The ATC Masters Men’s teams continued their success from the Club Nationals meet in December to 2 more National cross country titles and a 3rd place showing at the USATF National Cross country Championships held February 2nd. Under very cold and blustry conditions the ATC made a it’s presence known early in the Masters Men’s race as Robin Rogers ran in the 2nd lead pack the entire race and finished 10th overall (27:15) in a field of 127 finishers in the 8 kilometer race. His 40+ teammates ran strong and spirited races in leading the ATC to 3rd place of the men’s 40+ teams.  Steve Wilcox ran another brilliant race with his 14th overall and 4th in the 40-44 age division in 27:46. Sam Martinez (29th overall, 11 age-group) 29:30, Rob Blaskiewicz (51st overall, 21st age-group) 30:48 and Jeff Rumbaugh (58th overall, 27th age-group) 31:39 completed the scoring for the ATC 40+ team.

The 60+ team won their 3rd National Championship in cross country with a dominating win over Ann Arbor TC! Leading the way was Kirk Larson with his 32:29 finish that made him the 3rd place 60+ runner in the race (69th overall).  But it was the spirited and frantic finish by ATC Board member Mike Wein, who thrilled the crowd with his finishing sprint and lean to put the ATC up in the team standings! His 33:19 performance put a 1-3 finish in the team scoring for the ATC to secure the win. Consistent performer Jerry Learned followed in 34:12 and was backed up by masters ace Wes Wessley (35:45), Pooh Neovakul (36:17) and Sam Benedict (39:28-good for 3rd in the 65-69 age group).

The 70+ team made it 2 in a row with a convincing win also over the Ann Arbor TC!  Jim Duguay led the way for this experienced and veteran crew as his 41:25 was good for 2nd in the 70-74 age group (and he is 74). The other team members soon followed and this tight pack carried the ATC to victory!  Kermit Bowen (pictured, 3rd 70-74, 41:35) and David Turner (4th 70-74, 42:17) completed the scoring for the 2-time National Champs!

At this meet the age-graded results were a hot topic as this was the first time individual prize monies were awarded based on age-grading (age/performance calculations to give the time run a percentage of 100-the world record in the age group for the distance run). For the ATC Robin Rogers was 12th, Steve Wilcox 23rd and Kirk Larson 24th.

Submitted by Andy Carr