Craig Masback

Craig, who still holds the WPHS record for 800 meters (1:51.1c) is known to many for his coverage of many of the top track and field events in the world (including the Barcelona, Atlanta, Beijing, and London Olympic Games).

However, many of us remember Craig as one of the top distance runners ever produced by this nation.  For the mile,  he has broken the four-minute barrier thirty times (with a personal best in 1979 of 3:52.02). In 1982 Craig set the American record for 2000 meters.

Presently Craig is a Vice President of Sports Marketing for Nike, with responsibility for China, Japan, and Global Business Affairs.

It was in 1973, on a sloppy, rain-soaked cinder track, that Craig won the Loucks Games 880 Yard Run with an unheralded time (for him) of 1:57.8, a time, although slower than his usual efforts, was indicative of what that day’s conditions would allow.  So, in addition to all of the other honors he has received, we are recognizing the fortieth anniversary of Craig’s victory at Loucks. Craig, welcome home.

Photo courtesy of: www.sportsbusinessdaily.com

Thank you for your anticipated participation in the 46th Annual Glenn D. Loucks Games. DirectAthletics will accept your entries starting at midnight on March 1st.

We are anticipating another great meet!

Please don't forget to send your copy of the cover page (http://www.theloucksgames.org/cover-page/), as your entry will not be complete without it.

If there are any questions (especially from first-time coaches), please contact the meet director, Fred Singleton by email at theloucksgames@gmail.com or by calling (914) 422-2314.

So far we have added two new events and changed another. The change refers to the the Saturday morning 1600 Meters being changed back to its original distance, the One Mile Run.  Our hope is that we can better attract more of the nation's elite runners. Eventually we hope that The Loucks Mile will be mentioned in the same breath as the Millrose and Penn Relays Miles.

As we seek more and more of the talented runners from around the nation, we haven't forgotten those in our local area, Section 1 (Dutuchess, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester Counties in New York). We have added a Friday night Section 1 Mile. The runners in this race will be comprised of the top 15 athletes from our area who appear on the Provisional list, guaranteeing them a chance to participate in the meet. The moving of these runners will benefit the runners from other areas, as they will be moved up on the Provisional list.

Our other new event is based upon the sharp increase in participation from the New England area. We are now offering a Saturday afternoon New England 4 X 400, for athletes from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Schools from these states will be able to enter a single team per gender to compete against others from these six states in a non-scoring, non-trophy event. Of course, a school can enter this event and the Varsity 4 X 400, but must keep in mind that an athlete may not participate in both.

We are always trying to provide the best meet that we can offer and, after much discussion, we have agreed to give these new events a chance.  Enter away!

Many of the records for the distance races at Loucks took a direct hit, legendary names being pushed aside by this year's fine crop of athletes. On Friday night, the first to fall was Alberto Salazar's 1975 effort for two miles. His 9:02.0 time converts to 8:58.99 and it was moved to second place all time at Loucks by the meet's defending champion, Chad Noelle of New York's Greene High School, who ran 8:56.02.

A few minutes later, the name Aisling Cuffe was removed by, well, Aisling Cuffe, herself. She smashed her 10:08.19 effort from 2010 with a blistering 9:56.16, a New York State record!

Even the oldest record on the books was in jeopardy. Zavon Watkins of Liverpool had previously tasted the Loucks record books two times, by being a member of the Liverpool 4 X 800 that had twice set meet records (2009 and 2010). He came close to Mark Belger's 1974 time of 1:50.8 880 yard time (converted  to 1:50.29) with his excellent 1:50.61.

Saturday morning, the meet was still abuzz about Friday's efforts and Watkins wasn't finished. His 4:11.13 at first seemed to threaten the meet record of White Plains' own Greg Herzog (1979- 4:10.5y - 4:09.19 (c)), but he had to settle for 8th place on the top ten liist instead. If Liverpool returns in 2012, let the records beware.

A few minutes later, Cuffe was at it again. Her 4:40.56 became the new standard for the meet, replacing Suffern's Shelby Greany 2009 time of 4:48.25. By the way, it was another New York State record.

In 2010 Edward Owens of Packer won the 3000 Steeplechase in a  respectable time of 9:33.34. This year, his time of 9.12.40 replaced the 1978 effort of John Tuttle (Alfred-Almond) of 9:14.5.

A few minutes later, it was proven again that no distance race was immune from the the assult. West Gennesee's freshman standout Laura Leff completed the steeplechase record renovations, with an outstanding time of 6:52.74, taking over the top spot in meet history from Suffern's Kara McKenna (6:54.36 from 2004). All of that and we must add Nick Vena of Morristown, NJ. He threw the shot put 70' 11.5", replacing his 2010 effort of 70' 8". All in all, the 2011 games will be remembered as one of the best in the meet's history. Who knows what awaits us for 2012!

For all results click here

Did you declare your team's intention to participate? You have until April 21st to do so. All you have to do is send an email to jsingleton@wpcsd.k12.ny.us declaring your team's intention. It is non-binding.

Your entry (a) the cover sheet and (b) your entry upon www.directathletics is due on April 26th.

We'll see you in May.

It's time! One of the best track meets in the United States is about to begin. The first race of the 2012 Glenn D. Loucks Games is set to begin at 5:00 on Thursday May 10th.

Much speculation has been made concerning our new policy of limiting the number of athletes in 3 races: the 800 Meters (60 athletes), the 1600 Meters (45 athletes) and the 3200 Meters (30 athletes). We felt that we needed to make this chance to better serve those in attendance, making us a better meet. 

Coaches we are sure that there is concern about the status of athletes in those races.

We will issue a list of accepted athletes and a ranking of those on the Provisional List.

To view the list of accepted athletes click here.

To view the seeds in all other races click here.

Note: these links will be activated sometime after noon on Tuesday May 10th.

The 2009 High School Torch-Bearers

The total number of trophies does not reflect the trophies that were awarded in the 5K Road Race, the Master's Mile or the Wheelchair races, but does take into account four trophies for each of the various winning relays in the meet's 43 year history.

According to Meet Historian, Fred Singleton, who carefully studied the results from each meet, "We are at 1,995 and counting. On Thursday, after the Men's East Coast DMR Challenge Cup, we will have awarded 1,999 trophies. Thus, the leadoff leg (the 1,200 Meter leg) of the victorious team of the Women's East Coast DMR Challenge Cup will have the distinction of being handed the 2,000th trophy in meet history. That trophy will have a special engravement plate on it, symbolic of the magintude of the event. I wonder which person from which team will recieve it."

In the only event that the school entered, the Saratoga Springs girls won the race with a time of 11:54.54 (4th fastest in meet history). The winning quartet was Amanda Borroughs, Margaret MacDonald, Brianne Bellon, Keelin Hollowood. As we move forward towards the 2011 meet, we are counting down to trophy number 3,000!