I Am Thankful For All the People I Have Had the Pleasure to Meet in My Capacity as Web-Site Idiot

Dennis Hendershot, one-time Holder of the Golden Putter and father of Jon Hendershot acted as our Official NCAA Indoor Championships Corespondent. Jon jumped 7' 0.5" at the championships for a 10th place finish.  I congratulate both of them as representatives of the very best Penn State Track and Field Golfers can aspire to.  Here's his observations from the weekend...

Lupita Nyong’o, on accepting her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, ,said the following in her speech - “It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else’s.” While Nyong’o’s thoughts in saying that go far deeper than the realm of sports, it did provide for me the backdrop for what impacted me the most while watching most all of what happened at the NCAA’s in Albuquerque this past weekend.

The emotions of the sport. The pure joy of reaching a personal best on the big stage, and the sheer disappointment of not meeting your own or others expectations. “The thrill of victory; the agony of defeat” - someone’s thrill is someone else’s agony - and often they happen in the same moment. It is with those thoughts that I reflect on the emotions that I captured during the two day event. My snapshots of the weekend:

-           The camaraderie I witnessed in several events, most notably the men’s high jump and pole vault, where the competitors embraced each other during the event and shared each others successes and failures, even as they were vying with each other to be better at their expense.

-           Perhaps the most poignant moment of the last night - the unbridled exhilaration of the Oregon women’s 4x400 relay team at coming from behind at the tape to win over Texas by 2/100th of a second, overcoming a 5-½ point deficit n the team standings, and in so doing to capture from Texas the Women’s team championship by ½ point; the entire Oregon contingent rushed the infield and had to be restrained by officials, while next to all this the heart wrenching pain of all 4 Texas runners who would not be consoled while laying on the infield after the race.

-           The anger of the Texas A&M men’s 4x400 3rd leg at being intentionally pushed out of the race on the third turn by the Florida runner, and the near altercation that ensued on the tarmac after the leg finished, officials breaking them apart before possibly coming to blows.

-           The delight of James Harris having won the men’s high jump and getting 3 attempts of a record height of 7’9-½”; the deep, deep disappointment of James Harris after tripping himself in the final turns while in the lead of his heat of the 400 meter finals, disqualifying himself from any possibility of double medals.

-           The joy of the PSU women’s 4x400 team, who trailed by as much as 10-15 meters for most of the race, and even a bit more at the beginning of the final leg, and saw Kia Seymour erase that deficit in the final half lap to out-lean the leader at the tape to win, and set a new PSU record.

-           The dismay by all of us who don’t live in Eugene, to have to watch the highly under girded Oregon track program (not sure they do the field part) win both team championships. I am sure Phil is very happy.

-           My own pleasure at watching Penn State’s Yvonne Britton course her way through the Women’s Pentathlon to a very respectable 7th place finish, with an ease and a smile that were indeed infectious

-           And, of course, the excitement of two dudes who took full advantage of the trip to Albuquerque, to fulfill one of their life’s passions (tongue in cheek) and visit the ‘house’ of Walter White.

Woah. I can’t believe I started with Lupita Nyong’o, and closed it out with Walter White.