Friday, October 10, 2014

Penn State National Cross Country Meet Is Here!

 Here's a great Collegian article* from 1984 about Penn State's Cross Country course praising Coach Groves' course-making abilities (pointed out to me by our Director of Fun).  I'll be reporting on the happenings at the 2014 Penn State National Meet and the Branch Campus (PSUAC) Championships.  I also hope to see other Alums, including the Alumni Team defending their championship from last year.  Be sure to look for me and say "hi"!


Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 1984 12:00 am
Penn State's course: a cross country tradition The list of All-American runners who have raced on the Penn State cross country course is impressive.
Runners like Horace Ashenfelter, Marty Liquori, Frank Shorter, Eamon O'Reilly and Alberto Salazar have all competed on the 5-mile and 10,000-meter tracks on the Blue Golf Course.
This year, Penn State cross country fans will again have a chance to see the best collegiate runners in the country when the Lions host the 46th Annual National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Cross Country Championships on Nov. 19.
The meet, known simply as "the nationals," is being run on Penn State's 10,000-meter course for the fifth time. The last time they were held here was 1975, when many of the NCAA rules that govern cross country were initiated by Penn State Head Coach Harry Groves.
For instance, Groves was the first to use an alley of two lines for the runners. Before 1975, runners would sometimes lose their way on courses that were marked only with a single line.
"Up until 1975, things were very haphazard," Groves said. "People were disqualified for running off courses and sometimes people were pushed into marking stakes that were too low."
Groves even went as far as to measure enough room for each of the seven runners on each team at the starting line. Before, there was only enough room for five runners on each team to stand on the starting line.
Other innovations from 1975 are the specifications for the width of the alleys in the finishing chute and an elaborate timing system at the finish line which includes a 16-millimeter camera, two video-cassete recorders, an Accutrack machine, a digital timer and a chromonex timer.
"In 1975, the nationals 10,000-meter course was heralded by the athletes as the best course that anybody had ever seen," Groves said.
"It's a real runner's course," he added, "because when I laid it out, I kept going along and saying to myself, 'What is the best way to go here if I'm a runner?' "
What Groves came up with was a 10,000-meter course that has a little bit of everything, including a route that winds through golf course rough, fairways, woods, fields and some hills that can be very deceiving.
Craig Virgin, the winner of the 1975 nationals at Penn State and holder of the second best time on the 10,000-meter course, had nothing but praise for the course when contacted recently at his Illinois business, Frontrunner Inc.
"There are plenty of good hills there and lots of good grass to run on," he said. "I felt that it was a very challenging course and when you ran it, you knew that you had gotten on a wild horse."
In recalling his championship performance of that year, Virgin said it was an "eyeball-to-eyeball, elbow-to-elbow" type of race when Nick Rose, from England and running for Western Kentucky, started to pull away from the pack at the two-mile mark, but Virgin stuck with him.
"It was one of the most physically demanding races I've ever been in," Virgin said.
Rose and Virgin, who was undefeated at that time, collided several times as both runners tried to outdistance each other. In the end, though, it was a long hill near the end of the course that did in Rose, who ironically had complained to Groves before the race that the course was not hilly enough.
In one of the great races that was run on the course, that same hill was the downfall of a future Boston Marathon competitor, Greg Meyer. In a race in 1976, Penn State All-Americans George Malley and Paul Stemmer decided, much to the dismay of Groves, that the only way to beat Meyer was to use the long hill at the end of the course. Malley and Stemmer sprinted up the hill and when they reached the top, they took off on a 100-yard dash and Meyer never caught up.
Another great runner, Marty Liquori, shaped the future of the Penn State course in his own unique way. When he raced here, Groves said, he had a tendency to pull the branches of the trees lining the course into the faces of the runners behind him. Since then, Groves has tried to steer the course away from any trees.
Groves does not expect any drastic changes this year for the 184 men and 136 women who will compete in the nationals at Penn State. He said most of the runners should be very pleased with the layout.
"Most people, after they run the course, say that it's tougher than they thought it was going to be but nobody moans because they think it's a very fair course," Groves said.
Virgin, who competed in the 1984 Olympics and is shooting for the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea, said it is a good course as far as golf course routes go.
"I would reccommend the course to any cross country runner for a race because sometimes you find golf course routes that really are more like a track race or a road race," he said, "but that course is set up so that it makes you feel like you were on a real cross country course."

* The story is no longer edited. I'm still a jerk, but happy to have the additional info and permission to not have to edit such things in the future. Rules still apply, even to me. Although from reliable sources, Coach does enjoy the blog. The hill surge story is priceless. Except maybe to Meyer. Thanks for the story.

9 comments:

  1. You will forever be a jerk, David. Your blog would offend Harry.

    Here is what the article said:

    "In one of the great races that was run on the course, that same hill was the downfall of a future Boston Marathon competitor, Greg Meyer. In a race in 1976, Penn State All-Americans George Malley and Paul Stemmer decided, much to the dismay of Groves, that the only way to beat Meyer was to use the long hill at the end of the course. Malley and Stemmer sprinted up the hill and when they reached the top, they took off on a 100-yard dash and Meyer never caught up."

    The brutal surge at Central Collegiates was a tactic that Stem and I used many times, actually happened mid race, just after the two-mile mark. Stem and I had planned it beforehand. We ran together alone 20 yards behind the lead pack of about 15-20 runners. This gave us a psychological edge as the entire pack kept looking for us rather than focusing on their own race. We joined the pack at the bottom of the hill and when Stem edged over to the right side of the back that was my cue to move to the left side. Suddenly, midway up the hill Stem exploded. I followed suit. We built up a 100m lead over the next half mile and the race was over.

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  2. In the 70s there was no such thing as Rupp-certified courses or nighttime climate-controlled time-trials. Runners raced. Teams raced. One of the strategies frequently used at the international level back then were brutal mid-race surges. Dave Bedford and Brendan Foster come to mind. The epic NCAA battle between Virgin and Rose was a perfect example of stacking surge, upon surge, upon surge, until someone broke. We had started using the mid-race surge strategy in 1974, but in 1975 we took it up to a new level.

    The first time we did this was in a triangular meet with Georgetown and Willam & Mary at the Georgetown Prep campus in Rockville, Maryland. In those days Penn State was The Beast of the East, alongside Providence, with Georgetown and William & Mary being a step down, but worthy adversaries, nonetheless. We always had a target on our backs when we raced.

    I don’t remember if we actually planned it beforehand or if it was just and extemporaneous decision made during the race, but once the race started Stem and I just sat 20 yards behind the lead pack, alone and content. The pack, perhaps three runners from each team, most All-Americas or close to, kept on turning their heads, one at a time. We quickly realized that we were controlling the race from behind.

    Somewhere near the two mile mark there was a right-angle turn up ahead, and we figured that the pack would resist the urge to rubberneck until then, so we stealthfully crept up on them to the back of the pack on the left-hand side. At the turn, the entire pack looked over their shoulders to the right, just as we exploded past them on their left! We ran harder than we had ever run before -- and the race was over. The force of the surge was so hard and so unexpected that no one had the will to even attempt to go with us.

    About four-and-a-half miles into the five-and-a-half mile race, with the race well in hand, I caught a side-stitch and fell back. I don’t remember if he slowed down on his own, or whether Harry told him to, but with 100 yards to go Stem slowed down to wait for me.

    I kid you not, this is what actually happened: Stem turned around and started jogging backwards, miming like he had a fishing pole in his hand, and was casting bait towards me, hooked me, and started reel me in. Knowing Stem, he was probably mumbling sotto voce, “Oooh, I think I caught a big one. C’mon you big fish, get in the boat.” After he reeled me in, he turned around and we jogged the final 50 yards together for the tie.

    I can only imagine what the crowd (and Harry) thought about what they had just seen. A classic Stem story – one of many like it.

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  3. The Central Collegiate Conference was a hybrid conference of sorts – with teams that also belonged to other conferences -- from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Air Force even ran the CCC. The week before CCC during training runs Stem would remind me where the spot was that we would make our move. On the North side of the Blue Course the hill was perhaps 600-700 yards long. There were two Christmas Tree sized pine trees about 100 yards into the hill. That’s the place Stem wanted to make his move. It was a great spot because no one would expect a big surge midway up a hill like that, would they? I just nodded my head in agreement, not thinking that we were actually going to do it against this level of competition.

    Once clarification about what the article said. There is no way in hell that we had decided the only way to beat Meyer was to surge on the hill. Stem and I both had lopsided win/loss records against Greg. He had only beaten me once in ten races, and had only beaten Stem once, as well.

    Once the race started, Stem and I settled in comfortably about 20 yards behind the lead pack of about 15-20 runners. Most of them had been All-America, or would soon be All America. Once again we controlled the race from behind as everyone in the pack kept looking over their shoulders for us. As we approached the hill at the two mile mark they quit looking for us and concentrated on the hill in front of them. Stem and I quietly closed the gap without being noticed and sat comfortably at the rear. As we started up the hill towards those trees, Stem slid out to the right side of the pack. Now I’m thinking to myself, “we’re not really going to do this again?” but dutifully made my way over to the left side just in case. Stem had this mischievous grin, and when he looked my way and smiled, his eyebrows and mustache bounced together in time. I glanced back at him, and when we reached those trees he suddenly exploded! I immediately jumped in from the left side and the rout was on! This wasn’t just harder than what we had ever done before, nor was it even really harder, or really, really, really harder. We had taken it up to the level of ABSOLUTE INSANITY! We were breathing fire!

    In order to understand what happened that day you need to watch the move Top Gun. Stem and I flew over the lead pack -- upside-down, took pictures of them, waved goodbye, and blasted away into the sky!

    Within a half mile we had opened up a 100 yard lead. After another half mile, 150 yards. At the three mile mark the course took us on a little detour left-right-right behind a tee then back out the fairway. We had already exited out towards the fairway before the pack had even made their left turn towards that tee. I finally broke at four miles with the race well in hand.

    1975 Central Collegiates

    1. 25:05 Paul Stemmer, Penn State
    2. 25:17 George Malley, Penn State
    3. 25:27 Greg Meyer, Michigan
    4. 25:29 Nick Ellis, Eastern Michigan
    5. 25:32 Nick Martin, Pitt
    6. 25:37 Mike McGuire, Michigan
    7. 25:41 Sinclair, Michigan
    8. 25:41 Hinz, Central Michigan
    9. 25:50 Bill Donakowski, Michigan
    10. 25:51 Marc Hunter, Kent State
    11. 25:56 Dave Smith, Eastern Michigan
    12. 25:59 Mel Boyd, Pitt
    13. 26:01 Hinick, Toledo
    14. 26:03 Ken Wilson, Penn State
    15. 26:14 Joe Dubina, Kent State
    16. 26:15 Walt Majak, Penn State
    17. 26:15 Ed Darken, Penn State
    18. 26:18 Wile, Pitt
    19. 26:20 Zumbaugh, Bowling Green
    20. 26:20 Mark Foster, Michigan

    1. 45 Michigan
    2. 50 Penn State
    3. 97 Pitt
    4. 107 Eastern Michigan
    5. 122 Kent State

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  4. That was a fantastic story. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. My hope of Detente will continue. But then that shows just how old I am. If you remember detente, you're old. Or as my daughter the younger puts it, "When my sister went to college, I was left with two 55 year-old roommates."

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  6. From Nixon's "Detente" to Reagan's "Trust but verify". I never thought I would become a diplomat. I've always just been a dip. Beats "Assured Written Destruction", I suppose.

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  7. Today's Collegian articles suck compared to this one.

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  8. Journalism is a lost art. It is now merely picking a political side and hoping for some of the Slush Fund monies to make their way to you. And everything is political, no matter what.

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Thanks for commenting. Keep up the good work! (Try to mention others to encourage them to comment too!)