Maxwell Leads Minnesotans to 25 Medals at US Masters Championships

Minnesotans took home 25 individual medals from the four-day USATF National Masters Championships at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Eleven of those were gold, including the seven won by Ralph Maxwell, 91-year-old multi-eventer who spends his summers in Minnesota and winters in Texas.

Maxwell broke his own world M90 pole vault record with a 1.43m/4’8.25” effort, and took the high jump (1.03m/3’4.5”), long jump (2.62m/8’7”), shot put (6.36m/20’10.5”), discus (15.83m/51’11.25”), javelin(15.44m/50’8”)and 80m hurdles (22.23). He finished third in the 100m (19.92).

Thom Weddle, Burnsville, who finished second in the M70 5000m on Thursday, came back to win the 1500m in 5:43.25 on Sunday in probably the closest race of the meet. He had a margin of three one-thousandths of a second over the fast-closing second-place finisher. Rick Kleyman, Plymouth, who set the pace for most of the race, finished third in 5:51.21.

Sherwood Sagedahl, Fairmont, won the M70 pentathlon in the rain on opening day, winning by more than a thousand points and narrowly missing the American record. He later finished second in the 800m in 2:37.39, breaking the Minnesota age group record of 2:40.47 set by Bill Andberg 29 years ago. Sagedahl also finished second in the javelin (36.68m/120’4”), took bronze in the 400m (66.47) and finished sixth in the 100m (14.87).

Other individual golds went to Tom Langenfeld, Edina, in the M75 high jump (1.35m/4’5”) and David Lindenberg, Minneapolis, in the submasters M30 pole vault (4.35m/14/3.25”).

Jim Sheehan, Ham Lake, ran as a member of three medal-winning M60-69 So Cal Track Club relay teams. The So Cal team took gold in 4X400 club relay (4:41.60) and the 4X800 (10:49.29) and was third in the 4X100 (1:00.95). Sheehan, coming back from injuries and surgery, also finished fourth in the open M60 1500m (5:07.57) and fifth in the 800m (2:27.45).

Kathy Haubrich, Shakopee took silvers in the W50 400 (1:10.58) and 800m (2:45.08) and third in the 200m (31.93).
J Schoffman comments: Even though Kathy Haubrich finished second, the first place finisher was Canadian. This being the US National's, non-U.S. citizens can complete but cannot displace an American. Kathy gets the Gold. Marie French moves to fourth.

Robert Jones, Stillwater, was second in the M45 discus (38.07m/124’11”), third in the hammer (40.29m/132’2”), fourth in the weight throw (12,65m/41’6”) and fifth in the shot (11.10m/36’5”).

Susan Loyd, Edina, took bronze in the W50 100m (15.50) and was fourth in the 200m (32.42).

Peter Haack, La Crescent, was third in the M35 400m (53.42).

Other Minnesotans in action:

Marie French, Chatfield, fourth in the W50 400m (1:14.22) and fifth in the 800m (2:53.05) and 200m (32.56).

Michael Soule, Wyoming, sixth in the M55 high jump (1.33m/4’4.25”), seventh in the triple jump (7.51m/24’7.75”) and 10th in the pole vault (2.60m/8’6.25”).

John Lund, Stillwater, seventh in the M55 pole vault (3.20/10’6”).

Haubarich, Loyd and French made up three-fourths of an ad hoc team that took second place in the W50-59 non-club 4X100 relay (59.22).

Thanks to HJ gold medallist Tom Langenfeld for this report.