Artie on Austin

As a follow up on the Austin Drager being selected to his high school Hall of Fame, our very own Artie Gilkes wrote me the following:

Artie wrote: "Drager, better known to his teammates as Drago, was an incredible athlete. He finished second at the Regional meet in a lot of snow. That fall he was just on fire. He got a late start to the xc training that year and I don't think he was even in the top 10 at the first meet. But, it was like each day he was getting fitter and fitter and better and better. I do remember that in the weeks leading up to regionals he was just crushing everybody in workouts. We were doing 5 x mile hills on Laurel run road in some nasty conditions. At the end of the season coach would have us hop in the van while picking people up on their recovery jog as he drove like a bat outta hell down the hill to cut down on our recovery time. I just remember Drager destroying everyone on that work out and it was like, "HELLO!" this guy is gonna run fast!"

Kyle Bernhardy chimed in with a little anecdote also:

Artie also once made Drager sleep on the floor during a track trip. Ok maybe I was culpable in that too!

These stories, anecdotes and possibly the upcoming photos are the real reason behind this whole blog thing.  (Well, that and trying to get rid of some of the crap that clutters my mind .)  If you have stories, anecdotes, photos, videos of interest to anyone in our (maybe simulated) Universe of PSU Track and Field Alumni, let me know.  I would be delighted to share.  Coach Groves wants more golfers!

Austin Drager Makes HS HOF!

From honorary PSU Track and Field Alumni Golfer  Henry Klugh (of the Harrisburg/Hershey Inside Track Running Store):

Fellow former PIAA 3200M (2-Mile) Champion Austin Drager has been elected to the Donegal High School Hall of Fame. Congrats!

In searching through the vast intertubes for more information on Austin's exploits, I found some interesting items.  First was the results from the 1996 Big Ten Track Championships where Austin placed 5th in the 10,000M behind our very own Director of Youth Development Artie Gilkes in 4th. (I missed this race as I had to leave early because my wife was having problems just prior to the birth of my first daughter.)

There's also results from the 1997 Penn State National Cross Country Meet held in the snow, where Austin placed second.  That earned him a trip to the NCAA Championships in South Carolina.

It's kind of uncanny how Austin's career in high school and college paralleled mine every step of the way.  Now let's entice him to come golf with us at the Reunion!  Although my career only earned me an honorable mention at Dover Area High School.*  Always just short...

* Current Green Bay Fullback John Kuhn is the top dog. (ex-Steelers Fullback and PSU star AND PIAA long jump champion John Witman also works at the local gym.)