JACKSONVILLE -- Storms that ran through the Jacksonville area prompted an abrupt halt to the first day of action of the 2015 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships at Hodges Field on the campus of the University of North Florida.
 
Track events resumed Friday morning beginning with 5,000 meters and 400 meters, with the latter going straight to finals.
 
From start to finish, field events caught the eye of everyone in attendance for a multitude of reasons. High jump offered a wide array of stars performing on Friday afternoon.
 
Olympian Chaunte Lowe (Loganville, Georgia) delivered a new meet record at 1.85m/6-0.75. The seven-time USATF Outdoor champion, including her most recent 2015 title, was hesitant in her efforts due to a tender ankle, but hopes there is much more to come.
 
“This is just the beginning,” Lowe said. “I’m looking forward to a long career in masters track & field.”
 
W60-89 high jump provided quite the excitement early with a pair of jumpers achieving great heights. Christel Donley (Colorado Springs, Colorado) resumed action in the morning by breaking the current American record with a mark of 1.03m/3-4.5, while Kathy Bergen (La Canada, California) cleared 1.20m/3-11.25.
 
James Oglesby (Kissimmee, Florida) was the only thrower in his shot put division to surpass 10 meters and took care of the M80 field with his best toss of the day at 11.43m/37-6.
 
The lone participant in the M98 shot put and the most experienced participant in this year’s championships, Champ Goldy (Haddonfield, New Jersey) began a remarkable weekend of events. Goldy threw 5.36m/17-7 in the shot put, his only event on Friday. He will take on the 100 meters, discus, javelin and weight throw on Saturday.
 
A pair of hurdlers set World and American records respectively during the afternoon.
 
Ty Brown (Washington D.C.) surpassed the world record in the M70 80-meter hurdles at 12.61, while Derek Pye (Long Beach, California) broke an American masters record in the M45 110H in clocking in at 14.46.
 
Jon Noland II (Tampa, Florida), 41, turned in the fastest 5,000m performance of the day, taking the M30-59 title in 15:43.94. He was the only sub-16:00 runner on the day.
 
“I’ve been out of track & field for 25 years. Now I’m back with masters and I’m going to stay at it,” Noland.
 
For the women’s 5,000m, Sonja Friend-Uhl (Brentwood, Tennessee) captured the W30-54 title with a time of 17:26.77. Marisa Sutera Strange (Pleasant Valley, New York) and Julie Mercado (Springboro, Ohio) rounded out the top three finishing with times of 17:59.13 and 18:21.68, respectively.
 
Some of the participants in this week’s competition will qualify for the World Masters Championships to be held in Aug. 4-16 in Lyon, France.
 
Results from the first two days of competition can be viewed here.
 
The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships can be seen on demand on USATF.TV. Action continues Saturday, July 25 and concludes Sunday, July 26.
 
Entry is free to the public for the entire weekend and the rest of the 2015 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships. Click here for more information regarding the rest of the weekend.
 
Fans are invited to join the conversation by following USATF on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
 
Ryan Stevens
Communications Intern
Ryan.Stevens@usatf.org