2017 USA Masters Indoor Championship
Southwest Sprinters Recap

SWS worked their magic once again at the 2017 USA Masters Indoor Championship meet in Albuquerque, NM.  Relay records fell like rain during the monsoon!  SWS finished 2nd out of 75 in the final team standings.  There were outstanding performances for both men and women. Here’s how the points were racked up.

The meet opened up with a one two victorious performance by Rachel Guest and Danielle Readinger in the W40 Pentathlon.  Guest also got gold in the 60m hurdles.  SWS went one two in the 400m W40 division with Latrica Dendy and Cynthia McNamee.    Dendy also added gold to the medal collection in the 60m and 400m.  Vanessa Juarez nabbed valuable points for the team with her 5th place finish in the W45 400m.   

The Lady SWS racked up a lion’s share of points in the 60m dash with gold medal performances from Easter Grant (W30) and LaTisha Moulds (W35).  The 60m field rounded out with a 2nd place finish by Danielle Readinger (W40), 5th place finish by Isabelle Dierauer (W40) and 5th place finish by Deaneth Edwards (W45). 

The medal count continued with a strong blue & gold showing in the 200m.  Gold medal performances included Easter Grant (W30), Latisha Mounds (W35), and LaTrica Dendy (W40).  Top performers also included Nedenia West (W45) and Isabelle Dierauer (W40). Dierauer also left the meet with gold and silver in both the triple and long jumps respectively.

SWS men did not let the women have all the fun.  The M40 division of the 400m ended with a SWS sweep!  Antwon Dussett, Gabriel Fuzat and Michael Schroer respectively.  Adding to the gold medal count in the 400M were Dedrick Clark (M35) and Robert Thomas (M50).  Additional team points was racked in with performances by John Cormier 2nd (M45), Francois Boda 3rd (M50),  and Dr. Marcus Shute 4th (M50)

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The men continued their dominating performance in the 60M dash, which included another sweep in the M50 division.  David Jones, Clinton Aurelien and Francois Boda added the gold, silver and bronze to the SWS jewelry collection.  The M35 division left the party with a 1st, 2nd and 4th place performance by Sean Burnett, Dedrick Clark and Jassiel Torres. Adding to this performance were the M45 SWS representatives of Derek Pye (2nd place), Scott Wichman (3rd place) and Tecumseh Peete (5th place).

Gabriel Fuzat decided to test himself against the 60m speedsters. The story ends with him clenching the gold and claiming his first National title! Not bad for an event debut. It's safe to say that we'll be seeing his name on the 60m heat sheets in the near future.

Get the broom out again.  SWS house cleaning continued with a sweep of the M35 200m dash.  Sean Burnett, Dedrick Clark and Jassiel Torres claimed the gold, silver and bronze respectively.  M40 went one two with Antwon Dussett and Gabriel Fuzat.  Tecumseh Peete nabbed the bronze medal in the M45 category.  The M50 group took almost everything but the kitchen sink.  The gold and silver went to Robert Thomas and Clinton Aurelien.  Francois Boda and Marcus Shute swooped up the 4th and 5th place points.

While on the subject of 60m, a pair of M45 super heros by the names of Derek Pye and Don Drummond decided that life is not as fun running 60 meters without a few "obstacles" in place. The dynamic duo leaped into the 60m hurdles action, taking the gold and silver. The new World Record of 8.15 added an extra shinny finish to Pye's gold medal!

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Relays Relays Relays!

When it came to getting the stick around the track, SWS exceeded its own  reputation.  The W35 4x200 team consisting of Mounds, Juarez, West and Granttook the gold in a time of 1:51.69.  The W40 team of Readinger, McNamee, Guest and Dendy decided that gold was not enough.  They got the stick around the track in American Record time of 1:53.25!  Before you could say pass the protein, the quartet of McNamee, Guest, Juarez and Dendy followed up with a 4x400 W40 American record - 4:07.66!

SWS men were not going to be outdone.  They dominated the 4x200 relays in the 35 to 50 age divisions.  Four gold medals were added to the SWS jewelry box.M50 group led by Aurelin, Boda, Jones and Thomas finished in 1:35.77.  M45 followed up with another gold medal performance by Peete, Wichman, Cormier and Pye with a winning time of 1:40.18.  M40 all-star team of Drummond, Fuzat, Schroer and Shute earned gold in 1:35:75.

The M35 speedsters team of Torres, Clark, Burnett and Dussett gets the gold and the World Record with a time of 1:29.74!  They’re going to need a “platinum” category soon.

Speaking of “racking up points”, this recap wouldn’t be a recap if it didn’t include an individual who racked up 29 points single handedly.  After finishing 4th in the pentathlon with 2686 points, he decided to “leap” into a few more events.  We’re talking long jump, high jump, triple jump, 60m, 60m hurdles……whew!  – weight throw, super weight throw – and did I mention pentathlon? Talk about putting in the hours.  If there were an MVP award for the meet, it would already be mounted on a wall in the house of Mr. Mitchel Maxwell.   Until someone invents this award, we will call him the team CEO of the oval office.

But wait….  There’s more!
To top things off, SWS had CUATRO Athlete of the Year Award winners for 2016! 

LatTrica Dendy (W40)

Rachel Guest (W40)

Antwon Dussett (M40)

Derek Pye (M45)

Congratulations to all of the members of theSWS 2017 USA Indoor National team!
Next stop -  USA Masters Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge. July 13-16, 2017.  It’s a date!