Y ask: Can anyone catch Bill Collins -- ever? When healthy, the 51-year-old sprintmeister from Missouri City, Texas, is all but unbeatable in his age group. Pit him against men decades younger, and he'd beat all but a handful.
Collins, 51, proved it again Sunday (3/24/02) at the USATF National Masters Indoor Championships in Boston by adding another world record to his belt, this time in the M50 200-meter dash. In his heat, Bill Collins lowered his own world indoor best from 23.47 to 23.26. Then in the final, he pulled a Michael Johnson by reducing the record again, this time to 23.19, which beat runner-up Jesse Norman of Springfield Gardens, N.Y., by more than a second (with Norman clocking a fine 24.33). By comparison, Collins' 23.19 would have taken SECOND in yesterday's M30 race, THIRD in the M35, THIRD in the M40 and FIRST in the M45. Incredible. On the women's side, All-Universe sprinter/jumper Phil Raschker of Marietta, Georgia, completed her W55 debut nationals with a world record in one event and an American best in another. Raschker high jumped 1.31 (4-3 1/2) to beat the listed W55 American indoor record of 1.25 (4-1 1/4) by California's Christel Miller in 1990. Thus warmed up, Raschker returned to the Reggie Lewis track several hours later and spanned a world W55 indoor record 9.33 (30-7 1/2) in the triple jump, breaking Dutchwoman Rietje Dijkman's 1999 standard of 8.89 (29-2). Collins and Raschker -- both of whom have been USATF Masters Athletes of the Year -- were among many shining examples of masters athletics at Boston, which is pondering the possibility of hosting the first World Masters Indoor Championships in 2004. Among other highlights: -- Nadine Lowenstein, 56, of Clinton, N.Y., beat 1999 world WAVA champion Kathy Jager, 58, in their latest showdown, winning the W55 200 in 30.00 to Jager's 30.62. The 30.00 tied the listed American indoor W55 record by Adlin Mair of New York in 1997. Lowenstein, an assistant track coach at Hamilton College, perhaps could have ducked under 30 and challenged the world indoor W55 record of 29.62 if she hadn't run -- and won -- the W55 800 several hours earlier in 2:41.60. -- Kathryn Martin, 50, of Northport, N.Y., handled world record holder Carolyn Smith-Hanna in the W50 800. Martin, a Long Island road running legend, clocked an American record 2:27.42, lowering the previous record of 2:28.61 set by none other than Smith-Hanna a year ago. Smith-Hanna clocked 2:28.68 in second. -- Jeanne Daprano of Fayetteville, Georgia, holder of the American outdoor record in the W65 1500, ran the 800 here in an undercover world best of 2:53.54, beating the listed world indoor record of 2:56.63 by Canada's Jean H orne in 1998. -- Margaret Hinton's debut as a W80 continued apace, with the Comfort, Texas, pole vault star beating the listed world indoor high jump record in her age group by a centimeter. She cleared 0.91 (2-11 3/4) to best the old record of .90 by American Mary Bowermaster in 2000. In the triple jump, Hinton hop-step-and-jumped 5.15 (16-10 3/4) to retire the listed world W80 indoor record of 3.74 (12-3 1/3) by Aili Kankinen of Finland in 1999. And in the super weight throw -- an event without an official world record -- Hinton heaved the 25-pound implement 3.62 (11-10 1/2) for another U.S. record, beating the old AR of 3.24 (10-7 3/4) by California's Ivy Brown in 1995. Whew! Collins wasn't the only male sprint star at Boston. World champion Larry Colbert, 65, of Glenarden, Maryland, ran a 200 heat in 26.73 and the final several hours later in 26.20 to add the M65 age-group indoor world best to his M60 record. Colbert's 26.20 beat the previous listed M65 record of 26.41 by American Charles Williams in 1997. Other male stars: -- Nolan Shaheed, 52, of Pasadena, California, nipped Alston Brown, 53, of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., in the 800 -- 2:06.47 to 2:06.73. David Salazar, 51, of Cedar Crest, N.M., was third in the M50 800 at 2:06.81. -- Edwin Lukens, 80, of Skaneatelles, N.Y., spanned 8.30 (27-2 3/4) to smash the old M80 indoor world best in the triple jump of 8.10 (26-7) by Finland's Esko Kolhonen in 1995. -- Clarence Trahan, 87, of hot-hot-hot Hemet, California, triple jumped an American indoor record 6.31 (20-8 1/2), breaking his previous undercover M85 record of 6.11 (20-0 1/2) set in March 2000. National Masters News will publish full details of the meet in an upcoming issue, including a list of records that I may have missed. In the meantime, check out the Day Three results at: http://www.usatfne.org/masters/boston2002/r_day3.txt Congratulations and thanks to Boston's meet management, including the ever-humble Steve Vaitones of New England USATF, for ensuring expeditious posting of meet results every day of the three-day event. I am in your debt. On to Orono, Maine -- host of the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships in August. See you there! Ken Stone http://www.masterstrack.com
