LetsRun.com and The Iona Meet of Champions:

A recent foray to LetsRun.com proved eye-opening. I mentioned this blog on a thread there and it tripled our traffic the first day. A message on our message board came from a SC fan and son of a former PSU track coach. His memories of Rec Hall track meets are humorous. Imagine running a hurdles race up on that track!!

It also gave us an interesting discussion of the good/bad current PSU XC program. I note that today, the mens team came in 2nd to Michigan at the prestigiuos Iona Meet of Champions at storied Van Cortlandt Park. The women's team won both the team race and the individual race. I see some good progress, but with some room to improve to reach the heights of the 1977-1979 program.

Also, the thread provided a great listing of the PSU 1500/mile records:

1500
3:38.99 Steve Balkey 87*
3:39.25 Larry Mangan 80*
3:42.08 Doug Walter 90
3:42.12 David McMillen 88
3:42.2 (redacted) 77
3:42.2 Michael Wyatt 77
3:42.69 Aidan O’Reilly 92
3:42.93 Robert Snyder 78
3:42.93 Bob Hamer 84
3:43.58 Matthew Lincoln 06

Mile
3:58.4 Larry Mangan 80*
4:00.4 Greg Fredericks 72*
4:00.5 (redacted) 77
4:01.2 Robert Snyder 78
4:01.7 Ed Moran 58
4:01.98 Samuel Borchers 08
4:02.8 Dan Supulski 72
4:03.3 Alan Scharsu 80*
4:03.72 Matthew Lincoln 06
4:04.7 Michael Wyatt 77

*PSU Track and Field Alumni Golfers

In addition, the Noodle Ice balls have arrived! They are even better looking than I had hoped for. The clear coating indeed looks like they are coated in ice. The dimples are pentagonal and the laser etching says "Penn State Track Alumni Golf 2009". Only 8 sleeves remain, so get your entry in to secure your set. A bonus memento of next year's record get-together.