Article on M95 Athlete

[rainbowgirl28]

http://2theadvocate.com/stories/091905/ ... e001.shtml

95-year-old Olympian flies planes, wants doctorate
By GEORGE MORRIS
gmorris@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer


Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNON
Trent Lane, 95, holds some of the many national and international medals he has won since he began participating in Senior Olympics competitions about five years ago.
When Trent Lane went to high school, there weren't any health clubs available for him to get in shape. Then again, he didn't need one.

Just getting to school was all the workout Lane needed.

From Lane's farm in eastern Tennessee to Sevier County High School, it was 7‰ miles. There were no school buses. There was shoe leather. Fifteen miles, round trip, times four school years adds up to about 10,000 miles, Lane figures.

"I'd run most of the time when I was going back and forth," Lane said. "I didn't walk. I could run, I could jog and make it a lot quicker, and I never got tired. If I walked I did get tired. I'd get kind of stove up. When I'd run I could stay limber."

Almost eight decades later, Lane is still limber. And strong. And living with a gusto that makes it hard to believe he's 95 years old.

Lane, who has lived in the same home on Plank Road in Baker since 1939, is a record-setting Senior Olympian, airplane pilot and still wants to pursue doctoral studies at LSU. While some studies indicate that staying active helps people live longer and better, Lane attributes his longevity and vitality to all those miles he put in going to and from high school.

"I think all that came with building a good body, that 10,000 miles," Lane said. "You may disagree."

It's hard to argue with the results, especially since Lane gave up athletics after college and didn't resume until about six years ago. He has set four age-group National Senior Games records, one of which tripled the previous best.

Brad Bowman, owner of Brad's Health and Fitness Club in Baker, said Lane has the body of a man 30 years younger.

"That's a 65-year-old in good condition," Bowman said.

"He's in better condition probably than 80percent of the 30-year-olds in East BatonRouge Parish -- I'm serious -- and can work them in the ground. He gets out in the hot sun and works all day long, puts that little hat on and never stops."

Lane was the second of nine children who grew up on a farm near Sevierville. Beginning high school in 1926, Lane played baseball and football and competed on the track team. Each year, the county would hold a field day, with athletes competing in various tests of speed, strength and skill.

"The thing about this field day was the banks, the stores would make a contribution, so you'd get so much if you won the 100-yard dash, or the high jump or the pole vault," Lane said. "I always tried to enter the events that had money."

Lane said he was so successful that a teacher told him to enter no more events so other athletes would have a chance to win.

"I was kind of flattered at that," Lane said. "Some of the races that I entered, a number of them wouldn't enter because they said, 'We know who's going to win.' He wanted to spread it around."

He also played football and ran track at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. He was 5 feet 9 and 173 pounds as a senior, about 30 pounds more than he weighs today.

"I was about average. I could run a 100-yard dash in 9.9 (seconds)," Lane said. "When the coach would tell me I was running 9.9, I didn't know what that meant. Later on I found out. When I ran against the others in other schools, I didn't have any problems."

After receiving a bachelor of science, majoring in chemistry and physics, Lane came to LSU for graduate school in physical chemistry. He completed everything but his thesis to get a doctoral degree, but the outbreak of World War II meant he had to enter the military or get a civilian job that was considered essential to the war effort. He was hired into the research department of Esso (now Exxon).

Lane later was offered the opportunity to take a year's sabbatical to finish his PhD dissertation, but his wife objected, so Lane continued working and keeping up the 25 acres he still owns. He and his wife divorced after 15 years.

"I just ran the place here," he said. "I raised a family on the farm, and I stayed here. I bought this place in '39, and I retired in '66. I sold all the animals, but I raised corn, had a big garden, canned stuff, milked the cow, churned the milk, made buttermilk and butter. I was busy. I can't be just sitting. I've got to be doing something."

He continued to work his land long after his children -- Carson, Eric, Mark and Ruth -- left home. He bought a single-engine plane and mows part of his property as a landing strip.

About nine years ago, Bowman said he asked if he could bowhunt on Lane's land. Lane agreed, and he started working out at the health club. When Ruth Vanderford, who lives in San Diego, Calif., encouraged him to enter Senior Olympic competitions about six years ago, Lane gave it a try.

To say Lane made an impact is an understatement. He set Senior Games records for the javelin (69 feet, 4 inches in the 90-94 age category, 68-3 in 95-and-up), discus (52-2 in 95-and-up) and shot put (20-4 in 95-and-up). The second-best javelin throw in 95-and-up is 32 feet.

For obvious reasons, there aren't a lot of competitors in Lane's age group. Those who show up can be overwhelmed.

"I had one in Pittsburgh, but he didn't participate," Lane said. "He came, and when I threw the javelin, the record was 32 feet, and I threw the javelin 68-4. He left. He didn't participate in any other events. He would have won a silver in everything if he'd stayed.

This year at the World Masters Games in Edmonton, Canada, he scored 5,999 in pentathlon, which awards points based on performances in five sports -- shot, discus, javelin, weight throw and hammer.

"I asked the man could I get a recount. If I had known that I could have thrown just a little farther and gotten that other point. He said, 'You'll be satisfied with that. That's the highest total anybody has made in the history of the games.'"

If his athletic pursuits weren't enough, Lane has expressed interest in finally earning his PhD pursuits, only this time in theoretical physics. He's had discussions with Roger McNeil, chairman of LSU's physics department, and, though not enrolled at LSU, worked on what he hopes to be a dissertation about the origin and development of the universe.

"I think Trent Lane is a marvel," McNeil said. "Just his interest and the fact that he's thinking about things and putting them down on paper is truly an inspiration to the rest of us."

Lane is not the only member of his family to live so long. His father lived to 100, an uncle to 103, and a grandfather to age 93. Whether Lane's vitality results from genetics, activity or both, he still astounds those he encounters.

This year in Pittsburgh, because the other 95-and-older competitor had left, Lane was the only athlete in his age group, so he competed in a rotation with younger athletes. His best discus throw tied that of a 74-year-old."

"The guy supervising said, 'We have a tie, and we will have three throws to break the tie.' I said, 'What age group?' He said, '74.' I said, 'Well, I'm 95.' He said, 'Wait a minute, you're 95?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Well then, it's not a tie.' It was at that point that he discovered I was in a class by myself.'"

In more ways than one.

[Bubba PV]

Thanks for posting the article. I had the very nice pleasure of buddying up with Trent Lane during USATF Masters Nationals in Hawaii. We were both staying at the dorm and he was a fixture in the lobby in front of the TV. I hung out and talked with him for about 30 minutes twice and an hour after our Saturday night luau.

Besides being in tremendous shape he remembers so much in great detail from years ago. I have to admit that my main interest initially was that he looks EXACTLY like my dad would look at that age. My dad is 73 and in good health but I mean, down to the glasses, ears, eyes and hairline - he was my dad.

At 52 years old myself, I found his memory of different events in general history as well as sports history phenomenal. We can read all we want but it's not often you get to spend time with someone that sharp nera 100 years old. Very coo guy! I enjoyed talking with him very much. Bubba