Masters Set Marks at World Modern Pentathlon Championships

USTI NAD LABEM, Czech Republic, September 22. MORE then 50 athletes from 15 countries recently competed in the World Championships for Modern Pentathlon Masters earlier this month. The U.S. boasted a pair of competitors, Donald Morley of San Antonio, Texas, and George Sanderlin of Atlanta, Ga. Morley competed in the pentathlon, which consists of shooting (10 meter air pistol) fencing (epee with one point, round-robin bouts), swimming (100 meter freestyle), riding (stadium show jumping), and running (2 kilometers). Meanwhile, Sanderlin competed in the tetrathlon, which is comprised of everything in the pentathlon except for the riding event.

In the pentathlon, Morley won the 100 meter freestyle swim in 1:04.9 for 1,108 points. His competition included many athletes who were much younger. Morley’s marksmanship earned him a tie for second in the shoot with a score of 181, out of a possible 200. This effort also earned him 1,108 points. He tied for first in the ride earning 1,200 points. Morley, a former member of the U.S. national modern pentathlon team in the 1970s, made his second appearance in the World Masters (over 40 years of age) competition. Overall, he finished ninth with 5,292 points.

As a relative new-comer to the sport, Sanderlin scored a personal record 3,342 points in the tetrathlon to rank 16th in the world. He posted personal bests in both the shoot (score of 165) and the 2k run. He knocked 24 seconds off of his previous-best 2k time, finishing in 7:44.8.

Sanderlin, who only started the sport 20 months ago, did not compete in the ride.

“Overall, the competition was very strong,” Sanderlin said. “Most of the Europeans have competed in modern pentathlon since they were 11 or 12. However, after watching the men’s riding competition, I know that I can ride at that level. I am aiming to ride in the Canada Championships in Calgary next summer. In the meantime, I’ll need to get into some jumping competitions to tune up.”

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