B.A.A.’s Karolyn Bowley sets new 1500m American record in the 50-54 age division at the USATF-NE T&F Championships.
B.A.A. athletes were competing across America on the final hot weekend of July. Nine B.A.A. team members raced at the USA Track & Field National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa — competing in events from the 800m up to 10,000m – while locally B.A.A. track athletes were racing at the USATF New England Outdoor T&F Championships in Worcester, MA. At the USATF-New England meet, runners ranging from 26 to 70 years young competed in the 800m, 1500m and 5000m races.
At the New England T&F Championships, the B.A.A.’s Karolyn Bowley, who turned 50 earlier in the week, had her sights set on a fast 1500m race hoping to break the American record in the 50-54 age division. Bowley needed to finish faster than 4:51.86 to set the new record. With B.A.A. teammate Michelle McKinney as her pacer for the first 3 laps, Bowley blazed through the 1500m on a hot day in a new record time of 4:47.71 to become the new American record holder. She now turns her focus to other 50+ age records on the track and roads this year.
B.A.A.’s Jack Vercollone also had a recent birthday aging up to the 70-74 age category. While off the American record marks for his age division, Vercollone was first overall in his age group in the 800m (winning in 2:40.07) and first in the 1500m (5:36.37). Matthew Baron was the youngest B.A.A. competitor at 26 years old competing in the 1500m race, placing third in 4:06.85. B.A.A. COO Jack Fleming ran the 5000m earlier in the morning placing 1st in the 50+ age division in 19:23.13.
In Des Moines, the B.A.A. High Performance and Racing Team athletes competed in the USA Outdoor T&F National Championships from Thursday through Sunday. In the 800m, Sam Ellison advanced to the semi-final round with a time of 1:47.49. Ellison was 12th place in the semi-final. In the women’s 800m, Brenna Detra also advanced to the semi-final finishing in 2:05.05. In her semi-final, Detra placed 11th. In the women’s 1500m, the B.A.A. had two athletes competing, with Lauren Johnson advancing to the final with a time of 4:11.44 and Dana Giordano placing 24th in 4:22.90. In the 1500m final, Johnson finished 12th in 4:11.99.
In the long distance events, Erika Kemp placed 18th in the 5000m in 16:02.88 and Elaina Tabb ran 33:08.29 to finish 9th in the 10,000m. In the men’s 10,000m, the B.A.A.’s newest High Performance athlete Paul Hogan ran his debut with the Unicorn singlet placing 12th overall in 28:49.57. Teammates Jacob Thomson and Trevor Dunbar each finished 14th and 18th respectively in 29:09.73 and 29:37.60. Thomson also qualified for the 5000m and competed in the final placing 11th in 13:53.47.
Congrats to all of the B.A.A. athletes for a great track season!
Click here for the complete USA T&F National results.
Click here for the complete USATF-NE T&F results.
