Championship Season Is Here

Kevin Kelly O'Brien has a lot of time on his hands following his complete body transplant. (I suppose it only feels like that, Kelly?)  So he did the work of all 5 Basement Interns and came up with the complete list of PSU qualifiers for the upcoming USATF Olympic Trials in the refurbished Hayward Field. 

That is, of course, subject to change.  Please chime in with any updates or changes!

First, Morgan Shigo (6) in the Hammer. Then, 2 in the 800M, Isaiah Harris (5) and Brannon Kidder (7). Third, 2 more in the Javelin, Mark Porter (7) and returning Champion Michael Shuey (1).  Finally, two more in the Shot Put, Diamond League Champion Darrell Hill (4)and World Champion Joe Kovacs (2).

And last week, the USATF Road Mile Championships were held, with Colin Abert finishing in 6th place with 4:00.7. 

2021 Results - USATF 1 Mile Road Championships presented by Toyota

• Eric Avila. 3:59.0.
• Craig Engels. 3:59.2.
• Clayton Murphy. 3:59.5.
• Abe Alvarado. 4:00.4.
• Daniel Herrera. 4:00.5.
• Colin Abert. 4:00.7.
• Brett Meyer. 4:01.1.
• Clayton Young. 4:02.8.

The final 600 M were on the track!
 And he backed it up today at the Drake Relays with a Mile PR in 4:00.65 after a warm-up 1500M yesterday 3:41.73 to pace the college division.

Additional Entries via Flotrack:

 Rachel Fatherly has qualified in the Shot Put!

SP

9

18.44

Rachel Fatherly

AUTO (17.70)

Evonne Britton in the 100H!

100H

18

12.81

Evonne Britton

AUTO (12.84)

(Transfer) Kiah Seymour in the 400H!

400H

8

55.41

Kiah Seymour

AUTO (56.50)

(Transfer) Byron Robinson in the 400IH

400H

10

49.09

Byron Robinson

AUTO (49.50)

Brannon Kidder in the 1500M!

1500

6

3:35.27

Brannon Kidder

AUTO (3:37.50)

Tori Gerlach in the 3000SC!

3K SC

22

9:51.31

Tori Gerlach

FILL THE FIELD (24)

What Was Your First Job?

 While we wait for things to start happening in the Track World (I am assured that they will!), I figured I would try valiantly to start a conversation amongst my hundreds of readers.  So what the heck.  Tell me about your first job.  Here's some facts about my very first job:

• It was as a gopher (go for this, go for that) for a company building solar energy storage units for a new condominium complex in Dover, PA.  Mind you, this was 1975, so it was earth-shattering stuff. The solar collection panels on the roofs were heated by the sun and the air was then piped into the basement where large units with many pipes surrounded by concrete "stored" the heat.  This was then used to supplement the heating of the air and water in the condo.
• The pay was $5 an hour "under the table".  Cash every Friday.
• My interview was with the obviously bible-thumping contractor .  It consisted of the question, "Do you like the Grateful Dead?"  The answer of "No" was met with biblical accolades and an answer of yes to the hiring. The Grateful Dead was a constant theme throughout the job whenever our paths crossed.  I immediately started listening to the Grateful Dead.  My large collection of Jerry Garcia ties goes back to honoring this first boss!
• The very first piece of advice was to be very careful bringing the pipes out of the truck and taking them down to the basements. The pipes were very roughly cut to length and were ragged and very sharp.  We were supposed to be wearing gloves, but he didn't have any for us. Quite honestly, the very first pipe I handled cut my left index finger to the bone, severing an artery in the process.  To this day, there is blood on the pipes in the basement of unit 12, luckily covered by concrete.  I used a whole roll of paper towels over the course of hours to finally stop the literal spurting of blood by midday.  Then I wrapped the finger in tight duct tape.
• I cut numerous digits over the course of several days, never quite as bad as that first one. I would be happy to show you the scar when we next meet. 
• The project met with such high success that none of the condos use solar heating or hot water today, and the solar panels are all gone.  The large blocks of concrete are still in all of the basements til this day, a relic of misguided Gaia worship.

 

Please regale me with your first jobs, with year and salary info.  Don't be shy.  Use the Facebook site or the comments below or I will be forced to write another post about my second job as a Carny!

World Champion Goes Hollywood!

 Nice to see PSU Track alumni (Golfers) getting the exposure in corporate America AND Hollywood. Joe Kovacs (22.91!) looks good in his Duluth Trading Company ensemble while hanging out with Kevin Hart on the Left Coast.

 I am pretty sure the green screen is slimming!

Today I Couldn't Lift My Shih Tzu

With 2 weeks having passed since my "Barkley Marathons Injury", I have improved a little. But not enough to lift my 6 pound Shih Tzu into my car.

I don't think Joe Kovacs will ever have that problem. Here he is squatting 870 pounds 4 times to kinda sorta prove it.

Joe Kovacs lifts 870 pounds.

When I asked for help on how many PSU distance runners it would take to achieve that, our newly enshrined Official Physicist "guessed" 16. I am sticking with that!