New Association Website Launched Last month USATF Virginia

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Allen Baker
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Winter 2014 Inside this issue: Contact Information 2 In Memory 3 Long Distance Running Report Junior Olympic Cross Country 3 4 Officials Corner 6 Race Walking Report 8 Final Stretch 9 New Association

We have a new format with much more information on it and a more user-friendly navigation process.

Some of the features that are included with the new site are: A Past Events page that will provide USATF Virginia with a historical page of past all championship events.

1 Winter 2014 Inside this issue: Contact Information 2 In Memory 3 Long Distance Running Report Junior Olympic Cross Country 3 4 Officials Corner 6 Race Walking Report 8 Final Stretch 9 New Association Website Launched Last month USATF Virginia launched its redesigned website. If you haven t been to the website lately, please take a look at it. We have a new format with much more information on it and a more user-friendly navigation process. The site is part of the USATF Network which allows us to more efficiently integrate and utilize the centralized USATF databases, data, and general infrastructure. Some of the features that are included with the new site are: A Past Events page that will provide USATF Virginia with a historical page of past all championship events. An Upcoming Events page to allow members to easily find links to information on upcoming events. Direct links to process memberships (club and individual) and event sanctions - all which can be submitted online now. Informational pages for Event Directors, Coaches, and Officials The address is still the same: Share Your Successes With Us This newsletter, news releases, and the USATF Virginia website serve as our main communication outlets. As we begin 2014 we are committed be promoting and celebrating the accomplishments of our members but we need your help to do this. As you compete in USA or Regional championships or set records in USATF VIRGINIA sanctioned events please take the time to send us the details (including quotes and photos) so we can share your accomplishments. Don t be bashful. You have earned the right for recognition and we want to tell everyone about it.we just need the information! Please send any newsworthy accomplishments to vatrackinfo@gmail.com

2 Page 2 USATF Virginia Contacts USATF Virginia Association 1541 Westshire Lane Richmond, VA Phone: Fax: Officers / Executive Committee Position Name President James G. Holdren, Jr jimholdren@aol.com Vice President Ray Funkhouser rfunkhouser@pbigordon.com Secretary Annette Sirica asirica@vcu.org Treasurer Tony Vaughan usatfvayouthchair@gmail.com Sport Committee Chairs Position Name LDR - Masters LDR - Cross Country Annette Sirica asirica@vcu.org LDR - Mountain, Ultra, Trail Howard Nippert howardnippert@yahoo.com Race Walking Ray Funkhouser rfunkhouser@pbigordon.com Track & Field - Masters Joe Mack jlmack@henrico.k12.va.us Keith Witherspoon keithwitherspoon@verizon.net Track & Field - Open Men Robert Disse coachdisse@gmail.com Track & Field - Open Women Benard Canady mantronixsports@gmail.com Youth Athletics Tony Vaughan usatfvayouthchair@gmail.com Disabled Athletes Administrative Committee Chairs Position Name Athlete Advisory Awards Budget & Finance Coaches Education Communications Tony Vaughan usatfvayouthchair@gmail.com Law & Legislation Ray Funkhouser rfunkhouser@pbigordon.com Membership Melissa Johnson tracknfieldnva@yahoo.com Officials Bill Anderson wand68351@aol.com Chris McCann jcmccann@metrorichmond.net Sanctions Jim Holdren jimholdren@aol.com Sports Medicine

Page 3 In Memoriam During this past year, we lost three very important people within our association.

Her services were held in the Virgin Islands. Faye LaPrade, wife of Vaughn LaPrade.

Long Distance Running The USA Masters 12 km Championships were held on Sunday, November 17 in Fairfax, Va. as part of the.us National Championship event.

Leading the way for the association was Perry Shoemaker, 42, of Vienna who was the first women to cross the line and won the 40-44 national title. Her time was 44:17.

Brenda Barrera (W50-54) and John Lovett (M40-44) each earned 3rd place finishes. Barrera, 51, of Williamsburg ran 1:02:57 and Lovett, 43 of Yorktown ran 46:19.

3 Page 3 In Memoriam During this past year, we lost three very important people within our association. If you know of anyone else that passed please send their names to vatrackinfo@gmail.com Beryl Ottley-Blyden, Flavel Blyden s mother, passed away recently. Her services were held in the Virgin Islands. Faye LaPrade, wife of Vaughn LaPrade. Faye had been a longtime avid supporter of high school and college track and field and of Vaughn s successful officiating carriers, in both boxing and track. Sandy Boyd, wife of Bill Boyd. Besides seeing her at big meets and the national meetings, most of you know you could always find Sandy running the registration area at the training clinics each year. Long Distance Running The USA Masters 12 km Championships were held on Sunday, November 17 in Fairfax, Va. as part of the.us National Championship event. Seven (7) athletes from USATF Virginia participated in Perry Shoemaker the championships with two claiming national titles. Leading the way for the association was Perry Shoemaker, 42, of Vienna who was the first women to cross the line and won the national title. Her time was 44:17. Also winning a national title was Pamela Lovett, 51, of Yorktown. Lovett ran 52:34 to win the title. Brenda Barrera (W50-54) and John Lovett (M40-44) each earned 3rd place finishes. Barrera, 51, of Williamsburg ran 1:02:57 and Lovett, 43 of Yorktown ran 46:19. David Henry III, 68, of Hollis, Va. ran 59:28 to place 4th in the championships. Saad Elmoutawakel (Chesapeake, Va.) was 5th in the division running 44:09. Gary Adkins, 63, ran 52:00 to place 6th in the championship. On November 23 the USATF Virginia Open and Masters Cross Country Championships were held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va. The event distance was 5 km. The field is growing in size and the meet was declared a success. From early comments, several of the runners will bring their friends along next year. Full results can be found on page 10. (Continued on page 10)

4 Page 4 Virginia Athletes Excel At National Junior Olympic XC Championships in San Antonio Fifty (50) athletes and five (5) teams from Virginia competed in the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on December 14 at the National Shooting Center in San Antonio, Texas. Over 3200 athletes competed in the twelve championship races. Eleven (11) athletes earned top 25 finishes to earn All-American status and four of the five teams finished in the top 5 with two finishing in the runner-up spot. All Virginia teams that competed were from the Richmond T&F Club. The top Virginia performances were turned in by Richmond TF Club teammates Julia Wood (Woodville, Va.), Diasy Banta (Richmond, Va.) and Mark Fleckenstein (Richmond, Va.). Wood finished 3rd in the girls race running 18:54 for 5 km. Banta was 4th in the girls race in a time of 19:31. Fleckenstein had the highest finish for the boys with his 4th place in the boys race. His time was 16:10. Other Virginia athletes finishing in the top 25 were: Paul Adam (Richmond T&F Club) 8th place boys Barron Kieffer (unattached) 10th place boys Emma Call (Richmond T&F Club) 15th place girls Amy Dunham (Richmond T&F Club) 17th place girls Ryan Buscaglia (Richmond T&F Club) 17th place boys Grayson Reid (Richmond T&F Club) 17th place boys Even Fisher (Richmond T&F Club) 21st place boys Malina Richardson (Richmond T&F Club) 24th place girls The Richmond T&F Club (RTFC) had five teams compete in the championships. Their boys and girls teams each placed second and earned silver medals and a coveted place on the awards podium. The boys team scored 42 points to finish a scant 6 points behind O'Brien's Army from California. The five team scorers were Mark Fleckenstein (4th place), Paul Adam (8th place) Grayson Reid, (17th place), Alexander Varon (26th place), and Grayson Morgan (31st place). The girl's team scored 52 points to trail the always strong Buffalo Chips team from California. The five scorers were Daisy Banta (4th place), Amy Dunham (17th place), Malina Richardson (24th place), Olivia Call (38th place), and Courtney Britt (45th place). The RTFC girls team also reached the awards podium with their 3rd place team finish. They scored 69 points; just 17 points behind second place (Equalizers TC of California) and 27 points behind the winning team (Buffalo Chips from California). The scoring members Julia Wood (3rd place), Emma Call (15th place), Susan Pokorny (47th place), Lindsay Lickers (53rd place), and Celia Wilson (57th place). The boy's team finished 5th in the team standings with 168 points. Their scorers were Ryan Buscaglia (17th place), Evan Fisher (21st place), Patrick Wachter (70th place), Matthew Rucker (91st place), and Logan Hager (102nd place). The boy's team finished 35th place. Their scorers were Daniel Christopher, Max Frankel, Evan Fritchett, Henry Roberts, and Blake Mason. The complete results of all Virginia runners who competed in San Antonio and select photos can be found on the USATF Virginia website. The complete results of all races are available on the USATF website. Next year's championships will be held on December 13 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

5 Page Julia Wood (3rd place girls) 2 - Mark Fleckstein (4th place boys) 3 - Richmond T& Club (2nd place girls team) 4 - Richmond T&F Club (All Americans) 5 - Richmond T& Club (2nd place boys team) 6 - Daisy Banta (4th place girls) 7 - Barron Kieffer (10th place boys)

6 Page 6 Officials Corner USATF Training Clinics Bill Boyd - Officials Training Chair An important portion of the certification process is attending a USATF certified training clinic. The finals dates and locations of the four regional clinics and the 1 Advance clinic will he in place and presented to a quorum of Virginia officials at the National Meeting in Indianapolis. The proposed 2014 Training Cycle Clinics sites & dates: Charlottesville Advanced Clinic (January) Central Region: U of Richmond (February) Northern Region: Robinson HS (February) Eastern Rgion: CNU (February) Western Region: Liberty U (February) Being a major rules change year for the VHSL requirements, we should anticipate a 5-hour clinic that will include time to discuss USATF and VHSL certification, 2014 rules changes, discussion of problem areas and of safety, race walk, cross country, and vertical jumps (high jump and pole vault). There was good attendance last year, but we need to increase our attendance. These clinics are usually attended by almost all of our Master and National level officials, and smaller portion of our Associate and Apprentice level officials. We, as an association, need to recruit and recapture many of our old officials that have not recertified to date. We also need to bring in and keep newer and younger officials into our group. Official s Certification Bill Anderson and Chris McCann - Officials Certification co-chairs Training and certification of officials is central to USATF's goal of ensuring fair and safe competitive opportunities for athletes. The training and certification processes promote a serious and professional approach to officiating and demonstrate an official's commitment to excellence. As an official gains experience, exposure to correct officiating practices, and additional training, USATF recognizes this skill development through progressive levels of certification. - from USATF s Officials Certification webpage As of November 30, 2013, our Virginia Association has 144 certified officials, consisting of: 26 Masters 31 National 38 Association 49 Apprentice Our officials continue to be very active officiating at many levels of competition around the country, but primarily in the Virginia area. Virginia usually has, at most, a handful of officials that have worked at National meets. During 2013, we have had an impressive increase, including several certified Virginia officials having their first exposure to USATF National Championships. As best we can tell, we had 15 different officials work these National meets. The National website has many resources labeled Best Practices. Please take time and read the information located at This is NOT meant to replace USATF training sessions. Again, the Virginia delegation will be discussing training goals while in Indianapolis. After plans are solidified, information will be passed to you. Stay tuned!! Further, Virginia provided crew chiefs at three of these meets. At first, we thought that this large number was directly attributable to the new certification rules towards advancement. Upon further review, we found that most of these officials are already Master level. It was very interesting to discover that each of the 4 certification levels was represented. We hope this is a start of a trend which will ultimately lead to visibility of the talent we have in Virginia, and possibly lead to more Virginia officials being selected for the big

7 Page 7 Officials Corner con t prestigious meets. Hopefully, this will then lead to more new officials going through the certification process. Our 15 officials are Bill Anderson, Blair Gardner, Chris McCann, Crosby Houston, Dan Woolley, Dana Madison, Gale Faulkner, Helen Clark, Joseph Hirn III, Karen Stowers, Karla Battle, Kevin Brooks, Melody Hundley, Ralph Snyder, and Ray Funkhouser. Re-Certification for Existing officials If you haven t done so, renew your USATF membership to receive your 2014 membership number. Renewal can be done quickly at this secured website: Use your 2013 number to log in, verify all your personal information is accurate, and pay the selected fee (for 1, 2, 3, or 4 years) with a VISA, Master Card, or Discover credit card or through an electronic withdrawal. You will receive your new membership number immediately. Also, as many of you have done already, please keep your resume updated. Many of the bigger meets will ask for your resume from the recent few years. It is also needed if you are ever attempting an upgrade, too. Certification for New Officials To become certified, there are very important things you have to do. At this time, we will not be providing details. We will be attending our National Meeting and will find out the latest details and changes, if any. After finding full details, we will present them in a future newsletter and s. The basics are below. 1. All officials must have USATF memberships - annual fee of $30. We encourage you to do the easiest and quickest way by using a VISA credit card on the internet at membership/application/. This will provide your 10-digit membership number immediately, which you will need on your application. 2. New officials are required to attend a USATFsponsored training clinic. The classes will stress the fundamentals of track officiating, rules changes from all three rules books, national mechanics, points of emphasis, and tips of the trade. See Training Clinics section in this newsletter. 3. You will need to complete an open rule book test. Details later. 4. You will also need to complete an application of personal information. 5. We will need a recent close-up digital photo of you (shoulders and above), which will be used for your badge photo. NOTE: Please notify the Certification co-chairs at vatrackinfo@gmail.com if you are interested, and we answer any other questions you have, and tell you where to send the forms listed above. Time will be allotted for paperwork and questions for new officials at the clinics. Awards to our officials Based upon membership totals, the Virginia Association is entitled to give out several National Outstanding Official Awards. These awards are given to provide an appreciation to officials for their dynamic officiating, contributions to the organization, and support to the athletes. The award is printed on parchment and signed by our National Officials Committee Chair and the USATF President. It is also embossed with the National Officials Commit (Continued on page 10)

8 Page 8 Race Walking News The Virginia Open Men s and Women s and Masters1500m Championship was held August 17 in Virginia Beach. Women's results Amber Horner Williamsburg, VA 8:52.50 (1 st Jr W) Paula Graham Virginia Beach, VA 10:08.22 (1 st W50-54) Lori Sherwood Portsmouth, VA 12:19.16 (1 st W45-49) Judy Paschall Virginia Beach, VA 13:41.71 (1 st W70-74) Men's results Tom Gerhardt Chesapeake, VA 8:25.27 (1 st M60-64) Hartley Dewey Virginia Beach, VA 10:43.81 (1 st M65-69) Richard Kole Virginia Beach, VA 11:25.55 (1 st M70-74) Richard Pidgeon Virginia Beach, VA 11:40.26 (Invited Guest) Dave Harrah Virginia Beach, VA 12:39.90 (2 nd M65-69) Bill Spruill Chesapeake, VA 12:41.23 (Invited Guest) The Open Men s and Women s along with the Masters Men s and Women s 1 Hour Association Championships was held in November in Virginia Beach. Results can be found on the USATF Virginia website under the Events tab. The Race Walk was also contested in the Association Open & Masters T&F Championships in June. The Virginia Association sponsored the 3,000m Race walk along with 2 other events in the first USATF Southeast Region Masters Indoor T&F Championship held this winter in Winston Salem, NC. Once again this year, the association was able to supply an adequate number of Race Walk Judges for all of the competitions that needed judges for youth, open, and masters. We received a report back from the National Senior Games where several of our association level officials worked. They were very complimentary of the quality of the officiating by our judges at the competition. Goals for 2014: This year we will look to increase that number by holding a special clinic on Race Walk Judging that we have not done for several years. More attention is going to be needed this year with the Youth Teams to assist with coaching of coaches and athletes in the event of Race Walking. Adding a Road championship to our schedule. Our RaceWalk chairman, Ray Funkhouser, was quite busy with national and even an international event. Ray judged at the USATF Indoor Championships in February and served as the Chief Judge for the Men s Race. He also judged at the USATF Indoor Masters Championships, and served as Recorder at the Open & Junior USATF T&F Championships in Des Moines. In August, he served as Team Manager for the USATF Junior National Race Walk Team in a match verus Canada. The Team swept the event winning both the Boys, Girls, and combined events. This summer, he also saw the opportunity to officiate an international event, by receiving an invitation from the Mexican T&F Federation to be an International Judge at the CAC (Central American & Caribbean) T&F Championships. In addition to the judging duties, Ray served as a Technical Official for the Meet.

9 Final Stretch USATF Annual Meeting The 2013 USATF National Annual Meeting was held December 4-8 in Indianapolis. Several individuals from USATF Virginia attended the meeting as delegates. Information from this meeting will be forwarded to our membership in the near future. Thank You - Tony Vaughn, our Youth chair, and Annette Sirica, our LDR chair, would like to thank all of the officials/ volunteers for their help at the Association Cross Country Championships held on November 23 at Pole Green Pak in Mechanicsville. Special thanks go out to Coach Mathews and the Lee- Davis High parents for their assistance in marking the course and working the finish line! Membership Information Melissa Johnson, Membership Chair We encourage all memberships (Individual & Club) to be obtained online at membership It is always best to RENEW your previous membership (vs. joining at a new member each year). All competitors must possess a membership in order to participate in any of the USATF championship events. Open & Masters athletes must also have their date of birth validated. These validations are done by Melissa Johnson, Membership Chair. If your birth certificate has already been validated once by Melissa, you do not need to resubmit another during another year (as long as you Renew your previous membership). Melissa s address is tracknfieldnva@yahoo.com All officials must have a valid membership to be certified. A very important benefit of USATF membership for all certified officials is the liability insurance that covers you during any USATF, NCAA, and high school meet. Event Sanctioning All sanction applications are now being processed online. That is right no more paper applications, no more stamps, no more waiting!!! Visit the Event Directors page at virginia.usatf.org Please be sure to submit your applications at least 30 days in advance of your race. This provides the necessary time to review the sanction application and it will also ensure your race is being promoted on the USATF calendar. Payment can be made with Visa, Master Card or Discover credit cards. Benefits of a USATF sanction include: Increased prestige Calendar promotion Sport accident insurance for USATF members Volunteer event medical coverage Record eligibility Resolving disputes Page Association Accomplishments: Our improvement in Race Walk and Distance Runners entrants continues to reflect the success of our Race Walk and Cross Country programs within the association. Recruitment for the Men s and Women s Open Division has improved with the addition of Bob Disse as our new Men s Open Chair. Details for Women s Open Chair are still being finalized. Masters Co-Chairs were able to arrange for the addition of the Javelin event to be included in the association championships this past year and have partnered with Virginia Union University as a site to provide this event. National Masters News again announced the meet this year and was instrumental in participants from Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Pennsylvania in addition to our normal entrants from the local region. We expect this trend to continue and to increase in future meets. Plans for 2014: The Open & Masters Outdoor T&F Championships will again be hosted at Maggie Walker Governor s School with the Javelin event conducted at Virginia Union University and will be held on a Saturday in June, Final decision will be announced soon and will be included in the next newsletter and on the USATF Virginia website.

10 (Continued from page 7) Officials Corner tee seal. The following award recipients for Virginia were announced at our fall meeting. Virginia has many outstanding officials, making this decision a tough one. Awards were made to recognize various different areas of accomplishment. We have a few longtime officials who are considering retiring from the track. Recently, Guthrie Ashton has retired and has been moved to Emeritus certification level. We have officials, like Crosby Houston, who are given more responsibilities as a crew chief at a national meet. There are many officials who help with mentoring, clinics, and promotion of track in general. For example, a few of them are Dave Cathers, Dan Woolley, Joe Curcio, and Joe Hubble. I know there are many officials in our Association who will step up at a moment s notice, if they are available, and fill in wherever they are needed. This past year, 2 of the officials who stepped up to last-minute tasks were Karen Stowers and Rollin Stanton. There were also officials who regularly fill important positions, like referee, in our Association Youth meets. One of them is Eddie Fitzgerald, who has been mentoring and has been a large asset in our Association. The other referee, Chris McBeath, has the challenge of matching Eddie s level of quality and activity. From what I know, he has done a great job at it. Bill Boyd has dedicated years to sports, especially track and field with his gotta do it right attitude, which we have seen in his mentoring, officiating, and through the yearly USATF clinics that he put his blood, sweat, and tears into. Last year, we actually felt his vast responsibilities directly, when he had to step away and tend to his wife Sandie. Ray Funkhouser has done a lot of work with race-walking on a national level and a local level. His attitude and mentoring has created an increase in the visibility and interest in race-walking. He was also given the honor to officiate at the 2012 Summer Olympic Trials. (Continued from page 3) Long Distance Running Women Nicole Thomas 20:34 2.Katherine Webb 25:10 Women Connie Gleuck 21:50 Women Deborah Snagg 21:35 Women Annette Sirica 34:35 Men Joey Murray 16:10 Men Jon Molz 16:55 2.Andrew Kirk 17:47 3.Ryan Webb 20:52 Men 40-44

USATF VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

USATF VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 2014 In attendance: Jim Holdren President Ray Funkhouser Vice President Annette Sirica Secretary Bill Boyd Officials Training Chair Joseph W. Hirn