Friday, November 18, 2022

Coaches Influenced By Coach Groves Have Good Memories


My recent foray into a 1977 XC meet
was met with agreement and embellishment from two other participants that day. No corrections of facts presented and further elucidation of the particulars came from both of them.

Mason, OH State Champion XC Coach Tom Rapp remembers that the meet was mostly a dual meet against powerful Georgetown held on neutral turf in Williamsburg, VA.  He also remembers that our first man had to break up the threatened 1-2-3 finish of Georgetown studs for us to have a chance at the meet and a trip to the NCAA Championships!  This was before the current system of Prelim meets and such.

Then John Ziegler chimed in with the fact that he was in fact the first man battling it out against all 3 of them.  John remembers the games and tactics they used, which weren't always legal.  But John overcame the odds and finished 2nd, allowing our remaining corps of harriers to seal the victory from the favored Hoyas.  Tom also verified my seemingly made up assertion that we ran 18 miles that day.

I forgot to ask both of them if they remember KKOB's GI issues during the whole trip.  But Ziggy does remember singing Earth, Wind and Fire tunes much to the dismay of Mike Wyatt and Coach Groves.


 


Friday, November 11, 2022

Robby Creese Extends His Remarkable Range And Answers Our Dreaded 10 Questions!

 Robby Creese won the recent Baltimore Marathon after deciding to enter it just one day before!

5 mile 00:28:03 05:36 min/mi
10 mile 00:56:06 05:36 min/mi
15 mile 01:22:37 05:30 min/mi
20 mile 01:49:54 05:29 min/mi
Elapsed 02:26:45
Pace 05:36 min/mile  


1.What were the circumstances that brought you to PSU? .

     I liked PSU and felt that it was a good fit after my visit with the team.

2. Outside of XC/Track, what was your favorite part of the State College experience?

     I liked my classes and the academic challenge in both under grad and grad school.

3. Did you have any favorite or least favorite workouts?

     My least favorite workout was the uphill, mountain tempo at Whipple's dam.  My favorite workout     was 300 repeats.

4. Outside of your major, what was your favorite class?

    Inart 110 was probably my favorite class outside of my major because we watched a lot of TV.

5. What was your post-graduate time like in State College?

     It was nice but really busy with classes, research, teaching, running, and volunteering with the team.

6. What performance are you most proud of?

     I'm most proud of the DMR at indoor nationals during my sophomore year.

7. What were your favorite training sites or running routes?

     I definitely liked tracks, Scotia, and workouts on the track.

8. Which, if any, class would you like another crack at?

    I took another crack at numerical analysis during grad school, but none now.

9. Are you self-coached now? And how do you juggle work and running? Yes,

    I'm self coached now. I stay pretty busy but make sure to run immediately after work during the week.

10. Will we see you at one of our Reunions or Golf-Tournaments soon? (Hint, hint 😃)

     Probably and I hope to make it to a few indoor meets too.