Olympic Glory

Mike Shine 1976

Barney Ewell 1948

Track Alumni (Golfers) at the 2024 Olympics

• Cheickna Traore will compete for The Ivory Coast in the 200M.  First round starts on August 5 at 13:55 (1:55pm)*.
• Handal Roban will compete for St. Vincent & the Grenadines in the 800M. First round starts on August 7 at 5:55am*.
• Joe Kovacs competes for USA in the Shot Put. Opening round on August 2 at 14:10 (2:10pm)*.
• Become a valued Intern by alerting me to anyone missed! Pay scale pending... 

*All times are East Coast Times

Alumni Golfer 2024 Olympic Trials Last Day Update

Tyler Merkley and Morgan Shigo placed 10th and 11th in the Hammer, ending PSU's Trials. 

Alumni Golfer 2024 Olympic Trials Day 5

Morgan Shigo and Tyler Merkley are in Hammer action today. Updates to come. Second flight 3 throws with top 12 getting to the finals. 

Morgan Shigo and Tyler Merkley both to the Finals

Later...

Darius Smallwood and Isaiah Harris in Heat 1 of the 800M.  Brannon Kidder in Heat 3. Go 800U.

Brannon Kidder with sub 1:45, but all three miss the finals. 

AND... 

Rachel Fatherly in the SP.

Rachel misses the finals. 

Alumni Golfer 2024 Olympic Trials Update Day 4

Isaiah Harris, Brannon Kidder and Darius Smallwood all move on the the 3 Semi-finals of the 800M in 1:46 and change. Top 2 in each heat and the next 3 best times will make the finals. 

Alumni Golfer 2024 Olympic Trials Update Day 3

Rachel Gearing ended her trials with 21st place in 2:02.

Alumni Golfer 2024 Olympic Trials Day 2

Joe Kovacs makes his third Olympic team with a second place throw of 73' 7.25". Can he add to his 2 Olympic silver medals? 

Alumni Golfer 2024 Olympic Trials Update 1

Rachel Gearing advances to the 2nd round in the 800M with a 2:01.

Brannon Kidder fails to advance in the 1500M with a 3:40.

Joe Kovacs advances to the finals in the SP with 72 foot opening round.

ADDENDUM :

Samaria Mcdonald just missed qualifying in the Hammer with 214'9".

RIP Willie Mays

 Coach Groves often told the story of being in the same unit as Willie in the US Army.  Was very proud to have had Willie show him how to throw a javelin.

Happy Birthday Coach Groves

Which means Penn Relays week! Goodness squared. 

2024 Track Alumni Reunion And Coach Groves Golf Outing Ushers In The 2024 Olympic Athletics Schedule

 Our Reunion and golf tourney is being held in early August this year and will correspond with the beginning of the Track and Field events of the 2024 Paris Olympics.  Set some time aside to join your teammates and meet new friends at our event.

22nd Annual Penn State Track and Field Alumni Gathering / Harry Groves Memorial Golf Outing

(August 2 – 3, 2024)

As I normally start these invites, let me first apologize to anyone receiving this notification that may not be interested in attending this event – we’ve done what we could to screen / purge addresses, but unfortunately, it’s not full-proof…                     

This year, the opening reception and dinner will take place at The Graduate, 125  South Atherton Street.   We have a block of rooms reserved there for $199 / night (held until July 3) – (reference the Penn State Track and Field Alumni) – phone number there is (814) 231-2100.  As an alternative, the Ramada located at 1450 South Atherton St ((814) 238-3001) usually has rooms available around $129/night, as does the Penn Stater (800)-233-7505 (there are no blocks there for preferred pricing just as a heads up and those rates are always subject to change)…

FRIDAY’S EVENTS (August 2^nd):                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

7:00 pm – 10:00 pm   Meet and Greet cash bar (hors d ‘oeuvres will be provided) – Graduate Ballroom                                                                                                                                    

                       50-50, Putting contest, other games TBD (bar crawl sure to follow)

SATURDAY EVENTS (August 3rd): 

9:30 am – 11:00 am  - Numbnutz Alumni Triathlon will be year, sorry – I know how much you enjoyed the laughs…    Coffee, juice, donuts to be provided. 

1:00pm – 6:00pm   - Golf outing at the Mountain View Country Club (old Elks Club) again this year with the putting contest taking place at 1:00 pm (something we’ve been arriving too late to do for the past three years) with a 1:30pm start to captain’s choice scramble.  If you need clubs, there are always folks bringing extra sets, so you don’t have to worry about renting (be sure to let us know when you register, so we can plan to have them there).

1:00pm – 3:00pm   Activities for those not golfing (Depending upon weather), - yet to be determined, we will follow up once we have volunteers and chosen events.  We typically have a group gathering to hike Mt. Nittany or take a campus tour (either to the Creamery or the Sports Museum (may be an additional cost)).  Meeting spot(s) and tour guide(s) to be announced Friday night – leaving from the hotel lobby (Vivian to heads this up).

6:30pm – 10:00pm   Dinner reception and awards ceremony for golf outing will take place at The Graduate  Ballroom (125 South Atherton Street – Lobby Level).

For those of you whom have not heard, there has been a new endowment / scholarship fund established in the name of Coach Schwartz.  The link established for this fund is:  http://raise.psu.edu/GarySchwartz.  If you prefer mailing in your contribution, make your check out to Penn State University adding on the memo line “Coach Gary Schwartz’s Endowment fund” – mailed to Donor and Member Services – 2583 Gateway Drive, Suite 130 Bristol Place One – State College, PA 16801

 

Costs / Fees:

$450 / FAMILY (all under one roof) – All Events                                                                                                                  $400 / FAMILY – Saturday only – All Events                                                                                                                                            $400 / FAMILY – All Events (with only one golfer)                                                                                                                $250 / FAMILY – Both Nights – No Golf                                                                                                                                  $200 / FAMILY – Friday Night Only                                                                                                                                          $350 / SENIOR (67 or Older) FAMILY – All Events        $300 (with only one golfing)                                                                                                        $250 / SENIOR FAMILY – All Events - No Golf                                                                                                                       $300 / PERSON – All Events                                                                                                                                                      $200 / PERSON – All Saturday Events                                                                                                                                      $150 / PERSON – All Events – No Golf                                                                                                                                     $100 / PERSON – Golf only                                                                                                                                                                $250 / SENIOR PERSON – All Events                                                                                                                                       $175 / SENIOR PERSON – All Saturday Events                                                                                                                      $150 / SENIOR PERSON – All Events – No Golf                                                                                                                      $100 / SENIOR PERSON – Golf Only                                                                                                                                                                         FLYING IN – DROP $100 off your fees                                                                                                                                      RECENT GRAD (past three years) – DROP 25% off your fees                                                                                              OLYMPIAN – COMPLEMENTARY – and thanks for attending!                                                                                            PAYING BY PAYPAL – ADD $10 to cover the fees                                                                                                       QUESTIONING THE METHODOLOGY BEHIND THE COSTS – DOUBLE YOUR CHARGE                                                      

NON- REFUNDABLE FEES – IF YOU CANCEL, OR IF THERE IS A WEATHER RELATED CANCELATION – ALL MONIES WILL THEN BE CONTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO THE PENN STATE TRACK PROGRAM                                                            

This event is open to men, women, and friends (or enemies) of PSU alumni and of course the Alumni themselves - the more the merrier!  This is all about the laughs, brother/sisterhood and continued support for the current men’s and women’s track teams.  Remember, when it comes to considering golf, you will have three other hackers on your team to laugh at, and with, so don’t worry about how bad your game is! 

Donations / Gifts are happily accepted if you would like to help us defer some of our costs, as we contribute all proceeds to the current program.

Please send checks or money orders to:

Harry Smith                                                                                                                                                                                          2040 Central Grove                                                                                                                 Toledo, OH  43614

PayPal option available again this year on the Blog or Facebook page (Dave Baskwill is coordinating) – if utilizing PayPal include another $10 to your total as mentioned above to defer the charge (as mentioned above).

If you should have any other questions or comments, please let me know – Hope to see you this year!     

Clark Haley ’85   (484) 716-8517  Clarkehaley@yahoo.com

RIP Mike Fanelli

Very distraught to learn of the passing of the great Mike Fanelli. We became friends through this blog. Despite having crossed paths many times, we never formally met.

His help with our blog and his love for running always was a great motivation. He encouraged my ramblings when others were indifferent. 

He always wanted to be a guest at our Reunion and Golf Tourney as he was a great admirerer of Coach Groves. He also married a Nittany Lion.

My condolences to his family and friends. Thanks for your example.