USA Track & Field (USATF) is the national governing body for track and field, long-distance running including cross country and mountain-ultra-trail running and race walking in the United States.  The USATF Niagara Association territory is defined as the State of New York west of and including the counties of Oswego, Onondaga, Cortland and Broome. This includes the metropolitan areas of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Jamestown, Ithaca, and Binghamton.  USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

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USATF Niagara is proud to announce a new American record was set May 12th, 2012 by Mary DaSilva.  Mary ran in the Mind the Ducks 12 hour Run  at Seneca Park, near the zoo in Rochester, NY.  Mary set a new American record in the womens 65-69 age group for distance covered in a 12 hour race with a distance covered of 51.47 miles.  Congratulations Mary!

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2012 USATF Niagara 10km Association Open & Masters Championship will be hosted by Medved Lilac 10km

On May 20, 2012 USATF Niagara Association will be having its 10km Championships at the Medved Lilac 10km in Rochester, NY.  Click Here For More Details

If you are a team captain and looking for the team declaration form for the USATF-Niagara team championships for this event, it can be found here .

Also please see the event page for new details added on yet another new benefit offered to the individual champion for travel reimbursement to the 10K and 10 mile national championships.

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The USATF Niagara Association is proud to announce our 2012 Spring and Summer Championship schedule. All events are open to both USATF members and to non-members. Niagara awards will only be available for USATF members.  Become a member!

The USATF Niagara Outdoor Track & Field Championship is scheduled for June 23rd at Penfield HS. 
Please note that there are 3 tiers of entry payment for the Outdoor meet.

Tier 1 is for those who wish to enter up to 3 individual events plus relays.

Tier 2 is for those who wish to enter an unlimited number of events.

Tier 3 is for member Club teams of between 8 to 10 individual athletes who each want to enter up to 3 individual events plus relays.

*Each level has separate pricing for both USATF members and non-members.
 
Please enter the meet on-line in advance. You will save money and we will save headaches.

We are still finalizing details for our new Throws Pentathlon scheduled for RIT at 9am on Saturday, June 16th. Save the date. Both USATF member and non-member throwers can compete in all 5 throws or any number of individual throws. Shot, Discus, Javelin, Hammer and Weight all on the same day.

 
2012 USATF Niagara Spring and Summer Championship Schedule

May 20       Sunday    Lilac 10k , USATF Niagara 10 km Road Championships   
9 a.m.        Highland Park, Rochester, NY

June 2        Saturday    Mendon Mauler 8 Mile , USATF Niagara Trail Championships
9 a.m.        Mendon Ponds Park, Mendon, NY

June 16    Saturday   USATF Niagara Throws Pentathlon & Individual Throws  
9 a.m.        Rochester Institute of Technology, Henrietta, NY

June 23    Saturday USATF Niagara Outdoor Track & Field Championships & Open Meet
9 a.m.        Penfield HS, Penfield, NY
Tier 1 Individual - up to 3 events plus relays
Tier 2 Individual - unlimited events
Tier 3 Team - 8 to 10 individuals all up to 3 events plus relays

August 11       Saturday    Jenny Kuzma Memorial Bergen 5k , Niagara 5 km Road Championships
8:30 a.m.     Hickory Park, Bergen, NY

Save the date:

October 21    Sunday       Empire State Half Marathon , Niagara ½ Marathon Road Championships  
8:00 a.m.    Alliance Bank Stadium, Syracuse, NY

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Tim Chichester 2nd American at Boston Marathon 

Tim Chichester (pictured at left wearing his Genesee Valley Harrier singlet, photo by Joe Navas) a graduate of SUNY Geneseo and a Mount Morris, NY native, finished 11th overall in 2:21:15 at the 116th Boston Marathon on an unseasonably warm day.  Chichester was the 2nd American finishing behind top American Jason Hartmann (4th overall in 2:14:31).  Both were ahead of 2010 USA Marathon National Champion Sergio Reyes who ran 2:22:05. The Overall winner was a University of Louisville graduate and native of Kenya, Wesley Korir, with a time of 2:12:40.  The relatively slow times were attributed to the 80 degree weather. This was only Chichester's 2nd Marathon and despite the warm weather his fastest, showing his top level of conditioning. Congratulations Tim Chichester!

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Henry Sypniewski, Masters Legend, 1918-2012

The USATF Niagara Association and U.S. masters distance running have lost one of our oldest and most remarkable athletes.  Henry Sypniewski, 93, of Cheektowaga, NY died at his home on April 1st.  According to family and friends, the cause of death was stomach cancer.

Born on July 7, 1918, Henry was veteran of World War II, in which he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.   Following a career as a machinist, Henry took up running at age 70 and seemed to excel more in each five-year age group he reached.

Following his 90^th birthday in 2008, Henry set U.S. M90-94 records in the 5K (33:46), the 15K (2:01:39), and the half-marathon (3:03:56) distances.  In 2009 he also set the 10K mark at 1:13:40.  Despite being hampered by a variety of injuries in the past two years, Henry managed to set U.S. single-age records for the 5K distance in each of the past three years:  38:53 at age 91; 41:00 at age 92; and a pending mark of 45:47 in his final race at age 93.  

Henry’s performances, almost exclusively on the roads, earned his USATF Masters Age Division Runner of the Year honors in various years and three different age groups:  M80-84 in 1998 and 1999; M85-89 in 2003, 2004 and 2005; and M90-94 in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

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Niagara is looking for your stories
If you know of someone in the Association turning in high level performances in Junior Olympics, High School State, and National competitions, open running and Track and Field, or Masters competitions, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  We can't track everything that's going on in the Association, so if you let us know what's going on with a link to results and/or a short description mentioning why the performance was notable, we'll do our best getting stories up on the site in the appropriate location.