Snow causes a mad dash to the races

Friday's snowstorm not only delayed flights into Logan Airport, it also delayed yesterday's start of the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center. Organizers pushed back the start by two hours and scratched preliminary rounds in the men's and women's 60 hurdles and men's and women's 60-meter dash. But that did not cure all the headaches for some athletes, who found themselves stuck in various airports and unable to fly into Boston.

Stranded in Detroit, a group of athletes including Millrose Games women's pole vault champion Jillian Schwartz decided to rent a car and drive to Boston. Since the well-traveled athletes had their passports with them, they traveled through Canada to avoid most of the inclement weather. The group started Friday night, and as of late yesterday afternoon USA Track & Field officials did not know whether they had arrived.

"We haven't lost anybody," said USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer as the scheduled events got under way. "Everyone who planned to be here is either here or en route."

After winning his heat in the men's 800 and comfortably qualifying for the event final in 1 minute 48.67 seconds, Nick Symmonds reported that he encountered significant travel problems coming in from Eugene, Ore. Rerouted to Los Angeles because of weather, Symmonds found himself on a Thursday night red-eye flight to Boston. Symmonds spent much of Friday catching up on sleep, making his results in the 800 preliminaries that much more satisfying.

"I felt great," said Symmonds. "I wasn't sure how it was going to feel, having not raced in a month. I thought I'd be a lot more rusty."

Symmonds singled out the effort of James Hatch, who ran 1:50.11 in the same heat and also advanced to today's final, after barely making it to the track on time because of travel issues.

USA Track & Field hopes to name a new chief executive to succeed Craig Masback by June 1, well before the Olympic Trials, president Bill Roe said yesterday. Roe, who has been acting CEO since the end of January, when Masback left to become director of business affairs for Nike's global sports marketing division, said the federation will be hiring a search firm to identify candidates outside of the track and field world.

Already, more than three dozen names have been put on a working list. What the federation is looking for, Roe said, is an executive with strong communications skills and a background in broadcasting, new media, marketing, and international relations.

Masback, who was only the second CEO in USATF history, served for 10 years, during which the US medal count at the Olympics and world championships increased, domestic meet attendance and TV coverage soared, the federation's budget nearly tripled, and a $3 million deficit turned into a $3 million surplus. "It was a good time for Craig to step aside," observed Roe, "and a good time for someone else to come in."

Brad Walker, 2007 world outdoor pole vault champion, easily won the event yesterday, with a jump of 18 feet 8 1/4 inches. Walker passed five heights, cleared easily at 18-4 1/4 and 18-8 1/4, then failed to clear 19-2, though by that height he had the title wrapped up . . . Three-time Olympian Amy Acuff took home the women's high jump title with a leap of 6-3 1/2 . . . Brookline native Jonathon Riley finished third in the 3,000 with a time of 8:04.86 and wished he'd been more aggressive during the race . . . In youth and scholastic relay action, Massachusetts teams faired well. The Cambridge Jets won the 4 x 200-meter relay while the teams representing the Bay State finished second in both the girls' and boys' 4 x 400 high school relay . . . Hyleas Fountain won the women's long jump with an effort of 22-11 1/4 . . . In the men's high jump, Andra Manson topped the field by clearing the bar at 7-6 1/2.

How long has hurdler Allen Johnson been at this game? Long enough that his rivals ask for his autograph, telling him that they watched him in high school. "If I think back to things when I was a teenager, they don't know what I'm talking about because they were too young to remember or they were barely born," said Johnson, who turns 37 Saturday. "Then I realize that some of the younger athletes are closer to my daughter's age than to me. She's 15." Johnson, who won the 1996 Olympics and four world outdoor titles, will be looking to claim his fifth US indoor title today. This summer, he'll be bidding for his fourth Olympic team in the 110-meter hurdles. "If I could, I would run another 20 years," Johnson declared.

Despite the weather issues, USA Track & Field promised to come back next year for the indoor championships. "In terms of athlete-friendly, it really doesn't get much better than it does here in Boston," said Geer. Not only does Boston offer convenient accommodations (Marriott at Copley Place), a major airport, and a practice track (Northeastern University), but there is also a helpful familiarity with organizers at the Reggie Lewis Center. In 2009, it will be the seventh time the facility has hosted the indoor nationals . . . In a run for the ages, 42-year-old Alisa Harvey broke her own American masters record in the 800 with a time of 2:06.08. The time gave Harvey the last spot in today's final. She set the previous mark of 2:07.08 Jan. 26 at Penn State.