Recent Charger Records 2022.02.22

February 6, 2022

M6569 300m IH David Ortman 51.81 7/07/2021

M6569 50m David Ortman 7.46 7/24/2021

David Ortman, a Charger who hails from the west coast, returns to his record-setting ways after a 2-year Covid-induced hiatus. David’s 300m IH record, set at a Club NW all comer’s meet, replaces the 1:22.3 of Ray Panek Sr. from 2016.

David’s 50m dash time was recorded at the Washington [state] Senior Games. It supplants the hand-timed 7.3 of Ed Lukens from way back in 1987. For those who might be concerned that David’s time appears to be slower than Ed’s, I should point out that one must convert hand times to fully automatic (FAT) times for purposes of comparison by adding 0.24 seconds. (Times recorded to one decimal place are assumed to be hand times.) The added time accounts for the human reaction time of the timing official – he or she can anticipate the finish, but not the start, resulting in hand times that are always faster than what would have been recorded by automatic equipment. Had Ed’s time been listed in the record book as 7.30 he would still hold the record. Sic transit gloria.

Terry McConnell, Ph.D.

Terry was born in Rome, NY on April 30, 1954 at around 11:30 a.m. Terry’s mother, Constance Ann Croniser McConnell, and his father, John Henry McConnell, were students at Syracuse University at the time.

He lived in Syracuse and Boonville N.Y. briefly, before moving to Rome N.Y. when he was about 3 years old. He spent the rest of his childhood in Rome and graduated from Rome Free Academy in 1972.

Terry did his undergraduate work at Princeton University, graduating in 1976. He attended graduate school at Stanford University for two years and then transferred to the University of Illinois, where he received his Ph.D. in 1981. Terry spent a 3-year post-doctoral position at Cornell University, and has been at Syracuse University since 1984.

Terry is married to Patricia Ford and has a daughter, Erin.