CMS Senior Team wins USATF National Masters Cross Country Championships at Franklin Park – Boston, MA

The Central Mass Striders Senior (50+) team took Gold by beating out three other teams while the Masters (40+) team placed 6^thout of 7 teams competing in the 2021 USATF National Masters Cross Country Championships held at Franklin Park – Boston, MA. The late morning 5K race had temperatures in the low 60’s with partly sunny skies drying out idle puddles and mud from the previous night’s rain. Paul Bazanchuk would run 21:51 to place 28^th overall and 8^th within in the 65-69 age group in the 60+ event which was the first cross country event (5K) of the morning. Franklin Park’s 5K course would require three loops and one pass through Bear Cage Hill.

Greg Putnam led CMS with his 2^nd place age group (50-54) in the combined 40 and 50 year old 5K race having 91 competitors. Greg’s time of 17:28 was followed by Tim Van Orden, 17:54, who placed 5^th in the 50-54 age group. The next four CMS runner placings for the team were a crowded affair with Scott Grandfield, Todd Callaghan, Joe Shairs and Steve Brightman crossing the line over the next 23 seconds. The masters team (40+) was led by Scott Leslie who cracked the top 10 with a 9^th place finish and time of 17:05. Erik Johnson, making his CMS debut would follow, passing the finish with a time of 18:11. Dave Dunham and Dan Verrington, being declared down to the 40+ squad to enable a team score, ran 19:25 and 19:49 allowing Jim Pawlicki to close out the scoring minutes later.

Individual and team results below. Source

See 2017 USATF National Masters Cross Country Championships atFranklin Park CMS recap and results summary where teams won silver and bronze

2021 USATF MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

Franklin Park - Boston, MA - October 17, 2021

Place Name Bib# Team City/state S Ag Time

===== =================== ===== ========================= ============

1 CHRIS GARVIN 1606 HFC Striders A Kingston RI M 40 16:22

2 JOHN PORAY 1609 Indiana Elite Athletic Cl Fishers IN M 40 16:40

3 TJ UNGER 1620 HFC Striders A Westwood MA M 43 16:45

4 TODD WITZLEBEN 1610 Checkers AC A Williamsville NY M 40 16:54

5 MATTHEW CARTER 1617 Boston Athletic Associati Westminster MA M 43 16:55

6 MATTHEW WAGONER 1626 Greater Philadelphia TC A New Cumberland PA M 44 16:57

7 JASON HOLROYD 1627 Boston Athletic Associati Everett MA M 45 16:58

8 BROCK BUTLER 1622 Greater Philadelphia TC A West Chester PA M 44 17:03

9 SCOTT LESLIE 1608 Central Mass Striders A Rutland MA M 40 17:05

14 GREGORY PUTNAM 1651 Central Mass Striders A Stoneham MA M 51 17:28

24 TIM VAN ORDEN 1664 Central Mass Striders A Bennington VT M 53 17:54

28 ERIK JOHNSON 1628 Central Mass Striders A Portsmouth NH M 45 18:11

33 SCOTT GRANDFIELD 1680 Central Mass Striders A Rehoboth RI M 56 18:25

35 TODD CALLAGHAN 1655 Central Mass Striders A Beverly MA M 52 18:31

39 JOSEPH SHAIRS 1663 Central Mass Striders A Peabody MA M 53 18:40

40 STEVE BRIGHTMAN 1654 Central Mass Striders A Providence RI M 52 18:48

55 DAVE DUNHAM 1691 Central Mass Striders A Bradford MA M 57 19:25

61 DANIEL VERRINGTON 1700 Central Mass Striders A Bradford MA M 59 19:49

80 JAMES PAWLICKI 1637 Central Mass Striders A Lynn MA M 47 22:30

************** MEN'S 60+ 5K OVERALL RESULTS **************

Place Name Bib# Team City/state S Ag Time

===== =================== ===== ========================= =======

1 DANIEL KING 1521 Athletics Boulder A Boulder CO M 62 18:57

2 JOSEPH MORA 1505 Genesee Valley Harriers A Fayetteville NY M 60 19:06

3 ROBERT MCCORMACK 1513 HFC Striders A Foxboro MA M 61 19:11

4 RICK LEE 1503 Shore Athletic Club A Bayville NJ M 60 19:19

5 DAVID LITOFF 1504 Athletics Boulder A Louisville CO M 60 19:25

6 KEN YOUNGERS 1543 Atlanta Track Club Tucker GA M 65 19:30

7 CHARLES SHIELDS 1527 Greater Philadelphia TC A Abington PA M 62 19:50

8 MICHAEL SALAMONE 1515 Shore Athletic Club A Ringwood NJ M 61 20:17

9 DAVID WESTENBERG 1536 Greater Lowell Road Runne Wellesley MA M 63 20:17

10 GEORGE BUCHANAN 1530 Hartford Track Club Shelton CT M 63 20:20

28 PAUL BAZANCHUK 1544 Central Mass Striders Center Conway NH M 66 21:51

*********** Men's 50+ - TEAM SCORE **********

1. Central Mass Striders A

1 4 7 8 10 (11) = 30

GREGORY PUTNAM, TIM VAN ORDEN, SCOTT GRANDFIELD, TODD CALLAGHAN,

JOSEPH SHAIRS, STEVE BRIGHTMAN

2. Greater Springfield Harriers, Inc A

2 3 12 14 15 (19) = 46

NAT LARSON, MICHAEL NAHOM, MARK HIXSON, ROBERT MURRAY, ALEJANDRO HEUCK,

FRANCIS BURDETT

3. Genesee Valley Harriers A

5 6 13 20 21 (23) (24) = 65

MIKE NIER, ALAN EVANS, DALE FLANDERS, WAYNE CRANDALL, CARL JOHNSTON,

MARK RYBINSKI, MICHAEL REIF

4. HFC Striders A

9 16 17 18 22 = 82

JASON CAKOUROS, STEVE NERI, BOBBY BLIGH, FRANK NELSON, JEFFREY CAHILL

The Central Mass Striders Masters (40+) placed 6^thout of 7 teams.

*********** Men's 40+ - TEAM SCORE **********

1. Boston Athletic Association A

4 6 9 11 17 (24) = 47

MATTHEW CARTER, JASON HOLROYD, AARON PRICE, DONAL O'SULLIVAN, DAVID

BEDOYA, RYAN DAVENPORT

2. HFC Striders A

1 2 14 15 19 (21) (23) (36) = 51

CHRIS GARVIN, TJ UNGER, LEE DANFORTH, MICHAEL DANIELS, TIMOTHY GAVIN,

BRIAN CRONIN, DANA SPENCER, TOM VOSSEN

3. Greater Philadelphia TC A

5 7 10 18 34 = 74

MATTHEW WAGONER, BROCK BUTLER, TIM HARTE, KENNETH BARBEE, SCOTT

ARMSTRONG

4. Checkers AC A

3 22 25 27 31 (37) = 108

TODD WITZLEBEN, JOHN MCMAHON, JOE SILLIMAN, MATTHEW DORE, DAVID DIXON,

JOHN DUFFY

5. Garden State Track Club New Balance A

12 16 26 28 30 = 112

DAVID FERRUGGIA, MICHAEL ANIS, JASON TIMOCHKO, JOHN HOGAN, HAROLD

PORCHER

6. Central Mass Striders A

8 20 29 32 39 = 128

SCOTT LESLIE, ERIK JOHNSON, DAVE DUNHAM, DANIEL VERRINGTON, JAMES

PAWLICKI

7. Somerville Road Runners A

13 33 35 38 40 = 159

BRIAN CULLINAN, STEVE BOSIC, BRADLEY HARRIS, JASON LACHAPELLE, JESSE

MORROW