1978 NCAA XC Championships

This is a repost of Larry Mangan's post to our Facebook page.  This way even the non-FB readers will get to enjoy the goodness!

On a cold (18 degrees), windy, day back in 1978, on the Yahara Hills Golf Course in Madison, Wisconsin, seven intrepid Penn State harriers jumped off the line to begin the start of a fine, three-year period in PSU cross country history. We finished 4th that day in Madison, and would take bronze in each of the next two years. Each Nittany Lion was of regular college age and from NY, PA and OH. Bordering our corral at the start were the very over-aged Cougars and Miners from Washington State and UTEP. Coach Groves was quite delighted when one of his charges, who will go unnamed, in a fit of anxiety and hypothermia, "politely" asked the folks on either side of us to "speak f***ing english". How did 40 years pass so quickly?

   9 Snyder, Robert 29:48
 54 Ziegler, John 30:36
 61 Mangan, Larry 30:41
 73 Baden, Bruce 30:50
113 Rapp, Thomas 31:11
120 Scharsu, Alan 31:19
129 Wyatt, Michael 31:27

Bob Snyder, running with the Big Dogs!

The Way, Way Back Machine Is Rusty

Sorry for the dearth of posting lately.  Work is a four-letter word that ends in K.

But it was 41 years ago that we first heard of the plane crash that decimated Lynyrd Skynyrd.  I remember exactly where I was when we got the word over the radio.  We were nearing the hotel in Williamsburg, VA on a Friday evening in the cross country van driven by Coach Groves.  I was seated in the next to last row between Ray Krombel and Kevin Kelly O'Brien.

Also in the van were Captain Bruce Baden (in the shotgun seat) and Captain John Ziegler.  Others included Jim Clelland, Frit Cooper, Mike Wyatt, Larry Mangan and his Freshman roommate Tom Rapp.  (Did I miss anyone?)  Of course I did!  Campbell Lovett, Dave Felice and Brian Boyer were there too!  Bob Snyder was injured.  (no wonder the van was uncomfortable. 14 of us was too many!)

We were on our way to a meet with Willam and Mary and Georgetown on the grounds of the insane asylum next to the campus.  Coach Groves told us a few stories of escapes from the place. Nice to know when you were alone in the woods during the race.

Our warm-up that day was to run the entire 10K course.  Then the race.  And then the warm-down turned out to be the entire 10K course!  I actually fainted during the warm-down and, as always, the only person who noticed was Mike Wyatt, my guardian angel those first 2 years. I think we won the meet, but I hope others chime in with more.

Incidentally, I became a fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd that day when I learned they named the group after their mean gym teacher, Leonard Skinner at Robert E. Lee High School.  hee hee hee

"Cuttin' A Mug" Reminds Me Of My First PSU Run

My first Term at PSU was arguably my best one.  At least for running.  (Academics was a different story!)  I was reminded of this because of a photo submission from Tim Backenstose by way of Campbell Lovett.  He titled the pic "Cuttin' a mug", a reference to Robert Snyder's unique ability to make a face everyone would remember forever.

Campbell kindly sent Tim this photo as a way of motivating him for further excellence in the coming years.  He probably had no idea it would motivate me as well.  Both Campbell and Tim were upper-classmen I both admired and marvelled at. (sic)  Maybe, I will some day expound on more of their exploits (like the "Mud Men") which made me both fear and delight in them. I will probably need their help in accurately conveying these stories.

But first, the pic...

Robert "Snid" Snyder taking first in the 800M on the State College Junior High track.

A hideously inferior version of this pic has been featured on this blog before.  This improved version allows the visualization of some additional features.

• Mike Wyatt in second place, wearing Nike spikes he later gave to me for my Junior and Senior seasons.
• Bill Sheskey taking 5th.
• Paul Stemmer lurking in bland grey sweats just off the left shoulder of Mike Wyatt.
• Possibly, Larry Mangan, who ran the pitless steeplechase earlier, cheering on the glory of the 1-2 finish in the actual scored dual meet.

With the mention of Tim and Campbell, my thoughts drifted to my first ever run at PSU.  I went to campus a day earlier than almost everyone else and drifted over to Rec Hall to see Coach Groves and make sure that I wasn't imagining that he had said I could join the team.

I was in the best shape of my life, following my June 1977 talk with Coach and his admonition that 80 miles/week just wasn't enough to cut it.  I ran nearly 100 miles a week leading up to matriculation and prayed for the ability to keep up with the team.

When I arrived at Rec Hall and met with Coach that day, I was dressed to run, just as I almost always was anyway.  It turned out that it wasn't a dream, as Coach welcomed me and told me to go take a run with "those guys".

Everyone who knows me, knows I am prone to some exaggeration or embellishment  (or even "misremembering" facts).  But this is exactly how I remmber that run.  I'm hoping Tim has at least a snippet of confirmation of this! 

"Those guys" happened to include three giants, or at least giants compared to the 5' 10" (now 5' 9") 117 pound (now not quite twice that number...) runner I was in those days.  Each of them were at least 6 inches taller than I, and at least 50 pounds heavier than I.  I remember them as Tim Backenstose, Campbell Lovett and Mark Parker, the current President of Nike, who had just graduated and was heading off to Exeter NH to work for the fledgling Nike brand.  The only one I am 100% sure about is Mark, as Coach addressed him to say that I was joining the group for a "10-Miler".  I never said a word to any of them, and they barely acknowledged me at all.  The only hazing I ever remember occuring as part of the team.

We took off for a run that eventually led to the Pine Barrens west of State College.  In those days, none of us had a running watch, let alone a GPS one.  But the run seemed to be getting longer and longer.  Although it was faster than my usual entirely solo runs, I was delighted to be running well with no difficulty at all keeping up with the "real" Penn State runners.  My fears of fitting in were relieved on that first run and I actually did go on to be our 7th man in three of the season's early XC races. Enough to even earn a letter!  (Robert Snyder was injured that first season until the very end, when I was no longer in the top 7.)

It turned out that the "10-Miler" I was on went nearly 2 hours at 6:00/mile pace.  A foreshadowing of the 18 mile "15-Mile" Mountain runs early in the season.  Forty-one years later, I swear I remmber that run like it was last week.

And if you want to "misremember" some past exploits like me, there is nowhere better than at our Reunion and Coach Groves Golf Tourney on May 18/19th!

One Person options:

Entire Package $205.00 USD    Friday and Saturday $135.00 USD    Friday Reception $45.00 USD    Saturday Reception $105.00 USD    Golf and Saturday Reception Dinner $155.00 USD

For additional family members, add up permutations in post and use snail mail to:
 Harry Smith
            508 Washington Avenue
            Elyria, OH  44035

It's Good To Have Penn State Track Backing From Those Above

You may not recognize him, but Robert "Snid" Snyder just had the lead in The Valley of Harrisburg's Passion Play.  I think the beard is coming off soon and we will all recognize him again.

The Older We Get, The Faster We Used To Be

Our William and Mary connection, Brian Mount, sent along this news clipping from the days of yore.  This was probably results from the 1985 or 1986 White Rose 5-Miler.  I ran the flat and fast version of this in the 70's, but was already retired by the time this version came around. This is a deep field that would hold up well in any major race today!

There are a few PSU athletes listed, including brother-in-law Gary Black.  I never knew he ran in York! Some of my high school running partners ran too, including the incredible York College Grad Gary Townsend in 7th place (24:34).  He was a big part of the 1977 winning team at the Runner's World 24-Hour Relay at Fort Meade.  Mike McAndrews (25:18) was also a high school competitor.  Notice Shippensburg Coach Steve Spence (23:47) and  Inside Track running store owner Mark Amway(23:52) too!  Winner Kevin McGarry (23:35) is the brother of Nittany Lion Rick McGarry.

Penn State Track Alumni Golfers among the leaders were "Noisy" Jim Clelland (25:01), Robert "Snid" Snyder (25:13), and Gary Black (26:26).  And I've heard rumors that Zeb Stewart was there too!

Reconfigured Top PSU Mens Cross Country Runners Of All-Time

It took the Mathematics Intern much more time to perform the meticulous calculations to arrive at the final results of our exercise in divining the best of the best among all Penn State Cross Country runners of all-time than anyone had postulated.  In his defense, the intern is unpaid and subject to a world which is way more complicated than it should be. Anyone wishing to contribute to the coffers of the poor intern can contact me...

In review, here are the original criteria for the list:

The (Original) Criteria:

1. All PSU runners finishing in the top 20 of an NCAA Championship Meet are included.  This, of course skews the results toward the old-timers.  Back before 1973, any team could enter the race, and there were far fewer teams and runners overall. And it ignores someone who placed 21st in 4 straight Championships! Now that would be one Heck of a runner.
2. Points are awarded in a reverse order of their finish.  A 20th place finish is worth 1 point and a first place finish is worth 20 points.  This skews the results toward those that run in multiple NCAA Championships. But placing high still means the most.
3. Tiebreakers: a) # of appearances in NCAAs top 20 and  b) most recent to oldest.

Our New Criteria are then superimposed upon this original list.  The new criteria involves a weighting in an effort to incorporate the competitive strength of each year's race.  Of course any criteria such as this is somewhat subjective and can cause arguments and discussions on its suitability. This is welcome! It is difficult to precisely measure whether a race in 1952 was as difficult to finish in the top 20 as compared to a race in 2006.  But a reasonable estimate can be made simply by noting the number of finishers in the race and compensating for it as compared to a standard number.  In this case the standard is the number of finishers in 1970, the year with the greatest number of runners.

New superimposed Criteria:

• Each year's finishing point total from earlier is multiplied by a factor defined as:

# of Finishers in Race Year (x)

# of Finishers in 1970 (305) 

Here's the Original Top Ten Runners of All-Time:

1. Robert Hollen - 17th 1951, 7th 1952, 6th 1953 for 33 points.
2. Curtis Stone -  7th 1942, 2nd 1946 for 33 points.
3. Alan Scharsu - 19th 1979, 7th 1980, 6th 1981 for 31 points.
4. William Ashenfelter - 8th 1950, 4th 1951 for 30 points.
5. Eric Carter - 9th 1985, 4th 1987 for 29 points.
6. Gerald Karver - 9th 1942, 6th 1947 for 27 points,
7. Norman Gordon - 11th 1941, 5th 1942 for 26 points.
8. Horace Ashenfelter - 19th 1946, 2nd 1947 for 21 points.
9. Greg Fredericks - 4th 1970, 20th 1971 for 18 points.
10. Paul Stemmer - 5th 1975 for 16 points.
11. William Smith - 5th 1938 for 16 points.

And the New Top Ten Penn State Mens Cross Country Runners of All-Time:

1. Alan Scharsu - 19th 1979, 7th 1980, 6th 1981 for 22.2 points.
2. Greg Fredericks - 4th 1970, 20th 1971 for 17.9 points.
3. Eric Carter - 9th 1985, 4th 1987 for 17.1 points.
4. Paul Stemmer - 5th 1975 for 14.1 points.
5. Curtis Stone - 7th 1942, 2nd 1946 for 12.1 points.
6. Robert Hollen - 17th 1951, 7th 1952, 6th 1953 for 11.0 points.
7. Horace Ashenfelter - 19th 1946, 2nd 1947 for 10.5 points. 
8. Gerald Karver - 9th 1942, 6th 1947 for 10.0 points.
9. William Ashenfelter - 8th 1950, 4th 1951 for 9.6 points.
10. Robert Snyder - 9th in 1978 for 9.5 points.

Robert Snyder 1978.

Paul Stemmer 1975.

Alan Scharsu 1978.

Greg Fredericks 1970.

This Still Isn't The Way To Determine The Rest Of PSU's Best Cross Country Runners Of All-Time

Here's the rest of the list of "The Top PSU Cross Country Runners of All-Time".  Remember, the criteria were set in the last post, which showed the top 11 of All-Time.

12.  Gerald Norman - 6th in 1960 for 15 points.
13.  Richard Englebrink - 7th in 1959 for 14 points.
14.  Howard Deardorff - 8th in 1960 for 13 points.
15.  Robert Snyder - 9th in 1978 for 12 points.
16.  Robert Freebairn - 11th in 1950 for 10 points.
17.  Brian Laird - 13th in 1988 for 8 points.
18.  Fred Kerr -  13th in 1957 for 8 points.
19.  Lamont Smith - 13th in 1953 for 8 points.
20.  Donald Ashenfelter - 13th in 1949 for 8 points.
21.  McClain Smith - 13th in 1942 for 8 points.
22.  Larry Mangan - 14th in 1980 for 7 points.
23.  Donald Freebairn - 14th in 1949 for 7 points.
24.  George Malley - 17th in 1975, 20th in 1976 for 5 points.
25.  Jack Saint Clair - 16th in 1950 for 5 points.
26.  Albert Porto - 16th in 1949 for 5 points.
27.  Herman Goffberg - 16th in 1941 for 5 points.
28.  Raymond Smith - 17th in 1967 for 4 points.
29.  Herman Weber - 17th in 1960 for 4 points.
30.  Donald Woodrow - 17th in 1956 for 4 points.
31.  William Gordon - 17th in 1950 for 4 points.
32.  Fred Lennox - 17th in 1947 for 4 points.
33.  Steve Brown - 20th in 1989 for 1 point.
34.  Doug Moorhead - 20th in 1954 for 1 point.

Director of Youth Development Artie Gilkes and Herm Goffberg.

   

Herm Goffberg.

Robert Snyder.

Ryan Foster, Larry Mangan, Al Porto, and Steve Balkey.

Brian Laird, 2nd from right.

Still More Good Days

Vintage photos always brings out the curiosity among runners, throwers and jumpers.  So a few more photos have rolled in from afar.  And since the indoor season is about to start, I figured I had better post them now.  (And don't forget to vote for the Performance of the Year!!)

 1978 1979 NCAA 10000M  (Ziggy!)

 1978 1981 NCAA  AAU(TAC) XC (Alan!) -photo by Richard Lee Slotkin.

1978 1979 NCAA AAU(TAC) 5000M (Snid!) -photo by Richard Lee Slotkin.

And here's another good day with  Nick Scarpello in Aruba! (That's some pretty good company there, Nick!)

The Duel

It has been nearly 33 years since The Duel, but I remember it as if it was yesterday.  One of the participants has since almost died twice (that we know of) while the other has battled back from alcoholism and severe weight gain.  But neither a heart attack nor hyperthermia could kill the one, and alcoholism the other, and both are still running today.

The 1979 NCAA XC Championships were in Saucon Valley, just south of Bethlehem PA.  Alberto Salazar and Henry Rono were among the stars, and they did not fail to disappoint.  I was lucky enough to see the race with Rob, Mark, Barb, Gary and others who had spent the night with me at my grandfather's house.  It really was a unique opportunity.

Right from the start, it was a duel between Rono and Salazar, which continued for the entire 10K. Alberto, probably outmatched in talent, never had any quit in him, which explains his later brushes with death quite easily.  Rono eventually pulled away, but no one would have said it was easy.

More interesting to our cadre of spectators was seeing a tight bunch of PSU singlets near the front of the pack.  Alan Scharsu, John Zeigler, Bob Snyder (I was wrong here.), Larry Mangan and Tom Rapp were there (who else? Help me here! Dwight Stephens? Jeff Adkins? actually Jeff Adkins, Jim Clelland and Rick Garcia.).  The Nittany Lions became the top team with all Americans to finish.    It seems like yesterday...

Complete Race Results Here

And since I don't have video of it, here's the trailer for the movie High Noon.

Snid Was Always in the Thick of Things!

The 1979 NCAA 5000 M Final was another highlight of the remarkable Henry Rono.  The prelims were the scene of his "sprint the straights, jog the curves" race, where he toyed with the entire field.  But Bob Snyder was there in the chase pack in the Final, pictured here. (Thanks to Frit Cooper for the assist!)

I've told the story before about my arrival at Happy Valley, where I beat Bob in the first several XC races and thought I was the Bee's Knees.  Bob was so private and quiet, I never knew he was injured at the time.  I still don't know what the injury was, but I soon found out that Bob was an All-American and I was a walk-on.

During those years of top 4 NCAA team finishes, Bob was always in the thick of it.  As a team, we were a very proud lot about the fact that all of us were from PA, NY, VA and OH. Bob was from McConnellsburg PA ("That's Burg you big dummy", whenever someone said McConnellsville). Working hard and having fun.  Truly great times.  I'm sure those older and younger than I also remember similar times in The Valley.  Which is sorta the whole point of the blog BTW!

Someone else sent me some photos of Snid at the 1979 Pittsburgh Invitational and the 1978 NCAA XC Finals.  I can't remember if Coach yelled at him for his un-tucked shirt. And let's get some input on who the other runners are.  Do any of you remember Allegheny! (where Paul Stemmer got his start.)

How Could Anyone Mistake Renaldo Nehemiah for Don Paige?

Not really!  It was an honest mistake. I confused two unrelated meets in my fetid Freshman mind. I was injured at the time because of a freak fencing accident.  No kidding either.  It was the worst injury of my running career, and I've had them all.  So when I "remembered" the big dual meet with the Villanova Wildcats, it was actually The ACC Champion Maryland Terrapins.  And it wasn't even a dual meet, it was a Tri-meet with the Pittsburgh Panthers too!  (Villanova did visit State College for the Penn State Open also, so I guess that's where I remember Don Paige, Mark Belger and Anthony Tufariello.)

That's Bob Snyder winning the 800 M race, with Mike Wyatt coming in second.  Bob also won the 1500 M just 45 minutes before the 800.  That's PSU Track Alum Golfer Bill Sheskey  in 5th place, but I'll bet he got 4th at the tape!

Renaldo Nehemiah dazzled the crowd in every race he won, but it wasn't enough to keep the more highly ranked Terrapins from losing a tight meet with the gritty Nittany Lions on the "home field" at the Westerly Parkway Junior High School!

It all came down to the pole vault in a light drizzle, and the Maryland vaulters couldn't come near their 17 ft. PR's. The PSU vaulter Bob Hottle, who topped out at his own PR of 15 feet, clinched the meet for the Lions.

Other notable events in the meet were:

1. Larry Mangan winning the waterless steeplechase in 9:05, with Ray Krombel and Campbell Lovett coming in second and third.
2. Paul Lankford was a double winner in the 100 M and Mile Relay.
3. Gary Williky won the Discus and was second in the Shot Put.
4. Coach Groves was quoted as saying "It was good to beat them."

Remembering Charlie Maguire II

We got a big response to our initial post remembering Charlie Maguire, so I figured I would go back to the well for one more time.  Of all the PSU duo's to have run for PSU, Charlie and Greg Fredericks probably logged the most miles together.  They ran together for 3 years as undergrads and kept it up through intense training for many years afterward. 

Greg emailed another remembrance of the "tough guy" from the days of yore:

We ran the CDT mile in combination with the local summer meets here in the late 70's.  Charlies idea with collaboration with his wife Andi, Peter and myself.  The effort was to give Centre County it's first sub 4 minute mile, still a feat in those days.  We brought in guys and financed it with t-shirt sales.  I believe we did it for 3 years.  Got about 5,000 people out to an August track and field meet.  Not a misprint.... 5,000.  Even had Al Oerter the discuss champ one year.

It was a great promotion and fun time for our beloved sport. 

I remember Larry Mangan, Mike Wyatt and Bob Snyder running those races with Greg and Sydney Maree, although I never even got a stinking t-shirt.  I'm going to ask Greg to make a design for a new t-shirt for the Group Store, "I saw a 4-Minute Mile and I and didn't even get a stinking t-shirt".  What other runners were in those races?

The photo is from the Second Annual Arts Festival 10-Miler.

Dr. Lucas Was a Pioneer of Fitness

We received a nice comment from Joe Head in North Carolina yesterday to our earlier post about Dr. John Lucas.  Joe relates the inspiration that Dr. Lucas provided him back in the late 60's.  You must remember, this was a significant time before "The Running Boom", which came after the Olympic Marathon win by Frank Shorter in 1972 .  Dr. Lucas was an early adopter of the fitness lifestyle even in the 1950's, and hundreds or thousands were inspired by him.  Thanks for the input Joe.  And come golf with us; our group's umbrella is huge!  And don't forget to check out the Did You Know Section for an interesting fact about Dr. Lucas!

Here's Joe's comment:

My first memory of Coach John Lucas was the day he came out to East Halls in the spring of 1967 for an open entry cross country event for any of us in the dorms who thought we could run. Near the end of my sophomore year, I read Dr. Cooper's book, "Aerobics" and decided that I needed to get back in shape, so I signed up for my first of many P.C [physical conditioning] classes with Coach Lucas. During that time I ran my first marathon [Pikes Peak] and also finished the 1968 Olympic Trials Marathon in Alamosa. I have continued to run marathons since then [my most recent being when I turned 60]. Coach Lucas's example has been an inspiration to me ever since those undergraduate days. I can still see him running laps around the Rec Hall track while eating an apple on his lunch hour.

Joe Head
Class of 1970
B.S. Geological Sciences

And congrats to Robert Snyder's son Chris Snyder on his PR mile of 4:08.91 for UMBC! Chris golfed in our tourney 2 years ago as a member of the second generation Yanomamo clan.

Great Performances

PSU Track Alumni Golfers showed up in droves at the Penn State National Indoor Meet this weekend.  They were treated to some fine performances indeed!

Topped off by Ryan Foster's 3:58.49 effort in the mile, several records were set, and several automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships were achieved. I'll have some videos and photos soon.

Bob Snyder's son Chris ran a 4:14 mile.  Not his best, but a nice time in the early season. But the best performance of all came on Friday night, as Mark Hawkins stepped on the track for the first time in 30 years (?) to compete in the mile.  His 5:25 effort comes with respect and admiration from all the rest of us alums who realize just how good that really is.  There is more to come, I believe.  We never learn. He went out too hard....  (and I forgot to mention Kevin Fuller rocking the Alumni Singlet as the rabbit in the 800 M!)
Here's Mark's race in its entirety, brought to us by FloTrack!

Watch more Videos on Flotrack

Pennsylvania and Ohio Distance Champions in the 70's Chose Penn State

Larry Mangan recently pointed out how nearly all the Pennsylvania distance champions in our day gravitated to Penn State. We are doing our best to make that happen all over again.  Title IX makes that difficult on the mens side.  The list is rather impressive.  Let's see if I can get some of them:

Pennsylvania:
1.  Dave Felice, mile 1976
2.  Ray Krombel, 2-mile 1976
3.  Larry Mangan, mile  1977
4.   Marc Dunmire, mile 1977
5.  George Severine, 880 1977
6.  David Baskwill, 2-mile 1977
7.  Gary Black, mile 1978

I'm forgetting others!  Write a comment below to update the list.

And lets not forget Ohio, the state that's "high in the middle and round on both ends" (from Tom Rapp himself).   The Ohio State Mile Champions at PSU in my day are:

1.  Tom Rapp 1977
2.  Alan Scharsu  1978 (in the photo)
3.  John Zishka  1979
4.  Clark Haley  1981

All of this was off the top-of-my-head, which is notably deficient.  Please send me additions and corrections in the comment section!

Ah, the updates are rolling in, just as I had hoped. 

1.  Mike Cook, 1600 1979.

2.  Mark Overheim, 1600 1981

3. Jay Novak, 3200 1986

4. Dan Mazzocco, 3200  2002

5.  Dave Greene 800, 1979

6.  Doug Walter, 800 1986

7.  Mary Rawe, mile 1977 or 1978?
8.  Robert Snyder, mile 1974, 1975
9.  Kathy Byrnes, 880, 1977 

Cross-Country Season Up Next (The Circle of Life)

Larry Mangan was sent these photos from the 1978 NCAA Regionals at Lehigh.  Penn State won the race  and was 3rd or 4th at the NCAA Championships  three straight years.  I can attest that it was difficult to break into the "starting 7" all 4 years with a cast that included Larry, Alan Scharsu, Bruce Baden, John Ziegler, Bob Snyder, Tom Rapp and Mike Wyatt.

What's really remarkable is that Larry, Tom and Mike were really milers mixing it up with George Buckheit of Bucknell, Sydney Maree and Amos Korir of Villanova.

Second Generation Speed (and Putting Prowess)

All-American and soon-to-be Hall of Honor inductee Bob Snyder (as soon as I get around to compiling the list!) can be proud of his progeny in last week's Penn State National Invitational Mile.
Chris Snyder's 4:15.94 was good for 6th place in the race. Combined with his 2nd place at last year's Golden Putter contest on the 18th green, that makes for a two-sport star. Congrats all, and I hope to see you at this year's competition.

Yanomamo Nearly Take Over Tournament

When I relented and allowed a foursome to enter the tournament for the first time in the history of our event, I had no idea what forces I had unleashed. I first garnered the scorn of Founder and Keeper of the Beer, Clark Haley. My 2 yearly beers (one on Friday night and another after the first 9 holes of the tournament! Kelly O'Brien can verify) were placed in jeopardy. Only when the organizers realized how many extra entries it caused was my alcoholic allotment restored.

The Yanomamo foursome of Tim Backenstose, Campbell Lovett, Dave Spears and Bob Snyder ended up last in our tourney, but then golf isn't the best sporting outlet of The Fierce People. It is also their rainy season, making them underestimate the speed of the greens. Golfing with bows and arrows is also notoriously difficult.

It turns out that their were many more Yanomamo there than just this foursome. Three second generation tribesmen also joined us; Hunter Backenstose, Nate Lovett and Chris Snyder. I'm not positive about the status of Ian Smith or Seth Balkey, two other second generation participants. There is probably Yanomamo blood coursing in their veins too.

It also became apparent that I shared my foursome with 2 other Yanomamo adherents. Doug Kent and Kelly O'Brien have credentials that may even exceed the other foursome. Kelly was even there at the beginning of the Mifflin Mile (or what ever its called). There may even be a record of this with the campus police!

The Big Tent that is Penn State Track and Field Alumni Golf can easily accept any crazy group Penn State Track has ever accomadated, EVEN FROM THE NINETIES AND 00's!!

And I swear, Results will be coming some time soon! My day job isn't allowing me to blog according to my wishes. And Harry Smith needs to supply me with them, as my muddled intellect will mess them up, causing The Blog Laureate to berate me.

New Sign-Ups! Get Yours in Now!

Bob Snyder is in here somewhere! (in 5th place) 1978 NCAA 5000 M Trials, ended up 4th (14:05) (with Henry Rono!) ( photo courtesy of Patrick Davey via Malmo.)


All-American and All-Around good guy (AND NON-GOLFER!), Bob Snyder has signed up in a big way for the Harry Groves Golf Tournament and Reunion. I wonder if he remembers that I beat him in the first 2 races of my PSU "career"? (Relax everyone, he was injured!) His family will be making the journey to Happy Valley and participating in our family and reunion activities. Our total of sign-ups confirmed is now 23 golfers! (There are scores of others who swear they are coming or are likely to come). We will have the largest number of family members this year, and are still making efforts for more Women's Team member participation.

We are at a crucial phase in our efforts, as we need to figure out how many foursomes to book at The Elks Club Course. We only have a little lee-way from our selected number and we don't want anyone left out. If you know you are coming, but haven't signed-up yet, help us out and get your form filled out. Money isn't due to Harry Smith until 5/8/09. We are guessing at least 8 foursomes now, but we may need more if all the fence-sitters wait to the last minute. Even some who have attended nearly every year are still wandering in the ether. We would hate to tell them "Sorry, no room". The dynamics have changed, and we won't be able to accommodate late-comers as easily anymore.

These are wonderful problems to have, especially since Harry and Clark will have to do all the leg-work. I just have to herd more cats. Remember, we should have the largest and most active Track and Field Alumni group in the entire world!

The List of confirmed golfers and attendees is astounding in its diversity and lack of golfing talent! They include: Harry Groves, Harry Smith, Campbell Lovett, Dave Spears, Paul Souza, Paul Mundy, Paul McLaughlin, Gary Black, Mike McCahill, Nick Kello, Steve Shisler, Beth Shisler, Don Ziter, Lynne Ziter, Steve Balkey, Jeff Sanden, Clark Haley, Rob Whiteside, Bill Malchano, Debbie Malchano, Tim Backenstose and David Baskwill.

Join us today!