Darrell Hill Steals The Show Again

I traveled up to State College to see some friends and escape my mundane existence in South-Central PA.  I was hoping to capture some footage for my fledgling Reality Show.  When I arrived I took a quick tour around the Ashenfelter Facility and saw no one I knew.  Nothing special considering my 20 years of so of a hermit-like existence following graduation.  I got to watch warm ups for the upcoming Mens Shot Put.  It's actually an event I fully enjoy despite my 11 foot PR in the event. The season-by-season, year-by-year discipline and step-wise progression with these guys is really something to watch and admire.

As I saw Darrell Hill warming up I thought "He looks like he's ready for a big throw."  But what does a former college 118 pound second-string distance runner know about the throws?  I paid no more attention and didn't watch the actual event as I finally ran into pole-vaulter Don Skerpon, 800 U great Steve Shisler and the ever younthful Nick K.  When the results were posted on the big board, I was confused, as was Don.  Darrel set the all-time PSU record several weeks ago, bypassing the NCAA Champion C. J. Hunter with his toss of over 66 feet.  The board today said 67 feet 3.5 inches! There had to be a mistake.  But there wasn't!  Congrats to Darrell on the leading throw in the NCAA so far this year and the new School Record.

I'm busy trying to write a big man into my Reality Show scripts.

There was some action on the 800 U: Winner Take All front.  Following the photo-finish and apparently extra-exciting Distance Medley Relay on Friday night, I was psyched to watch the 800 M Invitational. And it didn't disappoint either...

Brannon Kidder was coming back from his stellar  2:51 1200M in the relay the day before. It didn't seem to affect him as he took the lead off the final turn to win the event in 1:47.86, the third ranked time in the NCAA.  I even got a photo of the pivotal moment of the race with my Droid Maxx!  Five PSU underclassmen were under 1:52 in the event! Game On in the Reality Series as Georgetown superstar Amos Bartlesmeyer pulled out of the race trying to double from his 1600M leg of the relay the night before.

  1 Kidder, Brannon    JR Penn State  1:47.86
  2 Windle, Drew       SR Ashland     1:48.41
  3 Murphy, Clayton    SO Akron       1:48.47
  4 Manahan, Ryan      SO Georgetown  1:48.63
  5 Muhammad, Ishmael  FR Villanova   1:50.82
  6 Watkins, Za'Von    JR Penn State  1:50.92
  7 Rhodes, Robert     JR Penn State  1:51.03
  8 Logue, Joey        FR Penn State  1:51.49
  9 Makins, Jordan     FR Penn State  1:51.88

The Mile gave me my first glimpse of Georgetown's Ahmed Bile, with PSU's Wade Endress and Alumni Golfer Owen Dawson mixing it up in the inevitable sub-4 race (8 years in a row!)  Owen seems to be in great shape early in his training season with his 4:03 and Wade set his PR with a 4:02 effort.  A personal shout-out to both from me on great runs!

Early in the race with Ahmed Bile in third, Owen Dawson in 4th and Wade Endress in 5th.

  1 Denault, Robert         JR Villanova   3:58.25
  2 Bile, Ahmed             SO Georgetown  3:59.04
  3 Knight, Justyn          FR Unattached  3:59.51
  4 Hehir, Martin           SR Syracuse    3:59.81
  5 Garcia-Garrison, Andrew SR Bucknell    4:02.35
  6 Endress, Wade           JR Penn State  4:02.69
  7 Leibold, Collin         JR Georgetown  4:03.29
  8 Dawson, Owen            AG Bryn Mawr   4:03.83

And let's not let fellow Alumni Golfer Kyle Dawson out of the mix as I caught a blurry view of him in the 3000M as he checked out his early season fitness on the banked turns of his home track.  We had a good conversation at the end of the meet discussing our experiences of running in the  tunnels under the 322 Bypass.  Not for the faint of heart.