Race Walking Centers. It is a five year plan.

The first section would be mostly driven by USATF, e.g. letters to NCAA, div. III, HS districts. The second, Talent Initiative, is where most of the action takes place. One or two race waling individuals (prefer coaches) would go to several sports events (triathlons, X-C Championship, X-C Skiing, etc.) interview & technically evaluate athletes that have an interest in representing the US. Choose the most fit and invite them to a training / evaluation camp for 7 to 10 days. Those that show the most ‘kinesthetic’ ability would move on. Their next stop is a more specific training site, again for 7 to 10 days. Those showing thee greatest potential would be offered more of the previous two steps. The third section, Centers of Excellence, is utilizing current ‘centers’ Ian Whatley, facility Greer, SC and Tim Seaman, in San Diego.

These ‘centers’ would be made available to our current top race walkers.

This strategy was written in a bullet format; from that I then did a cost estimate. I presented this cost estimate to Mr. Siegel in Aug 2015. The first two years costed out at $225K. Depending on the success to that point, the next three years would continue.

In Sept 2015, in a tele-con with Max Siegel, Duffy Mahoney, Chief of Sports Performance, Renee Washington, COO and Maryanne (Development sub- committee), we discussed the strategy. During the call, Max stated that because of the recent change to the Board of Directors, he no longer had the same control over projects. He then suggested that Duffy oversee the moving forward of the ‘strategy’. At last year’s Annual Meeting, Duffy request that two race walk athletes review the ‘strategy’. Other than a very short conversation with one of the athletes, I didn’t receive any feedback. Nor were any reports made to Duffy. Subsequently, in a discussion with Duffy, he is looking at this being a 10 to 12 year project with more emphasis on the ‘centers’. This plan would have the race walkers living at the ‘center’ for several years. This ‘new’ plan is to be further defined.

2015 Annual Report

Vice Chair, Diane Graham-Henry

The Race Walk Officials Handbook is completed. It’s waiting to be placed in he Race Walk section of the USATF.org page.

The Planning Outline for Race Walk Championships/Trials was completed late-April and sent to Rod Larson and Ron Daniel. This should be available to all who consider hosting a championship or trials race. Not sure if this has been posted to the website, but should be available with event bid forms. Anyone wishing a copy, please let me know.

There will be a new survey going out to all race walk chairs, of which there have been some recent changes. The list of race walk chairs, youth regional chairs, and youth chairs was used for a mailed to all regarding the implementing of the pit lane at the Junior Olympics, with only four emails returned from a list of 145 names.

This survey will hopefully solidify those wishing to take on the regional coordinator positions. Since the regions are quite large in area, it may be better to offer co-regional coordinators who can share the position by areas. Currently the solid regional representation is in the Southeast (7) and Midwest (8) North.

The survey should be completed by annual meeting, giving the race walk community a picture of what is happening throughout the country; i.e. programs in effect, clubs, numbers of athletes in youth, open and master. What assistance is needed, and how that can be implemented. Note: a bit behind on this due to months of studies and exams and week- long session to complete Coach level 2, and traveling with athletes this season.

2016 Development Annual Report – Maryanne Daniel/ Tim Seaman

Race Walk Development started out on a positive note with two of our athlete’s, Maria Michta-Coffey and Miranda Melville utilizing funds provided via an Int’l Competitive Op’s grant, combined with their U.S. Indoor Championships travel allocation, to support a competition in Japan in March. Further, a small amount of the Development money for RW was used to cover their housing and incidental expenses for this same trip. This proved to be a good investment, as it gave us a tie-American Record performance by Michta-Coffey and a PB by 1m29s for Melville in a high level international meet – as well as setting them up for a good World RW Team Trials, World RW Team Cup, U.S. Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games.

We asked if the pre World Team Championship training camp in Wattenscheid, Germany could be covered for our athletes. Other nations were utilizing this training area and it eased them into the time zone for Rome. It was granted for Melville, Erin Gray and Natos Corvera. Receipts for the three were sent in for their room and board.

In April a partnership with NormaTec was announced and available to the Tier athletes. (These “boots” are an inflatable system that aid in recovery by increasing circulation) When I had asked Duffy Mahoney at the National office about the NormaTec boots for the Tier 4 RWers his repose was yes, they were available to them. He later said he misspoke and they were really only available to Tiers 1-3 but because he had made a mistake, he found a way to use Development money so that Michta- Coffey and Melville were able to get a pair using their medical stipend but without spending any money out of pocket. Nunn had already purchased a pair on his own before the program came into existence

In the summer an e-mail was sent to the Development athletes about using the remaining Domestic Competitive Opportunities funding for the remaining National Championships- 1hr, 10K, 40K and 30K.

On Oct 1-2 I (Maryanne) attended Development Meeting in Chicago. All Development Chairs were invited as well as Athlete Reps -Solomiya Login and Dave McGovern were also in attendance. A breakdown of OG medals, top 8 and top 12 places were charted and discussed. The attainment of medals is the purpose of Development and of course, many of the programs are to reward those who medal. What is good for our event, is that USATF intends to increase prize money for Indoor and Outdoor Championships:

This past Indoor 2016 - 1st - $5,000, 2nd - $3,000, 3rd - $1,250, 4th - $750

Indoor 2017 will be– 1st -$6000, 2nd -$4000, 3rd -$2500, 4th-$1250, 5th-$1000

Outdoor is also proposed to go up-1st- $8000, 2nd-$6000, 3rd$4000, 4th-$3000, 5th-$2000, 6th- $1000 and 7th also $1000.

The Tier program has been thought of as very successful and will remain defined as it has been in the past:

Basically: (more details on USATF website under “athlete support, Tier program”)

Tier 1: Medaled in Olympic or World Track & Field Championships. Have achieved a top-10 world rank

Tier 2: Placed among the top 8 place finishers in Olympic or World Championships or Have achieved a top 20 world rank.

Tier 3: Athletes who are defined as Immediate Post Collegians (IPC’s), (IPC) in the first or second year out of college and have achieved the Olympic /World Championship standard in their respective event.

Tier 4: Be ranked among the Top 2 U.S. by Track & Field News in its year-end rankings, Achieved a Top 2 place finish at the OT or U.S. (outdoor) Championships, U.S. Men’s 50km OT or Race Walk Championships, or U.S. Championships.

For both of the above, the athlete must have also achieved the Olympic Games/ World Championship standard in the event that applies to the criteria above.

Our Tier athletes for 2016 based on their performance in 2015 were: Tier 4- Maria Michta –Coffey, Miranda Melville and John Nunn Our Development tagged athletes- Katie Burnett, Erin Gray, Nick Christie, Cody Risch, Emmanuel Corvera and although we told them that Alex Chavez had retired, his name was left in.

Much of the discussion in Development focuses on Tiers 1,2 and 3. Statistics show that Tier 4 does not produce any Olympic or World Championship medallists and hardly any then advance to Tier 1 or 2. They are fond of saying- it’s not a good investment return when they are in the business of medals.

The good news is that Tier 4 will remain, it will no longer be funded by USOC but USATF will take it on and be considered emerging elite. They will still have a “development funded” group but that could be possibly smaller. In January we will have a chance to put forth a few who we feel might fit that group. They look for young (usually under 25) athletes who have an Olympic standard and show promising progression that would lead to attaining a medal in Olympics or World Championship. In our event, as well as a few others, they are a little more lenient with having to have the Olympic standard but they will be looking for substantial progression in their performance profile.

We have in the past been able to use the Domestic Competitive Opportunity for any of our Domestic races that I could make a case for. The purpose of this benefit is to have several athletes be able to come together to push one another to an Olympic standard. We should have it be mainly the Olympic distances but a)- we don’t have that many 20K’s and certainly not 50K’s b) even if we did, our athletes probably would not want to race that many 20K’s. What we really need to do, is come up with 4 standard races that our Tier 4 and Development funded athletes can be reimbursed for. Under consideration:

-Penn Relays (5K for women, 10k for Men),-15K - This is probably the most important distance and often they will extend to a 20K-10K

-30K- Traditionally many S. American countries come to this pulling our athletes along and they extend to a 50K

-20K's held within the 50K

We also need to look into utilizing the Sports Performance Workshops. In past years, we have had our own RW workshops and more recently our athletes joining other events in a collective workshop. This past year, established workshop dates were in conflict with the RW schedule.

Here is a look at the 2017 benefits:

What is new, is the formation of a Talent Protection Program in Tier 3. Unfortunately, we do not have anyone who falls in this category. This program is hoped to remedy good athletes that fall off their performance or disappear after college. They have that support system in college but their first year out they flounder. This is supposed to retain these athletes by giving support.

They will be identified and invited 1st year out of college.

Here is what it entails just so you are knowledgeable about it:

-Must have 2 marks better than Olympic standard

-Be ranked in top 25 World/10US

-Compete Ind and Outdoor Championships

-Attend announced meetings

- Have a Health Profile done, submit to two blood tests

-Designate a primary coach that USATF approves.

In return they get: $16,000 paid quarterly, $3000 medical stipend, reimbursement for up to 4 Domestic Competitive Opportunities, EAHI, access to ST Vincent’s and NormaTec boots.

Respectfully submitted,

Maryanne Daniel

Coaching Education Ian Whatley

The 2015-16 period was used to experiment with online coaching resources. A 5 minute introduction to RW technique video was recorded and shared on YouTube where it had about 65,000 views. Local HS and JO teams in Sc were given the address. As a result, the field sizes for both the HS and JO events increased and there was a substantial reduction in the number of DQs. A new training video with better production values has been uploaded to allow expansion of the effort. There are now about 12 videos gathered on a single playlist that easily be shared with coaches or athletes.

Association chairs are encouraged to share this link with coaches at HS, JO, club and NAIA teams. Please ask that they subscribe to the channel so that they will see new videos as they are added: tinyurl.com/walk2020

During the coming year, I hope to produce and upload videos on sport psychology for racewalkers, and a video explaining how running coaches can apply their knowledge to the coaching of racewalkers. Thanks to the efforts of John Nunn and Talia Mark, we have been invited to provide material for inclusion in the Run-Jump-Throws program. I am working on producing this.

2016 Annual Meeting Reports

Michael Roth

USA Race Walking Grand Prix

I reassumed the Grand Prix Coordinator duties this year. Significant issues with the Series continue to exist. No one seems interested in making the changes necessary to alleviate them.

 Online entries: Many of the races still do not use the USATF entry system. This makes pre-race publicity almost impossible and brands our Series as amateur in a sport that should be professional.  Results: Many of the races still are scored manually and results are routinely not delivered to USATF or the GP Coordinator in a timely fashion or consistent with accepted results reporting formats for individuals and teams. This make scoring the Series difficult and makes post-race publicity nearly impossible.  Scoring: The Masters events are supposed to be Age Graded. There does not exist an up to date calculator with the current scoring tables for RW events build anywhere. There are updated scoring tables, but no explanation of the mathematical formula has ever been provided. The available calculators fail to offer an option for scoring the 1 Hour event in any manner. It is still TBD how this will be resolved for the 2016 Masters division in the Series.

Solutions offered:

 Online entries through the USATF entry system will be mandatory for all Series events in 2017 and going forward for all standalone Series events. This will be the only method of entry permitted. Entries will close 1 calendar week before the race so that publicity can be done.  Results: All races will use computerized scoring starting in 2017. All results will be emailed to the GP Coordinator within 2 hours of the last finisher and will include compiled team scoring. Without this, the event will not be scored in the Series.  Scoring: A working calculator with updated scoring tables for all events in the Masters Series will be provided, or the Masters Series will not be scored.

USATF Race Walking Website

I assumed the duties of updating and maintaining the USATF Race Walking Website content at the same time as the Grand Prix. There have been many ongoing challenges there as well. These challenges are completely and 100% a result of a lack of professional behavior by the USATF staff. Simply, there is no real interest in updating our content at all. This is nothing new, it has been going on since the website was first designed. USATF has a list of priorities and taking care of the needs of the Race Walking Committee is simply at the bottom of the list. The newly hired staff seem nice and helpful when they do reply, but the follow through is not there and many requests for content changes and event listings were never completed.

High School Race Walking

The 2015-16 High School Race Walking season rank as one of the best since statistics were tabulated stating in 2000. Included below are the highlights of the year. These are the athletes that USATF needs to guide through the process to becoming International level athletes & who have the potential to become medal winners.

 Second year that the event was listed as part of the HS Rankings in Track & Field News for the Mile. 5 deep lists for Indoors and Overall were printed and posted online.  The Boys saw the 2nd highest number of ranked performances across all events for both the Indoor and Outdoor seasons.  The Girls had the 5th highest number of ranked performances Indoors and 4th highest number Outdoors.  Highest number of ranked Boys & Girls at 1500m Outdoors.  States with Ranked Athletes - 10 Indoors & 16 Outdoors  HS Records set at the following distances: Indoor 1500m Junior: 6:35.16 3/5/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY Indoor Mile Freshman: 6:43.88 3/13/16 Juan Moscoso Longwood, FL National: 6:57.36 3/12/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY NSAF Meet: 6:57.36 3/12/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY Junior: 6:57.36 3/12/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY Outdoor 1500m Freshman: 6:22.34 6/17/16 Juan Moscoso Longwood, FL National: 6:52.23 6/17/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY Meet: 6:52.23 6/17/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY Junior: 6:52.23 6/17/16 Lauren Harris Sachem East, NY Outdoor 10000m Senior: 49:31.88 7/19/16 Anali Cisneros Elgin, IL

 All-time Ranked Performances: 1500m Indoors Boys 5:55.49 Cameron Haught (17 Yellow Springs, OH) 6:22.86 AJ Gruttadauro (16 Brockport, NY) Girls 6:35.16 Lauren Harris (17 Sachem East, NY) 6:49.32 MariaAngelica Garcia (16 North Rockland, NY) 6:54.68 Anali Cisneros (16 Elgin, IL) 6:55.54 Kelsey Jordan (17 Westhampton Beach, NY) 6:56.40 Amelia Cuomo (17 Brewster, NY) 6:59.72 Nayeli Cisneros (17 Elgin, IL) Mile Indoors Boys 6:15.77 Cameron Haught (17 Yellow Springs, OH) Girls 6:57.36 Lauren Harris (17 Sachem East, NY) 7:11.14 Anali Cisneros (16 Elgin, IL) 7:15.38 MariaAngelica Garcia (16 North Rockland, NY) 7:23.92 Kayla Allen (17 Lewiston, ME) 3000m Indoors Boys 12:49.66 Cameron Haught (17 Yellow Springs, OH) 13:41.11 AJ Gruttadauro (16 Brockport, NY) 14:30.54 Juan Moscoso (19 Longwood, FL) Girls 14:37.40 Kayla Allen (17 Lewiston, ME) 14:50.7 Taylor Ewert (20 Beavercreek, OH) 15:05.17 Maeghan Allen (17 Arlington, MA) 15:29.51 Tara Mandel (17 Farmingdale, NY) 15:29.78 Melissa Endy (17 Westfield, NJ) 1500m Outdoors Boys 6:19.56 AJ Gruttadauro (16 Brockport, NY) 6:22.34 Juan Moscoso (19 Longwood, FL) 6:32.16 Spencer Dunn (16 Edward Little, ME) Girls 6:23.32 Lauren Harris (17 Sachem East, NY) 6:53.80 Amy Petrocelli (17 Hauppauge, NY) 6:55.31 Kelsey Jordan (17 Westhampton Beach, NY) 6:56.28 MariaAngelica Garcia (16 North Rockland, NY) 6:57.76 Elisabeth Barnett (16 Bay Shore, NY) Mile Outdoors Girls 6:52.23 Lauren Harris (17 Sachem East, NY) 7:29.42 MariaAngelica Garcia (16 North Rockland, NY) 3000m Outdoors Girls 14:35.80 Anali Cisneros (16 Elgin, IL) 14:46.35 Amberly Melendez (16 Edinburg, TX) 5000m Outdoors Girls 24:33.17 Anali Cisneros (16 Elgin, IL) 10000m Outdoors Boys 43:55.0 Cameron Haught (17 Yellow Springs, OH) 46:33.0 AJ Gruttadauro (16 Brockport, NY) Girls 49:31.88 Anali Cisneros (16 Elgin, IL) 52:29.0 Kayla Allen (17 Lewiston, ME)

 New State Records set at the following distances in their respective states: o 1500m Indoors – 10 o Mile Indoors – 5 o 3000m Indoors – 6 o 1500m Outdoors – 3 o Mile Outdoors – 4 o 3000m Outdoors – 9 o 5000m Outdoors – 2 o 10000m Outdoors - 3  Work between the NC and SC Associations with the NSAF has helped to change the NB Outdoor Nationals Championship distance from 1 Mile to 3000m to give HS athletes experience racing at longer distances to prepare for Collegiate, National and International level competition.  Both NC and SC Associations are working with their respective HS Coaches Associations to add the Race Walk into the program of events contested at their State Championships. Georgia is a future possibility to add the event, if their work continues as well.

2016 Performance Lists M20km

Rank Name Team Time Location Event Date 1 John Nunn US Army 1:25:37 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Nunn 1:26:12 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 2 Trevor Barron NYAC 1:27:28 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 3 Nick Christie UNA 1:27:44 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 4 Emmanuel Corvera UNA 1:28:58 Santee, CA Santee Trials Invite 2/21 - Corvera 1:29:07 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Christie 1:29:47 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Corvera 1:29:56 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 5 John Cody Risch Q Elite 1:30:16 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Corvera 1:30:31 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 6 Anthony Peters St Ambrose 1:31:19 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 - Risch 1:31:48 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 7 Matt Forgues UNA 1:33:16 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Peters 1:33:34 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 8 Michael Mannozzi Shore AC 1:33:40 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Peters 1:34:54 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Forgues 1:35:00 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Peters 1:35:04.77 San Salvador, ELS NACAC U23 7/17 - Forgues 1:35:42 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 9 Joel Pfahler UNA 1:38:10 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 10 Steven Washburn UNA 1:38:55 Sydney, AUS NSW Team Walks 5/20 - Pfahler 1:40:05 Kenosha, WI PAC Spring Walks 4/26 11 Matt De Witt Parkside AC 1:40:29 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 12 Jonathan Hallman Shore AC 1:40:40 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 13 Richard Luettchau Shore AC 1:41:00 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Pfahler 1:41:45 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Mannozzi 1:42:38 , CAN Art Keay 5/29 - De Witt 1:44:49 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 14 Dave Talcott Shore AC 1:45:01 Whiting, NJ 20km Masters 4/9 - Pfahler 1:45:31 Toronto, CAN Art Keay 5/29 - Talcott 1:45:58 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Washburn 1:46:21.86 San Salvador, ELS NACAC U23 7/17 - Talcott 1:46:10 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 15 Ian Whatley Warrior TC 1:46:22 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 16 Pablo Gomez Chicago Walkers 1:46:37 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - De Witt 1:46:59 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 17 Doug Hutcherson Central Methodist 1:47:57 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Talcott 1:48:33 Naumburg, GER Naumburg 5/22 18 David Swarts Pegasus AC 1:49:00 Whiting, NJ 20km Masters 4/9 - Swarts 1:49:00 Kenosha, WI PAC Spring Walks 4/26 - Hallman 1:49:40 Toronto, CAN Art Keay 5/29 - Whatley 1:50:04 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Swarts 1:50:14 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Swarts 1:50:32 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 19 Emilio Mancha Elgin Sharks 1:50:54 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 20 Cameron Haught SWOTC 1:52:46 Dayton, OH Mortland 4/17 21 John Soucheck Shore AC 1:54:53 Whiting, NJ 20km Masters 4/9 22 Dan O'Brien Pegasus AC 1:57:51 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 23 Mark Green Pegasus AC 1:58:10 Whiting, NJ 20km Masters 4/9

U23 U20

W20km

Rank Name Team Time Location Event Date 1 Maria Michta-Coffey Oiselle/WalkUSA 1:30:49 Nomi, JPN IAAF RW Challenge 3/20 2 Miranda Melville Skechers/NYAC 1:31:42 Nomi, JPN IAAF RW Challenge 3/20 - Michta-Coffey 1:33:36 Rio de Janeiro, BRA Olympic Games 8/19 - Michta-Coffey 1:33:41 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Melville 1:34:10 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 - Melville 1:34:12 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Michta-Coffey 1:34:46 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Melville 1:35:48 Rio de Janeiro, BRA Olympic Games 8/19 - Melville 1:37:21 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 3 Erin Gray Boweman TC 1:37:42 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 4 Katie Burnett UNA 1:39:41 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Burnett 1:41:13 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 5 Theresa Vaill Pegasus AC 1:41:39 Kenosha, WI PAC Spring Walks 4/26 6 Robyn Stevens Skechers/Wolfpack RC 1:41:44 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Burnett 1:43:05 Monterrey, MEX Mexican Champs 6/3 7 Sam Cohen WRRT 1:43:09 Kenosha, WI PAC Spring Walks 4/26 - Burnett 1:43:22 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 - Cohen 1:43:41 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 8 Melissa Moeller UNA 1:44:13 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Stevens 1:44:32 Santee, CA Santee Trials Invite 2/21 9 Molly Josephs MoBap 1:45:05 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 10 Erin Taylor-Talcott ShoreAC 1:45:51 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 11 Susan Randall ShoreAC 1:45:55 Dudince, SVK IAAF RW Challenge 3/19 - Moeller 1:46:28 Kenosha, WI PAC Spring Walks 4/26 - Josephs 1:46:34 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Michta-Coffey 1:46:42.8 Farmingville, NY USATF-LI 5/22 12 Loretta Schuellein-McGovern WCR 1:46:43.3 Farmingville, NY USATF-LI 5/22 - Gray 1:46:51 Rome, ITA World Team 5/7 13 Jennifer Lopez St Ambrose 1:47:07 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Moeller 1:47:09 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Randall 1:47:36 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 - Randall 1:47:57 Kenosha, WI PAC Spring Walks 4/26 - Taylor-Talcott 1:48:05 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Cohen 1:48:10 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 14 Katie Michta WalkUSA 1:48:11 St Louis, MO USA Team Trials 4/3 15 Stephanie Casey UNA 1:48:36.7 Banks, OR USATF Oregon 5/1 16 Chelsea Conway ShoreAC 1:48:45 Whiting, NJ 20km Masters 4/9 - Lopez 1:49:46 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Casey 1:49:47.4 Portland, OR OR Last Chance 6/5 - Stevens 1:50:24 Chihuahua, MX IAAF RW Challenge 3/6 17 Jill Cobb SWOTC 1:50:30 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Schuellein-McGovern 1:50:37 Whiting, NJ 20km Masters 4/9 - Schuellein-McGovern 1:50:46 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Stevens 1:52:08 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Melville 1:52:34 Santee, CA Santee Trials Invite 2/21 - Michta 1:52:43 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Randall 1:53:59 Salem, OR Olympic Trials 6/30 - Casey 1:57:14 Beaverton, OR RWNW 20k 3/20

U23 U20

M50km

Rank Name Team Time Location Event Date 1 John Nunn US Army 4:03:21 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 - Nunn 4:16:15 Rio de Janeiro, BRA Olympic Games 8/19 2 Nick Christie UNA 4:22:31 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 - Christie 4:24:55 Rome, ITA World Team 5/8 3 Steven Washburn UNA 4:28:20 Rome, ITA World Team 5/8 4 Michael Mannozzi Shore AC 4:31:47 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 5 Matthew Forgues Maine RW 4:33:59 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 - Mannozzi 4:39:33 Rome, ITA World Team 5/8 - Washburn 4:40:42 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 6 Ian Whatley Warriors TC 4:48.36.2 Greenville, SC SC Open 3/19 - Whatley 4:53:06 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 7 Jonathan Matthews Shore AC 5:03:26 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 8 Pablo Gomez Chicago Walkers 5:05:14 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 9 Dave Talcott Shore AC 5:21:29 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 10 Omar Nash SWOhioTC 5:23:59 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21 11 Dave McGovern WCR 5:31:25 Santee, CA 50km OT 2/21

U23

W50km

Rank Name Team Time Location Event Date 1 Erin Taylor-Talcott Shore AC 4:44:26 Santee, CA 50km Champs 2/21 - Taylor-Talcott 4:51:08 Rome, ITA World Team 5/8 2 Loretta Schuellein-McGovern WCR 5:15:55 Santee, CA 50km Champs 2/21 3 Susan Armenta ARC RC 5:27:41 Santee, CA 50km Champs 2/21 4 Kathryn Grimes RW NW 5:53:06 Santee, CA 50km Champs 2/21

Submitted by Michael Roth

Despite 2016 featuring no IAAF World Cross Country Championship and athletes focusing on the 2016 Rio Olympics, there were some real highlights this year with the USA Cross Country program.

Garrett Heath and Amy Van Alstine each claimed gold at December’s USATF National Club Cross Country Championships at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Hoka One One Northern Arizona Elite won the open men’s team championships, while the Athletic Association won the open women’s team title. Kevin Castille (M40+) , Rick Becker (M60+), and Sonja Friend-Uhl were the fastest masters in their respective races, while Castile (91.52%), Becker (90.77%), and Kathryn Martin (95.64%) were tops on Age Grading.

Garrett Heath came back a month later to upset Great Britain’s to win the senior men’s race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge. Amy Van Alstine placed sixth in the senior women’s race, while Philip Roacha and Katie Rainsberger each finished fifth in their respective junior races. Team USA (232 points) finished third behind the hosts Team GB (125 points) and Team Europe (197 points). Craig Lutz won his first national title in the Open Men’s race at the USA Cross Country Championships in Bend, Oregon, while Mattie Suver won the Open Women’s race ahead of Amy Van Alstine. Thomas Pollard and Melissa Berry won their respective junior races. Grace Padilla and Jacques Sallberg were fastest of the day in the Masters races, with Jo Anne Rowland and Rick Becker taking wins in the Age Graded competition.

Allison Morgan (Senior Women) and Don Cowart (Senior Men) won gold at the APA Pan American Championships in Caraballeda, Venezuela to lead Team USA to team wins in those races. Thomas Pollard claimed silver to lead the Team USA Junior Men to Team Gold, while Claire Graves finished 12th to lead Team USA to bronze in the team standings.

Tallahassee will host both the November 6 USA Masters 5km Cross Country Championships and the December 10 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships. Team USA will compete at the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country on January 7. The USA Cross Country Championships return to Bend (Oregon) on February 4 with what’s expected to be a record-setting prize money purse. Athletes will select themselves at the Bend race to represent Team USA at the March 26 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda.

2016 also marks my 13th and final year as Chair of the Cross Country Council. There are so many people that I need to thank that I can’t list them all here, but I do want to single out a few: First I want to thank my mentors Doris Heritage, Anne Phillips, and Bill Roe who have guided me over the years with word and action. I’d like to thank Thom Hunt (current Vice Chair), Paul Greer (Secretary), Bill Quinlisk (Masters LDR Representative), and Fred Finke (International Teams) for their long term service to the Council. I’d also like to express special thanks to Carole Langenbach (past Masters LDR Representative) for her service during my early tenure, to Bob Larsen and Joe Vigil for their wisdom and advice, and to Bob Latham and Rick Rothman for their hard work over the last few years. And thanks to all of you who have supported me during my “baker’s dozen” years at the helm of the Cross Country Council.

Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council Annual Report 2016

Mountain/Ultra/Trail are three disciplines which fall under the umbrella of Long Distance Running (LDR) and each attracts runners of all ages and abilities who enjoy the adventure and challenge inherent in our sport. Below find a few highlights from 2016, which include many podium finishes for our international teams. A summary follows. Team and Individual Medals for  Mountain Running Team (NACAC) in Mexico = Team gold women; Team silver men; women individual gold and silver; individual men silver;  Mountain Running Team (World Champs) in Bulgaria = Team gold senior men; team bronze senior women; senior men individual gold. Read below for additional details on our teams.

Congratulations to our 2016 athletes of the week from the Mountain Ultra Trail division: Megan Roche, Joseph Gray, and Andy Wacker.

Social Media/Communication: Our council continues to expand our marketing reach and to spread the USATF brand. During the year, we kept our fans up to date on the results of all Mountain Ultra Trail Championships via social media, including live Twitter updates from the World Mountain Running Championships and also from some of our USA Championships. Visit Mountain Ultra Trail at the following: Facebook: www.facebook.com/usatfmut; Twitter: www.twitter.com/usmrt; Web: www.usmrt.com; Web: www.usaultrarunning.com, www.facebook.com/pages/USA- 100km-Team Thanks to Richard Bolt, we have also hosted successful Google Hangouts and will continue to use this platform to promote our sport.  US Mountain Running Team (@usmrt) on Twitter: 2100 followers in 2013; 3114 in 2014; 4715 in 2016  USA Ultrarunning (@USAultrarunning) on Twitter: 800 followers in 2013; 1585 in 2014; 3547 in 2016  US Mountain Running Team on Google+: 61,000 followers  USATF Mountain Ultra Trail on Facebook: 1600 followers in 2013; 2436 in 2014; 3340 in 2015; 3949 in 2016

Our leadership reviews and responds to missives from the national office staff, LDR committees, and our constituents. We, through our council and executive committee (EC includes: Michael Wardian, Maria Dalzot, Brandy Erholtz, Traci Falbo, Max King, Joe Fejes, Eric Blake, Alex Varner, Richard Bolt, Roy Pirrung, Howard Nippert, Joe Jurcyzk and Nancy Hobbs) keep up to date with rule changes that affect our athletes included those established by the IAAF, the IAU, and the WMRA. We are fortunate to have U.S. representatives on both the WMRA and IAU councils. We have a cohesive group which includes our council and executive committee, each of whom are dedicated to our sport and look forward to continued growth, awareness, and promotion of our many programs in 2017 and beyond.

Associations are encouraged to add Mountain Ultra Trail disciplines to their LDR program and to consider hosting a trail, mountain, or ultra championship event at the association, national, or international level. Contact the Mountain Ultra Trail chair or a member of the Council for suggestions and support with starting a program in your association.

Championships: Our championship program encompasses a wide range of distances. The largest USATF presence was at our USA Mountain Running Championships, yet all of our championships had an increase in USATF participation over the past year. Championships in 2016, included – at the sub-ultra distances –mountain, ,30km (new in 2016) and marathon, and ultra distance – 50km road, 50km trail, 50 mile road, 50 mile trail, 100km road, 100km trail, 100 mile trail, 24 Hours. Championships Awarded for 2017 and Beyond (all for open and masters, men and women). 2017 100km Trail Bandera (January 7) 100 Mile trail Rocky Racoon (February 4) 50 Mile Trail Cayuga (June 3) 50 Mile Road Tussey MountainBack (October) 50km Road Caumsett (March 5) Mountain Cranmore Mountain Race (June 3)

2018 100km Trail Bandera (January) 100 Mile trail Rocky Racoon (February) 50km Road Caumsett (March 4) We anticipate additional 2017 and 2018 bids prior to the 2016 Annual Meeting.

Trail and Mountain Running Teams The 14th mountain running national championship event was held at Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, NH, which also hosted the U.S. Mountain Running Team selection race for our US Mountain Running Team as well as the 3rd annual Collegiate Mountain Running Championships. The junior team continues to be selected based on resumes and the team staff continued its outreach to the running community, including the addition of several college and high school programs which have expressed interest in providing candidates for our junior teams. This year a record number of candidates applied. At the 32nd World Mountain Running Championships in Sapareva Banya, more than 32 countries participated. Team USA had medal-winning results led by Joseph Gray with an individual gold for the senior men, leading the squad to its first- ever gold-medal team performance. Teammates included Hayden Hawks, Brett Hales, Andy Wacker, David Fuentes, and Matt Daniels. There were 22 teams competing in the senior men’s division.. On the senior women’s side, all four of the team members were newcomers. Kim Nedeau led the women (Addie Bracy, Ladia Albertson-Junkans, and ), to a bronze medal with her 9th place finish. Team USA was the first of the 13 women’s teams to finish all four team members. The junior men narrowly missed bronze with an equal score to that of France, but the French team’s third scoring member bested our third scoring member. Joseph Benson was first to score for the U.S. juniors in 12th place, followed by Phillip Roca in 16th, Eduardo Herrera in 22nd. Returning team member Ben Butler, finished in 27th. The junior women - Claire Graves, Soleil Gaylord, Sarah Harmon -- were in a rebuilding year and finished in 10th position among the teams. This year’s team staff included Richard Bolt, Ellen Miller, and Paul Kirsch. The 33rd World Mountain Running Championships will be held on an up/down course in Premana, Italy, on July 30, 2016. At the 13th NACAC Mountain Running Championships hosted by Mexico in Tepatitlan, with Mexico, Canada, and USA fielding teams. Team USA women – Megan Roche, Ladia Albertson-Junkans, and Mandy Ortiz, earned gold. The men’s team was comprised of mountain team veterans Josh Eberly, Ryan Bak, JP Donovan, and Andy Wacker. The men’s team earned a silver medal. Richard Bolt was the team leader and Nancy Hobbs was on site to represent the WMRA and assist with team duties. The date and venue for the 14th NACAC Mountain Running Championships has not yet been announced. The 13th World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships were held at the Gorski Marathon in Slovenia with 14 complete men’s teams and 9 complete women’s teams. The U.S. team – up to five run per gender with three to score – included Megan Kimmel, Anita Ortiz, Camelia Mayfield, and Kristina Pattison, and Maria Dalzot for the women, Andy Wacker, Peter Maksimow, Mario Mendoza, Matt Shryock and Ted Farley for the men. The women finished in fourth position, the men in fifth. Jason Bryant and Nancy Hobbs comprised the team staff. U.S. teams won silver for the men and bronze for the women with Andy Wacker placing second among the men overall. The 14th World Long Distance Championships will be hosted at Premana, Italy, on August 6, 2017. Already earning spots on the 2017 US Team: Mario Mendoza, Joseph Gray, Megan Kimmel and Alicia Shay. The top male and female finishers at our USA Marathon Trail Championships on November 5, 2016, will also be named to the team.

100 km Team The 29th IAU 100km World Championships will be held on November 27, 2016, in Los Alcazares, Spain. Team staff: Lin Gentling, Tim Yanacheck, and Dr. Lion Caldwell. Women’s Team: Camille Herron, Sarah Bard, Meghan Arbogast, Traci Falbo, and Pam Smith Men’s Team: Geoff Burns, Joe Binder, Patrick Reagan, Zach Bitter, Matt Flaherty, and Chikara Omine

Los Alcazares, a small coastal spa town and former fishing village in SE Spain has about 16,000 year round inhabitants. It borders on Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon and connecting to the adjacent Mediterranean Sea.The 10K loop course in Los Alcazares, is a flat and traffic-free course, that will lead the runners through the town of Los Alcazares and along the promenade by the beach. With the 50K and 100K championships being held within three weeks of one another, some team members who qualified and were selected for both teams were forced to make a choice between the two events realizing that a best effort could only happen at a single event. As a result of these choices, this year’s 100K team shows tremendous promise. The men are fielding the fastest team in history with three members having run 6:44 or better within the last 18 months and all 6 men have run 7:02 or better within the same time period. The women’s 2015 100K world champion, Camille Herron, will be returning, and will be backed up with a tremendously strong women’s team, all of whom are very seasoned at international competition. This team is the reigning team world champion and all three top US 100K female runners will be returning to the 2016 event. It will take a continued top effort to achieve the top of the podium, but both the men’s and women’s teams have the ability to do so. As well, both teams have great potential to place individual USA runners on the podium, based on the results from the 2015 100K. Team USA is looking forward to another great effort, hoping to continue to dominate the sport.

24 Hours Team The 12th IAU 24 Hour World Championships will be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland on July 1-2, 2017. The team staff will include: Dr. Andy Lovy, team leader Howard Nippert, and assistant team leader Zane Holscher.

Other International Competitions The 2nd IAU Trail Running Championships will be held in Geres, Portugal, with the event distance 85km on October 29. Competing this year will be Alex Varner, Jared Burdick, Tyler Sigl, and Mario Mendoza for the men and Corrine Malcom, YiOu Wang, and Larisa Dannis for the women. Richard Bolt is the team leader and Nancy Hobbs is the assistant team leader. The 2017 IAU Trail Championships will be on June 10, 2017 in Badia Prataglia, Italy with a distance of approximately 50km. The 2018 event will be in Penyagolosa, Spain the second weekend in May.

Earning spots on the 2017 team thus far are Megan Roche and Cody Reed. The top male and female finisher at each of the following events: The North Face 50 Mile on December 3; and the Chuckanut 50k on March 18, 2017, will also earn a spot on the team as will the top US male and female at this year’s IAU Trail Championships.

The 50km World Championship will take place in Doha, Qatar on November 11. The team includes Anthony Migliozzi, Tyler Andrews, Charles Fredrick Joslyn, Brian Morseman, Eric Senseman, Thomas Puzey and Chris Raulli for the men; Caroline Boller, Caitlin Smith, Claudia Becque, Heather Tanner, Sarah Cummings, Adrian Chouinard, and Laura Johnson for the women. Susan Dun is the Team Leader. International competitions are also available for masters athletes for mountain, trail, and ultra runners. Visit www.wmra.info and www.iau-ultramarathon.org for details.

Team Invitational In an effort to bring a new level of competition for the ultra audience and to stimulate interest in high-level team competition for brands, MUT’s executive committee with former committee member Kami Semick taking the lead, created the USA Ultra Team Invitational with the first event in the program held at The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile, on Saturday December 5, 2015. The second Team Invitational was held at Lake Sonoma 50 Miler in April 9, 2016.

To make this an inclusive event for the ultra running community, USATF membership is encouraged but not required; International athletes are welcome to score for their team; Competing athletes will be asked to sign a zero tolerance statement regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs. The objectives of the invitational are to: Increase the depth of competition in ultra competitions; Further encourage participation in the sport; Increase spectator opportunities and interest; Further deepen the relationship between USATF and the elite ultra running athletes which will help USATF field the highest quality team for World-level competitions.

The upcoming invitational is slated for The Rut 50km, Big Sky Resort, Montana September 2017.

Collegiate Running Association Promoting Healthy Lifestyles Among College Students Through Running The Collegiate Running Association (CRA) continued its growth in 2016. In its 3rd year the organization hosted two championships (3rd Annual Collegiate 10K RR in Richmond, VA and a 3rd Annual Collegiate Mountain Running Championships in Lincoln, NH). In its first three years the organization has held 8 collegiate national championships in road, mountain and trail running, has awarded over $63,000 in prize money and travel compensation specifically for college students taking at least on college course at any level and opened opportunities for college students within disciplines not offered through other preexisting organizations. Among the many highlights in 2016 included: - 2015 CRA Athlete of the Year Joe Gray won the 2016 World Mountain Running Championship, led USA to a gold medal as a team and multiple USATF Championships. - 2015 CRA Athlete of the Year, Megan Roche claimed the North American, Central American, and Caribbean Mountain Championships and several USATF National titles. - 2014 CRA 10K RR Champion, won the silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (5,000M) - 2014 CRA Athlete of the Year, Kellyn Taylor placed 4th in the 2016 USA Olympic Team Trials (10K), sixth in the marathon and 12th in the 5K. - Multiple CRA members qualified for the 2016 USA Olympic Team Trials. - Hosted the Pole Green Park 5K which served as the USATF-VA XC Championships for the third consecutive year. To learn more about the Collegiate Running Association or sponsorship opportunities, visit www.collegiaterunning.org or contact us at [email protected]

Snowrunning Mountain Ultra Trail council members have been meeting for the past four years with members of the US Snowshoe Association including President Mark Elmore. In addition, meetings – formal and informal – have also been conducted with LDR division leaders, USATF staff, and the MUT executive committee. The goal at our Annual Meeting in 2015 was to formally include snowrunning (encompassing snowshoes and traction devices as well as simply “running on snowy terrain,” into the broader category) as part of our program having deferred the decision from 2014’s Annual Meeting in order to get rules and guidelines set up for the discipline. MUT representatives attended the 2016 USSSA National Championships in Utah, and the 2017 venue will be Bend, Oregon. There is nothing solidified at present regarding this topic.

Special appreciation is extended to our enthusiastic and very active Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council and Executive Committee for their efforts to bring more visibility to our three running disciplines within USATF. We have had increased support and visibility from the national office staff and thank everyone in for their dedication to our disciplines this past year.

Submitted October 24, 2016, by Nancy Hobbs, Chairperson, with input from the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council and Executive Committee.

Gene Newman’s 2016 RRTC Chair’s Report

The RRTC continues to inject new people into our network of measurers and Certifiers. In 2015 at this time we have 99 New Measurers and in 2016 we have 54 New Measurers at this point in time. We continue to encouraged our Regional Certifiers to find people and train them and this appears to be working

Our Education and Training Chair had two Workshops One was at the Annual Meeting in Houston and the other was held in one of the Southern States.

More Education for measurers Mike Wickiser, Pete Riegel, Bernie Conway and Jim Gilmer did a workshop in Ohio. The goal was to help those participants better understand the finer points of measuring.

The list of our new Final Signatories is now posted online. The new FS for 2016 are Ron Grayson, Gary Meyers and Dave Rogers.

New IAAF appointments for 2016 are as Follows: Mark Neal(A), Logan Burgess(A) and Ken Hardwick(B)

Recommended IAAF appointments for 2017 are as Follows: Ney Marquez(A), David Heithaus(A), Ken Lowden(B), Doug Jones(B) and Nathan Porch(B)

Retirement was Gene Newman as Course Registrar: After doing this for eight years and recording over 21,500 course, I decided to retire. Jane Parks has accepted this position and is doing a great job.

Below are RRTC people who resigned during this year along with their Replacements: 1. Scott Hubbard as Michigan Regional Certifier replaced by Mark Neal. 2. Bill Belleville as PA Regional Certifier replaced by Nathan Porch. 3. Mark Neal as WA Regional Certifier replaced by Bob Brennand. 4. Everett McDowell as FL Regional Certifier replaced by Toni Youngman. 5. Toni Youngman as LA & KY replaced by Dave Rogers Some other changes: 1. Our Data Officer position has been removed. 2. Logan Burgess is now our bookkepper/treasurer replacing Jane Parks.

US Olympic Marathon Trials: Thanks goes out to Ron Scardera, Mark Neal and Doug Thurston for all their efforts with measuring, verifying and validating the course.

Note: Rule change that effected our verification/validation process. IAAF had a Rule change that effects our verification/validation process. The old rule was 260.28 and the new rule is 260.21. It used to be the Original Measurer had to be on site the day of the race. Now the original measurer can appoint a person they trust to do the validation as long as they have all the paperwork.

Document for Championship Races: Our LDR Division Chair, presented us with a document that the Championship Races have been given. The document outlines their responsibilities. This should help our Validation Chair with the process of Verifications/Validation.

RRTC Ted Corbitt Award: We created a links to view Last Year’s winners at: 1. On our page at www.rrtc.net there's a link in the "About the Technical Council" section. 2. When viewing RRTC pages on the USATF site, there's a link in the left-hand column -- but you have to be viewing the RRTC "committee" pages, not the RRTC course certification pages. Jim Gilmer, Chaired the this committee for 2016 assisted by Gene Newman, Mike Wickiser and Carol McLatchie The Second Annual RRTC Ted Corbitt Award winners are: Bob Baumel, Alan Jones, David Katz, Tom Knight, Amy Morss, Robert Thurston and Ken Young.

RRTC Ted Corbitt Award Process for 2017 will be done as follows: a. Chair will ask the RRTC Officers for their selections (no more than three names) b. The top 5 nominess will then be asked for a brief bio(if Possible – deceased?) c. The Chair then submits these names and bios to the RRTC Officers and past winners, who vote. They will list three from the list, numbering in order of their preference. d. The top vote person or persons will be the award winner.

New Auto Fill Certificate created: Thanks to Ken Hardwick for updating the Auto Fill Certificate. Ken created an auto fill certificate for certain entries? As an example, when one enters the course length and elevations, then the drop and separation would fill automatically.

A new Map Making tool was created: Thanks to Mark Neal for his presentation of Open Office to make better maps. Several of our Certifiers and measurers have used this and found it easy to learn.

The number of courses Certified: At this point in time, we are about 15% down on our numbers. However, I believe there will be at least 2500 course certified.

Date of the race be on the Certificate? We decided to take it off.

The Application for Certification: Has been modified to be in the same order of filling out the certificate.

USATF Certified course logo: This has been modified and sent to our Regional Certifiers

New Statement on the USATF Search Engine “Maps may not be manipulated or modified from this site!”

IAAF Recommendations for 2016-17 Nathan Porch “B”, Ken Lowden B and Neyl Marquez “A” New IAAF measurers appointed Nov. 2016 , IAAF “A”: Mark Neal and Logan Burgess

Link on our web site to show US Active IAAF: Here is the link: http://www.usatf.org/Products-/-Services/Course-Certifications/USATF-Certified- Courses/IAAF-Measurers.aspx

Mark Neal created a link to make it easier to find a measurer my clicking on the US Map. It is  http://www.dukerdog.com/USATF/...p/Measurers-map.html

Respectfully submitted by Gene Newman, RRTC Chair

USA TRACK & FIELD

ORGANIZATIONAL SERVICES COMMITTEE

2016 ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

It has been another busy year for the Organizational Services Committee. Both election and site selection matters have been at the top of our agenda.

By the time that you have read this report, our Petitions Subcommittee headed by Win Eggers will have issued a nominations report with information about nominees for USATF President, LDR Divisional Chair, and three Board seats to be elected at the USATF annual meetings. Additional nominations for those positions may be made up to the opening session of the annual meetings.

There will also be many committee elections in Orlando. In fact, our committee already supervised the special election and selection of two temporary committee chairs over the summer.

We are working hard to ensure that the election process itself in Orlando will be a smooth one. Our Credentials Subcommittee headed by Herb Nichols is preparing for the credentialing of the delegates who will be voting, and our Elections Subcommittee headed by Ruth White is preparing for the balloting that will take place. The National Office and our committee have viewed a demonstration of the touch-screen state-of-the-art voting machines to be used, and we are excited at the prospect of using modern technology to have efficient and accurate vote this year using those machines. No hanging chads!

Meanwhile, our Site Selection Subcommittee (chaired by Wayne Roberts and me) worked with the National Office to review and recommend future sites for USATF annual meetings. Prior to this year, the Board had approved Columbus, OH as the site for the 2017 and 2018 annual meetings. We are happy to report that the Board has now approved the Grand Sierra in Reno, NV as the site for the 2019 and 2020 annual meetings. We note that the location differs in two important respects from the Reno site of our 2008 annual meeting. First, the Grand Sierra is located near the Reno Airport instead of Downtown Reno. Second, the Grand Sierra is shifting to a smoke-free environment and expected to be 100% smoke-free by the time of our annual meetings there.

Finally, I thank all of you for your support during these last eight years while I have served as Organizational Services Chair. As I transition to another (undetermined) role in USATF next year, I look forwards to seeing you in Orlando.

Respectfully Submitted,

Edward R. Koch

Organizational Services Chair