New York Area Athletes Impress at USA Championships 

By Elliott Denman

ALBUQUERQUE, NM -- In his peak years, a dozen of them over three Olympic quadrennial stretches, Curt Clausen gained major fame as America’s – and one of the world’s – greatest in  the longest and toughest event on the international program. 

That, of course/of course, is the 50K (31.1-mile) racewalk; Clausen’s 3:48.04 remains the American record and his bronze-medal performance in 1999 remains the highest-ever American placing in the World Championships.

These days, Jersey City resident Clausen is a New York-based lawyer, active as ever in USATF affairs, and a member-in-waiting (of the next vacancy) on the USATF Board of Directors. And meanwhile, he's a major force in New York Athletic Club track and field affairs.

So that automatically makes him a fan of all events on the track and field spectrum, those like his own that take nearly four hours as well as those take less than four seconds (wind it up, whirl it around and let it fly, all of it in finger-snap time.)

Specifically, the weight throws.

And that’s what brought Clausen to a far corner of the Albuquerque Convention Center Saturday, where the men’s 35-pound weight throw and the women’s 20-pound weight throw were unfolding Saturday as kick-off events on the first full day of action at the USATF Indoor Track and Field Championships.

A year ago at this meet, Clausen’s NYAC teammates threw their weight around so successfully they brought gold medals in both the men’s and women’s events back to Central Park South and Seventh Avenue.

The 2013 champions crowned in Albuquerque were Thomas Jacob “Just Call Me Jake” Freeman and Gwendolyn Denise “Gwen” Berry, in a huge daily-double by the Winged Footers.

Well, things didn’t go quite as well for the NYAC throwers this time around, but they still acquitted themselves handsomely.

Freeman, a Manhattan College graduate, settled for third place in the men’s event with a 72-8 toss, back of winner A.G. Kruger’s 77-9.25, and silver medalist J.C. Lambert’s 75-07.25.  Lack of a warmup was no help to Freeman. He arrived late, explaining, “They changed the meet schedule (to an 11:15 a.m. start); and I guess I was the only guy here who hadn’t heard about it. No excuse, that was all my fault.” 

But Freeman’s female NYAC teammates did a whole lot better.

Southern Illinois graduate Berry repeated as National champion, with a 78-01.75 heave; Jeneva McCall snared third at 76-0, and Amanda Bingson fifth at 73-6.75.

The 20-pound weight, though, is only Bingson’s wintertime hobby.

Her real strength, as American fans learned last summer, is the hammer throw.

When she whirled and whirled and let ‘er fly at the USA Nationals at Drake University, it plopped to the Iowa turf 248 feet, 5 inches away, an American record.

Tradition-tradition-tradition, that’s the NYAC story in the weight throws and the hammer.

Henry “Hank” Dreyer, Frank Berst, Bob Backus and Sam Felton, the greats of this muscleman's game through the 1930s, 40’s and 50s, they all were NYAC men. Dreyer was a Rhode Island University Ram, Berst a Manhattan Jasper, Backus a Tufts grad, Felton a Harvard man.

Later, when the NYAC’s team expanded nationally, Oregon's Lance Deal was recruited to the NYAC fold.

And Lance Deal is still - and unchallenged - owner of American records in both the hammer (270-9 in 1996) and 35-pound weight (84-11 in 1995).

High hurdler/Olympian Jeff Porter of NYAC moved into the semi-finals of the 60m high hurdles in 7.78; clubmate Craig Forys unwisely stayed close to 3000-meter leaders Bernard Lagat and Galen Rupp for nearly a mile, then faded to ninth in 8:18.38.

Other Met area clubs were well represented well on Day One in Albuquerque, too.

NJ-NY Track Club’s Robby Andrews was fastest of all men’s 800 qualifiers at 1:48.12 and teammate Michael Rutt (1:48.44) advanced with him, but third NJ-NY TC 800 hopeful Brian Gagnon bowed out. NJ-NY TC's Stephanie Charnigo (2:03.80) moved into the women’s 800m final, but teammate Cydney Ross missed out by just one place.

Central Park Track Club/New Balance’s Anita Rogers was seventh (20-7) and ex-LIU star Jessie Gaines eighth (20-05.75) in the women’s long jump. CPTCNB's Chaz Thomas went 24-02.75 for ninth in the men's long leap.

Just fifth in the LJ at 25-8 3/4 was Olympian Will Claye, winner at The Armory's New Balance Collegiate Invitational. He's hoping to do a lot better in Sunday's triple jump. 

Shore AC’s Paul Wagner placed eighth (at 67-0) in the weight throw and teammate Javon Young stepped a 6.78 but missed advancing in the men’s 60.

Clayton Parros, the former Seton Hall Prep and ex-North Carolina standout, was a surprise number two qualifier in the men's 400, winning his section in 46.25; of the six finalists, only Kind Butler was quicker at 46.08.

Armory vet Natasha Hastings zipped a 52.01 to lead all women's qualifiers in the 400; ex-Seton Hall star Jernail Hayes advanced in 53.14.