Posted: July 30, 2007

Athletics: Maine entrants competing at the USA Masters Championships

INDIANAPOLIS - More than 20 Maine residents are slated to compete at this week's 2007 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Orono, Maine, giving the meet a terrific local flavor. Held this year from August 2-5, the USA Masters Outdoor Championships annually showcases extraordinary demonstrations of speed, power, skill and endurance by many of the world's finest masters track and field athletes, proving that age is no barrier to lifetime fitness. Athletes compete in five-year age divisions, beginning at age 30. In 2007, the meet will be webcast live at www.usatf.org Maine residents slated to compete include William Donnell, 75 from Sedgwick, a sawmill operator competing in the hammer throw, and Doug Allen, 66 from Orono, a Yale track standout in the 1960's, now University of Maine philosophy professor, competing in M65 5,000m. Reverend Richard Camp, 70, Freeport, will compete in the 100m, 200m and discus. Camp was a member of the world record indoor 4x200m relay team (M70-79) this past winter and won the 65-69 100m dash at the 2003 Penn Relays. The oldest competitor from Maine is 89-year-old John Woods from Harpswell, who will run the 800m and 1,500m. Other Maine competitors: Mike Viani, 40, Charleston, former UMaine runner & now track coach at Central High School, Corinth, 100 & 200 meters; Alan Comeau, 40, Old Town, communications director, Acadia Hospital in Bangor, 400 meters; Joanne Petkus, 48, Auburn, former UMaine track standout, will do the pentathlon, hurdles, long jump, shot put & 100 meters; Beth Heslam of Florida, former UMaine track standout in the mid-80s, back to do the pentathlon; Ken Perkins, 75, East Winthrop, hurdles and high jump; Harry Dwyer, 49, Fayette, long jump, 100 & 200 meters; Don Casavant, 51, Waterville, shot put & javelin and 10 km; Philip Pierce, 65, Falmouth, 10,000 meters; Jerry Levasseur, 69, Brunswick, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m and 2,000m steeplechase (won 2003 steeplechase at National Masters in Eugene), plus triple jump; Nancy Kneeland, 52, Bar Mills, 5,000-meters; Dennis Smith, 57, Yarmouth, 800m, 1,500m & 5,000 meters; Ellsworth Rundlett III, a Portland lawyer, age 61, 100m, 200m & 400 meters; David Parker, Falmouth, 64, javelin (43.98 meters/144 feet 3 inches PR) Pam Pelletier, 53, Belgrade, relay; Joe Carlozzi, 71, shot put, discus and high jump; Joel Stinson, 72, Harpswell, hurdles, long jump, high jump and triple jump; Alan Muir, 52, Portland, 800m and 1,500m; Robert Chase, 86, Shapleigh, hammer (set the world record in 2002). The meet director is Rolland Ranson, who said that the meet "is recognized and respected as one of the greatest championships in the world." The meet announcer will be Peter Taylor of Fairfax, Va., renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of masters athletes, and who together with Ken Stone (founder of www.masterstrack.com, provided information for press releases on the meet. Media are invited for coverage and athlete interviews. For media interviews onsite, see Bob Weiner, National Masters Media Chair at Trackside or call Bob's cell at 202-329-1700. Additional contacts: Rebecca Vander Linde at 301-283-0821; and George Manlove of the University of Maine public affairs office at 207-581-3756. USATF.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest