If A National Champion Wants An Alumni Singlet, So Should You

Darrell Hill already has an Alumni Singlet and he is on the US team travelling to Qatar for the World Championships.  And now, National Champion Michael Shuey has invested in one.   You read that right!  Michael won the National Championship in the Javelin with his best ever toss of 82.85 meters (271' 10").  With that toss, Michael missed the World Championship Standard by 0.15M.  He still can make the US World team with a toss over the standard until early September or remaining in the top 32 ranking in the IAAF (Or whatever it is now...). 

Join the nearly 300 Alumni spreading the word of the greatest Track and Field Program in America by purchasing a Singlet or T-shirt like Darrell and Micheal.

Buy A Shirt Here!

This Alumni Singlet And T-Shirt Sale Will Make Everyone Happy!

Finally, the time has arrived.  We are having our biggest ever Alumni Singlet and T-Shirt Sale.  I know many of you have been waiting for this for a long time.  In order for this to reach everyone, I am asking that everyone "Like", and "Forward" this post on every available medium.  You have more friends than I do and our reach can exponentially grow if we include yours (and theirs!).

The hard work of this project is being done by Mark Hawkins ('81).  And even though he is a bit shy about it, he deserves thanks and accolades from all of us.  This stuff isn't easy and it would be quite easy to forego any of it except for the love of our program shared by Mark, me and all the rest of our wonderful Group.  We aren't there yet, but I am striving to have us be the largest and most active Track and Field Alumni Group in the world.

I will let Mark's words about ordering stand as the final word on this Super Duper Sale of the Century!

Fill out the form below to order a Penn State Track & Field (and XC) Alumni Singlet or T-Shirt.  Based on a throwback design, they are a great way to celebrate our organization of Penn State proud alumni athletes and coaches.  The shirts were introduced in 2009 and are being worn coast2coast and internationally by more than 250 of your brothers and sisters - spanning teams from 1968 to 2019!

The main design on the front of the shirt reads PENN STATE between two solid bars.  The lower bar includes the ALUMNI designation.  In addition to the front design, the varsity block S is also incorporated into the back or sleeve of each t-shirt or singlet.  You also have the option (preferred) of including your year of graduation or competition (ie '81) positioned on the right chest above the main design.

Mark Hawkins ('81) is handling the orders again this year.  Mark will be contacting you to acknowledge and finalize your order.  We order the stock as needed and each shirt is custom printed by Collegiate Pride in State College. Please note that Mark orders the stock and supplies it to the printer, so please communicate with Mark.  Due to the inclusion of the graduation year, it is not trivial to make changes or substitutions.  If you have not seen the shirts, Mark will be happy to send pics.

The singlets and T-shirts will again be the Nike "Miler" style.  There are Men's and Women's versions available for both of these dry-fit shirts.  For this printing, our primary color scheme is Blue printing on white shirts.  We have printed white on blue for the women's shirts as an option in the past - if you are interested in this color scheme or other shirt styles, please contact Mark.

Costs of the shirts have increased, and we now pay a royalty charge to PSU via the printer.  This year both singlets and T-shirts will cost $60 (including shipping).  For personal hand delivery or for additional shirts shipping to the same address, you may deduct $5 each.

Look for an announcement of the closing date for orders. Thank you!

Order Shirts Here

A Wolverine Of A Workout

We have talked several times recently about The MichiganWorkout.  I related how it is considered one of the most difficult workouts by many in the distance running community.  And we even have friends of the group who were there at the beginning of the phenomenon.

My logs from back in the day weren't detailed enough to regale specifics of the Nittany Lion version of the workout from Coach Groves.  That is why we have more than 1 Officer of the Group!  Thankfully our Chief Laundry and Morale Officer Larry Mangan has kept his more detailed logs and has specifics on two of these workouts from back in the day.

"I had to dig deep into the archives and find a calendar from the fall of 1980 to find evidence of this "Michigan" workout (I need to clean off my keyboard after typing that school up north and out west).

I found two in 1980:

October 6, 1980 - 3 mile warm up, mile 4:40, 2.5 mile at 5:30 pace, 1320 yards "hard" (no time), 2.5 mile at 5:30 pace, mile 4:48, 3 mile warm down.

October 27, 1980 - 2 mile warm up, mile 4:32, 3 miles at sub 6:00, 1320 3:25, 3 miles back to track (no time), mile 4:25, 3 mile warm down.

As to the 4:14 mile Gary Black remembers, we did have a November 3, 1980 4xmile workout on the Blue Course that went 4:36, 4:25, 4:45 and 4:17 (alternating uphill/downhill miles). I remember that workout because at the end it was cold and dark, Harry handed out those reflective vests and we had to drag ourselves back to Rec Hall - I hurled at least twice on the way back. Three weeks later we finished 3rd at the NC2A meet."

And out of the blue, Manager John Barber sent me this smuggled video of that second workout on the golf course out of the PSU archives without Coach Groves knowing about it.  It turns out that wolverines and badgers are really the same thing.

Another World Record For A Penn State Track Athlete!

Penn State Assistant Coach Erin Tucker sends us this great pic from Costa Rica and the setting for the U20 Pan-American Games.  Soon-to-be Nittany Lion Sophomore Justin Ofatan joined Arian Smith, Marcellus Moore and HS sensation Matthew Boling in setting a World Record in the 4 x 100M with 38.62!

That's more flags than a Political Convention!

We Needed A Golf Post

Our Michigan friend and original "Michigan Workout"  (and HERE) participant Jonathan Cross has brought us this gem from Hawaii.  No word on if Clark Haley will try to make this an event in next year's Alumni Triathlon during our Reunion.

https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.cross.90/videos/10156663504088152/

And don't forget to chime in if you know of any changes to be made for the all-time Penn State Alumni Indoor Record Book!!!

Let's Update The PSU Indoor Alumni Record Book!

We already did the Outdoor List, where we identified some changes to be made, so now let's all get together and do the same for the Indoor List.  Let us know via the comments below or via the Facebook Page of any changes that need to be made.  And thanks again to Matt Groves for digging up and compiling this listing from his father's notes.

1977 Cross Country Team: My Finest Season

This was my first team at PSU.  I trained like a monster in the year leading up to this, and it paid off big for me.  I made the Travel Team for the first 3 meets of the year and Lettered on a team that finished 10th at the NCAA Championships.

I was lured into a false sense of my talent because of the early season injury of Bob Snyder and the rounding into shape of a few other runners that ended up passing me by.  I never again placed that highly for the team, but then again we were top 4 in the NCAA Division One the rest of my "career"!

This was my favorite team, with so many teammates that are still friends and who I still look up to.

800U: Are PSU Alumni (Golfers) Gearing Up For Next Year's Championship Season?

After more than 6 months of injury time, Isaiah Harris is just starting to wind into shape for this season.  He ran a 1:46.61 in Philadelphia last week.

And Brannon Kidder outdid that with his Brooks Beast teammates with a 1:45.39 in Seattle.

That puts them in about 27th and 81st place in the world rankings...

Hot Summer Physics

Not many of my hundreds of readers are keen on the Physics posts I occasionally put here on "the blog with it all."  But in honesty, Physicists are some of my most loyal readers.  The two most popular posts on the blog were pure Physics posts, with no Penn State or Athletics involved at all.

It's been a while since I put anything scientific up here, but this one is great.  It is profound, provocative and I can almost understand it!  Unfortunately, if there is a mirror Universe, it is not likely that I am a Champion runner in it anyway...

Mirror Universe 

The testing apparatus looks more like the set for the drowning scene in Beerfest, but I wish her the best of luck with her experiment.

A Holiday Visit For Coach Groves From Some Of His Boys

Doug Walter and Bob Radzwich check out the Rusty Boot with Coach

Groves on Independence Day. 

The Barney Ewell Story

As we recently learned, Barney Ewell still owns the Alumni Record in the 100M after more than 6 decades!  And thanks to fellow Daily Collegian Top 100 Nittany Lion Student /Athlete Greg Fredericks forwarding this video to me while on vacation in the wilds of Burkittsville, MD and rural West Virginia, I have something to post for my hundreds of readers. 

Stay tuned for more Alumni Records and FINALLY, another sale of Alumni singlets and t-shirts!!!