CLEVELAND, OHIO -- Carol Young of Marietta, Ga. headlined the opening day of the 2011 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships with an American Record in the W70 hammer throw.

Competition resumes tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. at the George Finnie Stadium at Baldwin Wallace College. Admission is free.

Hammer throw gold stays forever Young
One throw is all Young needed to better her own American record of 29.06m/95-4 in the W70 division. As the rains cleared and the sun beamed down on the throwing ring in Cleveland, Ohio, Young, who competes for the Throw1deep Club, seized the opportunity by launching the hammer a staggering 29.66m/97-3 on her first throw.

All of Young’s throws, ranging from 29.06m to 22.03m, would have earned her first place, as she truly dominated her age division unlike any other field athlete at the meet. Young also holds the women’s 65-69 American record at 35.93m/117-10, which has stood for more than six years.

Bernhard flirts with American record
Tom Bernhard of Castro Valley, Calif. crossed the finish line only 4 seconds over the American record of 17:19.00 set by Clive Davies more than 30 years ago. Battling adverse conditions with periods of rain all morning long, Bernhard, who competes for New Balance Excelsior, won the M60 5,000m race in a time of 17:22.80. The closest competitor crossed the line nearly two minutes behind, leaving Bernhard left to run the majority of the race alone.

Bernhard’s performance was so impressive that even the M55 5,000m runners, who competed on the track at the same time as the M60 couldn’t match his pace. Sam Torres of Toledo, Ohio won the M55 race in 18:27.70.

Meiler wins double gold
Flo Meiler, besides having one of the most ‘sport-appropriate’ names in all of track and field, took home two gold medals on the first day of competition. Meiler, of Shelburne, Vt. and competing for Mass Velocity Track Club, earned her first gold medal in the W75 hammer throw, where she won the event on her second throw of 19.87m/65-2. Five of Meiler’s six throws of the day traveled over 17m/55-9.

Meiler’s second gold medal came in the W75 pentathlon. Competing in a grueling line-up of five events, the hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800m run, she amassed 3,320 points. The morning rains proved to be troublesome for some of the pentathlon athletes. Meiler slipped and fell in the 800m run; however, she was still able to gather herself and finish the race strong – strong enough for an overall gold medal.

Other spectacular performances from the first day of competition included local favorites
Barbara Broad of Peper Pike, Ohio who won the W60 5,000m race in a time of 20:37 and Sam Torres of Toledo who claimed gold in the M55 5,00m in 18:27.70. Beth Simpson of Conneaut, Ohio sent the hammer flying 27.39m/89-10 to win the W30 hammer throw. Mary Hartzler had an outstanding day in the W60 hammer as the resident of Gahanna, Ohio improved her seed mark by more than a meter to win in 36.98m/121-4. George Riser of nearby Lyndhurst won the M85 shot put in 9.04m/29-8.

Masters standout Oneithea Lewis of Oakland Garden won the W50 hammer throw with a mark more than 10 meters further than the rest of the field in 53.36m/175-0. Michael Janusey of Venetia, Penn. and David Kohls of Lafayette, Calif. won the M50 and M55 pentathlons respectively iwith identical scores of 2942 points. Steeplechaser Ross Bolding of Monticello, Ark. won gold in his very first pentathlon. Bolding won the M65 age division with 2,517 points.

For full results of the USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAMastersOutdoorTFChampionships/schedule.asp