2014 USATF Niagara Association Annual Meeting

Please join us for the 2014 USATF Niagara Association Annual Meeting
held at the Gordon Field House/Reception Room (upstairs)
at Rochester Institute of Technology
1 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY 14623
on Sunday, September 7, 2014 starting at 11:00 AM
RSVP is NOT required, but is appreciated via the Facebook event

*NEW*

Congratulations to USATF Niagara for earning 2 consecutive Associations Awards!
Vice President Bill Quinlisk receives the award on our behalf at the Associations
Meeting in Sacramento, California.

Summer Heat Ignites USATF Niagara members

Molly Huddle (Elmira, NY) continues to dominate! On July 18th, Huddle breaks her own American record in the 5000m at the Monaco IAAF Diamond League Meet. Huddle finished 6th overall in 14:42.64 Elmira Star Gazette  Runners World

This past week, USA Masters National Championships were held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Full Results

This week coming up, USATF Junior Olympic National Championships will be held in Humble, Texas, look for updates throughout the week on the Youth page. Full Results

July 19th, #TrailsROC held their 0SPF Trail Half Marathon, which hosted the USATF Niagara Trail Championships. A 300% improvement in Niagara member participation indicated a step in the right direction for Trail Running in the Niagara Association. It also proved to be a winning combination as the top 4 male Niagara members finished below the previous course record, with the 5th place member missing by 5 seconds. Kip Tisia (Stotan Racing) continues to dominate 1:36:25, while Dan Serianni (GVH) finished 2nd, and Josh Perks (Roadkill Racing) finished 3rd, Daven Oskvig finished 4th, and Paul Glor (RnR) finished 5th. On the Women's side, GVH showed their strength as Sarah Loerch (GVH) won in 2:00:37, Liz Matthews (GVH) finished 2nd, and Erin Toner (GVH) finished 3rd.

August 9th, the Bergen Road Race will host the USATF Niagara 5km Road Championships. Annually, one of the most competitive 5km races in the Niagara Association, this year looks to be the same. If you want to set a new PR, this is the race with the right competition to do so.

USATF Niagara is proud to announce a Youth Cross Country Series, designed to get youth prepared for the Junior Olympic XC Nationals. TheEast and West CC Series is being hosted by USATF Niagara at two locations Sprague Brook Park (West) and Prizzolo Park (East) every other week starting August 3rd. Individual meet and series race awards available. Online Registration Only

Niagara members become National Champions, Again!

Jenn Suhr and Molly Huddle win National Titles – again

UB’s Jonathan Jones surprises with a 4^th in the Shot

Niagara Athlete results from USATF Outdoor Championships, Sacramento, CA

Niagara Association members Jenn Suhr and Molly Huddle added to their impressive resumes by winning USATF National Championships in their specialties, Pole Vault and the 5000m Run respectively. 2012 Olympic Gold medalist and world indoor pole record holder, Jenn Suhr (adidas, Churchville, NY) was the only vaulter to clear 4.60m to win the Women's Pole Vault National Championship once again. Now it’s off to Europe for the summer meet season (see quote below). Women's American track record holder at 5000m and world record holder on the road at 12k, Molly Huddle (Saucony, Providence, RI via Elmira, NY), had a tougher time in winning the 5000m as she edged runner-up Shannon Rowbury by only 0.16 seconds. (see quote below)

Women’s Pole Vault Final

1	Jenn Suhr adidas	4.60m 15-1	PPP	PPP	O	O	XXX
2	Sandi Morris Arkansas	4.55m 14-11	O	O	O	XXX
3	Becky Holliday Asics	4.45m 14-7 ¼	O	XO	XXX

Medina resident, Janice Keppler, and former Buffalo area star Mary Saxer no heighted at 4.30m and did not score

Women’s Pole Vault winner Jenn Suhr

“I’m happy with the win. Each title has its own specialness. Now we go back and start training and get ready for our series in Europe. (Laughing) I think any time you can make bars on your first few attempts and walk away without an injury it’s a good meet.”

Women’s 5,000m Run - Finals

1	Molly Huddle Saucony	15:01.56
2	Shannon Rowbury Nike Oregon Project	15:01.71
3	Marielle Hall Texas	15:12.79
4	Aisling Cuffe Stanford	15:13.15

Women’s 5000m winner Molly Huddle

“The plan was to try and run easy the first two laps to see if anyone would try to take it and then stay in a comfortable spot on the outside for me. I tried to pick it up in the middle. I was starting to get a little nervous leading in the middle. I just tried to make sure I had enough left for a 100 kick because I knew Shannon is a great closer.

“I tried to measure my kick a little better. I used to go all out at the bell but I went 80 percent at the bell because I knew the move would come at 200. Shannon went around me and I thought, ‘just go with her.’ We kind of were weaving all around. I was ready for a lean. I knew it was going to be close and I just went until my legs went numb.”

University of Buffalo’s Jonathan Jones surprise 4^th place finisher in the Men's Shot Put

After finishing in 11^th place at the NCAA Division I Championships in Eugene, OR on June 11^th with a throw of 19.26m, University of Buffalo’s and USATF Niagara Association’s, Jonathan Jones (Jr., Portville, NY) rebounded with an impressive personal best of 20.75m to grab 4^th place at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, CA on June 25^th. His throw was only 3 cm behind his idol Reese Hoffa and was a new MAC Conference record for the Shot Put. Jones, a 4 time NCAA All-American, was the top collegiate thrower at the meet.

Men’s Shot Put Finals

Jonathan Jones
University at Buffalo
Flight: 1

20.75m
68-1

19.12m
62-8 ¾
Rnk: 10

20.31m
66-7 ¾
Rnk: 4

20.75m
68-1
Rnk: 3

FOUL

Rnk: 4

19.30m
63-4
Rnk: 4

FOUL

Rnk: 4

Niagara - 3 of top 6 in Women’s 20k Race Walk

USATF Niagara was well represented in the Women’s 20,000m Race Walk at the USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento on June 28^th with 3 of the top 6 finishers hailing from our area. Miranda Melville (Rush-Henrietta HS, Henrietta, NY) led the way taking home the silver medal in 1:37:59.83.

After winning the 2014 USATF Niagara Association Outdoor Track 5000m Race Walk at Penfield HS on June 21st, Katie Burnett, (unattached, Rochester, NY) used her $50 bonus for the top Open Women’s age graded performance to help her travel to Sacramento and finished 4^th overall (1:40:01.16) on the national stage – well done!

Our own Niagara Board member and our Niagara Race Walk Chair, Erin Taylor-Talcott was 6^th overall in 1:43:41.92.

Women’s 20000m Race Walk Finals

1	Maria Michta Walk USA	1:35:54.37
2	Miranda Melville New York Athletic Club (NYAC)	1:37:59.83
3	Erin Gray Bowerman Track Club	1:39:23.91
4	Katie Burnett Unattached	1:40:01.61
5	Susan Randall Miami Valley TC	1:40:21.21
6	Erin Taylor-Talcott Shore Athletic Club	1:43:41.92

Other top finishers with Niagara connections include:

Lopez Lomong (Tully HS, Tully, NY) 3^rd in the 1500m in 3:39.11.

Brycen Spratling (Webster HS, Univ. Pittsburgh) 7^th in the 400m in 45.90.

Morgan Uceny (Cornell University) 12^th in the 1500m in 4:24.01.

Freddie Crittenden (Syracuse University) 13^th in the 110h in 13.79.

Donald Pollitt (Syracuse University) 19^th in the 110h in 14.03.

Chad Noelle (Green HS, Oklahoma St.) 9^th best time in 1500m qualifying, but bumped from finals due to advancement procedures in 3:44.27

Mark Hollis (2013-14 Niagara Association Indoor Track Champion and RIT Field House record setter) 2^nd in Pole Vault with a clearance of 5.70m

Michael Giuseppe Mannozzi (many time Niagara Indoor Track Champion) 7^th in the Men's 20,000m Race Walk in 1:36:04.88

Complete meet results are available at: http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2014/USATF-Outdoor-Championships/Live-Results.aspx

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Upcoming Events

2014 USATF Niagara Association Annual Meeting

Sep 07, 2014

View Calendar

Recent Results

USATF Niagara Association Trail Championships

Jul 19, 2014

July 19th, #TrailsROC held their 0SPF Trail Half Marathon, which hosted the USATF Niagara Trail Championships. A 300% improvement in Niagara member participation indicated a step in the right direction for Trail Running in the Niagara Association. It also proved to be a winning combination as the top 4 male Niagara members finished below the previous course record, with the 5th place member missing by 5 seconds. Kip Tisia (Stotan Racing) continues to dominate 1:36:25, while Dan Serianni (GVH) finished 2nd, and Josh Perks (Roadkill Racing) finished 3rd, Daven Oskvig finished 4th, and Paul Glor (RnR) finished 5th. On the Women's side, GVH showed their strength as Sarah Loerch (GVH) won in 2:00:37, Liz Matthews (GVH) finished 2nd, andErin Toner (GVH) finished 3rd.

USATF Niagara Association Indoor Track and Field Championships

Dec 28, 2013

Rochester, New York- What a great way to end the 2013 USATF Niagara Championships schedule with the Indoor Track and Field Championships held at RIT on Saturday, December 28^th by the Upstate Holiday Classic XV. The meet also served as host of the USA Open and Masters 5000m Indoor Race Walk Championships.

Recaps of Race Walk National Championships

Recaps of Men's Running Events

Recaps of Men's Field Events

Recaps of Women's Running Events

Recaps of Women's Field Events

Recaps of Messenger Mile

Complete results

Facebook event page

Facebook photo album

Photos by Ron Kalasinskas

Pole Vault videos by Reggie Henderson

2013 USATF Niagara Open XC Championships

Nov 10, 2013

ITHACA- Sunday, November 10^th Cornell Golf Course held the 2013 USATF Niagara Open Cross Country Championships. The Championship race was held by the Pete Glavin Upstate New York XC Series race number 4. Teams from all over the Niagara Association participated in the team style event.

The Women’s 6km race was up first with 73 taking to the starting line, 45 were also USATF Niagara members competing in the Championships. Four USATF clubs sported complete teams; Checkers AC, Finger Lakes Running Club, Genesee Valley Harriers (GVH) with three, and Syracuse Track Club, with the Syracuse Chargers sporting an incomplete team. The course started down the driving range, along the woods on the back side of the course, two loops around three short holes, back into the woods down a good decent, and then up a steep ascent with a 300 meter sprint to the finish. At the half way point of the race, GVH was in strong position leading 7 of the first 10 positions. Cresting up the hill of the final straight away you could see the maroon jersey of Karen Simmonds-Brady with a small lead on teammates Jessica Snyder in second place, followed by Kristina Maletz in 3^rd, and Sarah Loerch in 4^th place. After a brief gap, the blue jersey of Syracuse Track Club’s Kaitlin O’Sullivan could be seen taking 5^th place overall. Casey Moskel was unable to chase Kaitlin down to secure a perfect score for GVH, although a winning team score of 16 points is still excellent. Andrea Newton of the GVH B team finished in 7^th place overall, Elizabeth Matthews of the GVH A team finished in 8^th place, Kelsey Ryan of Checkers AC finished in 9^th place and Melissa Senall of the GVH B team finished in 10^th place. The top 10 Niagara members each won medals for the individual portion of the XC Championships. GVH A team finished 1^st in the team competition with their impressive 16 point total. Checkers AC finished 2^nd in the team competition with a 67 point total behind Kelsey Ryan’s 9^th place and a tight pack finishing 12^th, 13^th, 16^th, and 17^th overall. GVH B team finished 3^rd in the team competition with 77 points, scoring members finished 7^th, 10^th, 14^th, 22^nd, and 24^th overall. Syracuse Track Club finished 4^th overall in the team competition, Finger Lakes Running Club finished 5^th, and the GVH C team finished 6^th.

The Men’s 8km race was up next with 125 ready to blast off at the sound of the starting gun. 80 USATF Niagara members competing in the Open Championships were there to show off their speed. The course was laid out similar to that of the Women, with just one extra loop included to pick up the additional 2k in the middle of the race. This offered three opportunities to check out the leaders of the race, with very little changing each time they came through. The leader of the race from about 1 mile on was Bill Way of High Noon (High Noon is not a USATF club). 2^nd overall was Eddie Novara who ran unattached. 3^rd overall was C. Fred Joslyn who recently joined the Syracuse Track Club. Ryan Millar of Syracuse Chargers took 4^th place overall. Syracuse Track Club also took 5^th place, Chip O’Hara, and 6^th place, Andrew Dionne. Syracuse Chargers teammates and twin brothers Nick Guarino took 7^th place and Josh Guarino took 8^th place. GVH A team member Mike Kurvich took 9^th place and Chris Mateer, also of GVH A took 10^th overall. The team competition was a bit closer with Syracuse Track Club A team finishing with 29 points (Unattached runners excluded, Syracuse TC goes 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th, 10^th, and 11^th). Syracuse Chargers finished 2^nd in the team competition with 40 points (2^nd, 5^th, 6^th, 13^th, and 14^th). GVH A team finished 3^rd overall in the team competition with 52 points (7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 12^th, and 16^th). GVH B team finished 4^th with 121 points, Syracuse Track Club B team finished 5^th with 154 points, Syracuse Track Club C team finished 6^th with 207 points, GVH C team finished 7^th with 210 points, and GVH D team finished 8^th with 244 points. Also competing but with incomplete teams were RoadKill racing, Finger Lakes Running Club, Checkers AC, Greater Buffalo Track Club, and GVH E team.

A very successful Championship from the point of view of USATF Niagara. 125 individuals competed for 8 different clubs as part of 21 different teams. The course was laid out well, the post race food was delicious, lots of medals and checks were awarded, everyone seemed to have a great time. For pictures of the event, please friend USATF Niagara and check out the event page. https://www.facebook.com/events/605380892847710/

Championship results

2013 USATF Niagara Masters XC Championships

Oct 13, 2013

AKRON FALLS PARK- Sunday October 13^th brought the USATF Niagara Masters Cross Country Association Championships to the 3^rd race of the Pete Glavin Upstate Series. Nearly 200 runners toed the starting line of which 78 were entered in the USATF Masters Championships. All participants ran a 6k bowtie course with large portions of the course from the middle section, where runners passed by 4 times.

USATF Niagara added some significant prize money to the race this year, off of significant participation the past few years. This helped to increase the numbers of runners and teams vying for individual medals, team medals, as well as team prize money and individual age grading prize money.

Overall male masters runner Kirt Komocki ran 21:34. Overall female masters runner Amy Fakterowitz ran 25:00. Age grade winners allowed all masters runners to compete on a level playing field with established tables based on their actual age. Jerry Irving (60-69) of Checkers AC took home the top male prize by running an 82.89 age grade percentage, equating his time to an 18:55. Alan Evans (50-59) of GVH was a close second with an 82.77, and Charlie Andrews (50-59) also of GVH took third place with an 81.95 percent age grade. Suzanne Myette (50-59) of Finger Lakes RC was the overall female with an age grade percentage of 80.48, equating her time to a 22.14. Joanne Singer (50-59) of Syracuse TC was second with a 79.61 and Cindy Ingalls (60-69) of GVH took 3^rd with an age grade percentage of 78.69. Both overall winners age graded in the 76th percentage.

Five different USATF clubs fielded teams over the various gender and ten year age groups. Checkers AC declared 2 teams. Finger Lakes RC declared 1 team. GVH declared 8 teams. And Syracuse TC declared 4 teams. GVH took 5 of the 6 team Championships, with only the 50+ Women from Finger Lakes RC squeezing ahead.

Full results available here.
Pictures available on the Facebook event page.

2013 USATF Niagara 5km Championship held at the Bergen Road Race

Aug 10, 2013

USATF Niagara showed up in force for the 2013 USATF Niagara 5km Championships held by the Bergen Road Race on August 10th. An incredible 84 USATF Niagara members showed up to take part in the Championships. The course boasts a fast, flat layout with long straight stretches. A stacked field means anyone has a chance to PR in Bergen. Team competitions also take place at the Niagara Championships, and with two new teams in the mix, that brought the number of declared teams up to 14. A new male champion was crowned as new member of the Stotan Racing Team, Mike Fout, of Florida State University, cruised to a blazing 14:27 beating second place William Way, of Ithaca by 40 seconds. Three-peating as female champion Maeghan Krifchin, of East Syracuse, broke her own course record to set it at 16:22. Second place female, Laurel Leone of Minoa, also broke the coveted 17 minute mark by one second. One of the best sub races this day was held by the Male Masters contingent of Mark Andrews, Kevin Collins, and Scott Weeks. Each of these 40+ males have long accomplishment lists and they did not disappoint at the Niagara Championships. All three finished top 15 overall, and all ran under 16 minutes, with less than 5 seconds separating them. Scott Weeks, of Cortland, turned in a time of 15:36 surrounding himself with "kids" half his age. Mark Andrews, of Rochester, came through barely ahead of Kevin Collins, of Liverpool, to which video replay was brought in for final determination.

In the Open Male Team Race, 5 teams declared at least 5 runners. Heavily favorited Stotan Racing had returning Champion Kip Tisia drop out of the race early from an unknown injury, leaving them short one runner for a scoring team. The Syracuse Chargers took advantage, led in part by Scott Weeks and Andrea Damad, originially of Ethiopia, Greg Selke of North Chili, Scott Yernye of Angola, and Josh Guarino of Bergen round out the team which averaged 15:40. Genesee Valley Harries Open team finished second averaging 15:48, of note six of their seven finishers ran between 15:42 and 15:52, a great use of team running. 3rd place was taken by the newly formed Raiders n RedHawks team, just ahead of Roadkill Racing. In the Open Female Team Race, 3 teams declared at least 3 runners. Brockport Distance Project took first place as Dana Buchanan, of :Rochester, Karen Blodgett of Fairport, and Trisha Byler of Rochester averaged 17:39. Second place team Genesee Valley Harriers averaged 17:55. And third place Raiders n RedHawks averaged 18:45. Checkers AC took the Female Masters 40+ title. Genesee Valley Harriers took the Male Masters 50+ and 60+ titles. The Female teams of 50+ and 60+ also won titles for GVH.

A staggering 22 runners broke 16 minutes. Age graded results tell the final story. Maeghan Krifchin is the only runner to post above 90%, but 38 runners age graded in the 80% bracket, and 38 additional runners age graded in the 70% bracket. A total of 77 USATF Niagara members age graded at 70% or above, exactly what we expect at a Championship race!

Results can be found here 2013 USATF Niagara 5km Championships

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2014 USATF Niagara Association Annual Meeting

Summer Heat Ignites USATF Niagara members

Niagara members become National Champions, Again!

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