Courtesy: USATF

Ten active and five old-timer masters athletes and administrators have been elected to the USATF Masters Hall of Fame.

The active athletes are Louise Adams, Stan Druckrey, Tom Gage, Burl Gist, Vanessa Hilliard, Bernice Holland, John Keston, Archie Messenger, Roy Pirrung, and Becky Sisley. The old-timers are George Braceland, Bud Deacon (deceased), Ray Hatton, Jim Law (deceased), and Marcie Trent (deceased). The Hall now contains 25 women and 49 men, of whom 45 represent the discipline of T&F, 26 LDR, and 3 race walking.

Louise Adams, 80, of Boulder, Colo., is a middle distance specialist who still holds four indoor world records of the seven she set. Winner of 44 national or world championships in her age group across a 24- year career, she was named masters track age-group athlete of the year by USATF four times.

Stan Druckrey, 53, of South Milwaukee, Wis., is an outstanding hurdler who has set eight age group records in his specialty and still holds the M40 110mH and 400mH world records, set in 1989. Stan has 32 first place finishes to his credit at the national or world level.

Tom Gage, a 58-year old weight man from Billings, Mt., currently holds five of his six records. Tom holds 57 national or world championship titles, and was USATF masters field age-group athlete of the year ten times.

Burl Gist, 81, of Anza, Calif., has been outstanding in the high jump and hurdles. Across his 30-year career he set seven world and two U.S. records while finishing first 33 times at national and world championships. His records came between the ages of 60 and 71.

Vanessa Hilliard, 60, St Petersburg, Fla., has dominated her age group in hammer, shot, and discus. She still holds seven records of the 17 she set along the way to her 55 national or world championship titles. She was USATF masters field age-group athlete of the year seven times.

Bernice Holland, 74, of Cleveland, OH, set 28 age-group records across her 19-year career in throws and weight pentathlon, winning 60 championship titles. She also was masters field age-group athlete of the year five times.

John Keston, 77, of McMinnville, Ore., has dominated his age group in distance running for more than a decade. His four records span from one mile to the marathon. John has won 262 of his 280 races since 1986 for events from 200m on the track to several of the most prestigious marathons in the world. In 2001 at the Hayward Classic (Eugene, Ore.) he won the M75 1500m, 1 mile, 3000m, 5000m, and 10,000m events (the last a pending world record).

Archie Messenger, 78, Waterville Valley, N.H., is another middle distance specialist. He participated in seven WAVA championships, though excelled most indoors. All of his six records were set indoors, with the M65 800m and 1 mile US records still on the books from 1989. He has 46 national titles to his credit.

Roy Pirrung, 53, of Sheboygan, Wis., has set 26 U.S. records for ultra events from 50K to 48 Hours, and still holds 15 of them. In the 48-hour championships of Surgeres, France, he was 2nd overall in 1997, 3rd in 2000, and again 2nd in 2001. From 1985 to the present he has been ranked in top three for USA for distances beyond 100K.

Becky Sisley, 62, of Eugene, Ore., has dominated the U.S. javelin, currently holding the record for three age groups (F50, 55, 60) and has held the world record in the pole vault since she began at age 55. Becky has set 19 records and taken 57 national/world championship titles.

George Braceland, 88, of Drexel Hill, Pa., has competed from 100 yards to the Boston marathon, from decathlons to 20K race walks. He set 10 records in the 1970s in the pole vault, hurdles, pentathlon and decathlon. He also set five "records" in race walking, prior to USATF ratification process.

Bud Deacon of Turner, Ore., died at the age of 88 following a career that spanned 1968 to 1987. Bud was a decathlete specializing in the pole vault, competing from Honolulu for the first half of his career. He set 26 records, of which 7 were in the decathlon.

Ray Hatton, 69, of Bend, Ore., displayed excellence from 1 mile through 10K, with occasional sorties up to 25K. He set 14 records and still holds 8 of them.

Jim Law of Charlotte, N.C., died in 1996 at the age of 70. He still holds four U.S. records of the six he set. Jim finished first 31 times in national and international championships and became a spokesman for the National Senior Games. He was USATF masters track age-group athlete of the year three times.

Marcie Trent of Anchorage, Alaska, died at the age of 77 while trail running in Alaska. She had a range from 800m to 50 miles, setting 11 U.S. records along the way. She completed 59 marathons and 11 ultras, finishing first female in two 50-milers after age 60.