While Canadian wildfire smoke, which engulfed parts of the country, certainly had its impacts, it did not stop some Upper Valley residents from showcasing their abilities at the 2026 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships at Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio, which wrapped up last weekend.
Adam Lufkin of Lebanon, Zane Rodriguez of Norwich, and Kenneth Allgair of Lebanon all competed at the meet, which featured various track and field events for competitors 25 years of age and older.
The event, which was open to “All eligible members of USATF and eligible members of other World Masters Athletics (WMA) Masters Affiliates,” otherwise had “no qualifying standards,” according to USATF’s website.
Lufkin, who is 30 years old and is the Throws Coach at Dartmouth College, finished first in the men’s 30-34 discus (48.79m); Rodriguez, 66, won the men’s 65-69 javelin (50.01m); and Allgair, 52, finished third in the men’s 50-54 discus (42.48m), and sixth in the men’s 50-54 hammer (37.69m).
Notably, the meet, which was initially slated to run over four days from July 16 to July 19, was condensed due to the poor air quality.
“The first two days actually got suspended during the day because the smoke was so bad,” Lufkin said. “For a while we were thinking we weren’t even going to have the meet or compete,” he added.
In addition to a condensed schedule, Lufkin indicated some competitions were cut, while others, like some of the discus events, which are normally completed outdoors, were moved indoors.
Despite that, the athletes took the changes in stride — Rodriguez, who had a bit of a deja vu moment, had experience with these sorts of shifts.
Rodriguez first competed at a Masters Nationals event in North Carolina about 20 years ago. That meet was impacted by overbearing heat, which pushed some events to be completed at midnight.
“For me, the competition starts as soon as you walk out of the door of your house because all these things — these obstacles, these variables — you have to roll with it,” he said.
While athletes worked through those changes, it was no walk in the park.
Allgair noted that at one point during the meet he only had 15 minutes between throwing hammer and shot put and elected not to compete in the latter event.
“There just wasn’t enough time for me to feel recovered and gather my thoughts and my head to get into the next event,” he said.
Seeing the success of these local athletes — especially under these circumstances — stood out to a certain individual with ties to all three of them: Former Dartmouth Track and Field Coach Carl Wallin.
Lufkin, Rodriguez, and Allgair are all members of Wallin’s Thor’s Stone Athletic Club, which the former Big Green Coach started in 2010 after he retired in 2009.
As part of the club, Wallin can share his throwing knowledge and some tips with a pool of athletes that range from students to older adults, free of charge.
“I told them: adapt and improvise,” Wallin said. “I think they all did really, really well considering.”
For more information about the 2026 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships and results, visit usatf.org.
