 Bill Collins |  |
We catch up with former GeezerJocks of the Year
The first GeezerJock of the Year back in 2005 was also a track and field athlete: Bill Collins of Houston. Now 56, Collins swept the sprints in his age group at both the indoor and outdoor national Masters championships in 2007 for the sixth year in a row. At the outdoor championships in Orono, Maine, he won the M55 100-meter dash (11.74), 200-meter dash (23.99) and the 400-meter run (54.04). A few weeks later Collins capped his year by sweeping the same three races at the World Masters Association meet in Riccione, Italy.
The 2006 GeezerJock of the Year, Ruben Gonzalez of Staten Island, N.Y., is now 55, and his remarkable career continued apace in 2007. In November, he became the first champion of the newly formed Classic Pro Racquetball Tour for players 40-and-older. Gonzalez, who has always been renowned for his stamina, outlasted Woody Clouse in a five-game marathon that last almost two hours.
"GeezerJocks" wants to send get-well-soon wishes to Ken Stone, the blogger supreme at Masterstrack.com. Stone, who lives in Costa Mesa, Calif., had reconstructive knee surgery in November. He's already back blogging and is undergoing physical therapy. We hope he's back sprinting on the track next year.
Joe Neal, 65, who was a member of The Villages GeezerJocks in Training triathlon squad in 2006, is writing a blog for our Web site. The blog will be called The Villages Life and in it Neal will write about sports in The Villages, Fla., an active adult community of 70,000, where golf, pickleball and softball are played in abundance. Neal will also report on his own endeavors around the world: In the past year Neal competed in open water swims in Ireland, California and Washington. To read about Neal's exploits, visit mastersathlete.com and click on "Blogs."
Bob Kolvitz is the captain of Windy City, a 50+ softball team. His team's loss in Senior Softball USA's Eastern National Championships was covered in the October 2007 issue of this magazine. Windy City took second place in that tournament. Kolvitz called a few weeks back to offer proof that his squad could win tournaments, too. Windy City won the men's 50+-major bracket at Senior Softball USA's World Championships in Phoenix in November.
John Rothchild, who lives in Florida, wrote with Peter Lynch "One Up on Wall Street," among other investment books. Rothchild is also a Masters cyclist who is passionate about sports for older athletes. He has started a Web site that hopes to catalog age-group world records -- and not just for sports. The site can be found at geezerbookofworldrecords.com, where there is a tool for record setters to enter their own performances.
Ultrarunner Roy Pirrung of Sheboygan, Wis., appeared on the cover of our magazine in November 2006. He just placed second in the men's open division of the U.S. National 24 Hour Run Championship, which was held in November in Grapevine, Texas. He ran 138.5 miles. He's 59. For his 2007 performance, Pirrung was named the USA Track and Field Masters ultrarunner of the year. The female Masters ultrarunner of the year was Beverly Anderson-Abbs, 43, of Red Bluff, Calif.
This column is a new feature in our magazine. In this and every future issue of Masters Athlete, we'll use this "GeezerJocks" column to let you know about news regarding interesting people, places and things in Masters and senior sports. Please let us know what's going on in your Masters sports arena by emailing: geezerjocks@geezerjock.com.