Maxwell, Langenfeld Top USA Masters

Ralph Maxwell and Tom Langenfeld headlined the Minnesota results from last weekend's USA Masters Track and Field Championships held in Spokane, Washington.

Maxwell, an 88-year-old retired judge who splits his time between Richville, Minnesota and Alamo, Texas, set a world age-group record in the 300 meter hurdles by more than five seconds with his 1:21.44 performance.

Maxwell also won the M85 high jump at 3-5 1/4 and finished second in the shot put, javelin, long jump and triple jump.

Langenfeld, an Edina resident, won his 29th career masters high jump title with a 4-5 clearance in the M70 division. The 73-year-old also won this year's masters indoor title in March, but was concerned that recent injuries would hurt his chances in Spokane.

"Competing is less fun when you’re limited by injury," Langenfeld said, "but still a lot more fun than not competing at all—especially at the national meet, which almost seems to have curative powers. I was disappointed that I didn’t make at least one more height in Spokane, yet happy to get in a couple of pretty good jumps before those curative powers ran out."

Full results from the championships can be found HERE.

Other Minnesota competitors included ...

Jim Schoffman, a 55-year-old sprinter from Fridley, won a bronze medal in the M55 400 meters in 58.21, just two one-hundredths of a second away from silver. He also picked up a fifth-place ribbon in the 100, moved up to the 800 and got a second bronze medal in 2:18.72. He also finished fourth in the 200 meters in 26.25.

Jim Sheehan, a 58-year-old miler from Ham Lake, finished fifth in an outstanding M55 1500 field Sunday, running 4:53.65 after warming up with a sixth place finish in the 400 and a fifth in the 800 earlier in the meet. He closed things out on Sunday by running strong legs on the So Cal Track Club’s gold-medal 4X800 and 4X400 teams in the club championship relay events.

Cynthia Overson, 48-year-old hurdler from Waconia, took a fourth-place ribbon in the W45 80-meter hurdles in 14.32 – a Minnesota age-group record. She also finished fourth in the long hurdles.

Rick Peterson, 50, Maple Grove, was eighth out of 12 American finalists in the M50 1500 in 4:47.50, and seventh in the 400 in 59.50 after finishing second in his qualifying heat.

Thanks to Tom Langenfeld for the details for this story.