Some Excellent Early Season Times at Stanford

One of the biggest early season meets each year is the Stanford Invitational.  Several Nittany Lions are there and there were some excellent performances to start out the 2012 campaign.

1. Matt Fischer placed 14th in Section 3 of the 5000 M with a 14:11.47 effort.
2. Kyle Dawson placed 16th in Section 1 of the 10000 M with a splendid 28:55.33.
3. Brooklynne Ridder ran a 16:14.98 in the 5000 M to place 13th in Section 2.

All 3 are PR's, (PB's for the younger set!) Kyle's and Brooklynne's effort place them in the top ten all-time performances by Penn State athletes.

Women Dominate Distance Events at B1G (That's the new-fangled symbol I'll never get used to!)

The PSU Mens Team ended up in 6th Place at the Big Ten Championships, while the Women placed 3rd overall.  Bolstered by the distance exploits of Caitlin Lane, Kara Millhouse, Brooklynne Ridder and Rebekkah Simko, the distance events were thoroughly dominted by speedy Lady Lions. 

Here's the Women's Mile final:



And congrats to Frugal Uncle Joe for winning the Mens Mile Prediction!

Distance Runners Open Outdoor Season in Style!

Led by Kara Millhouse's School Record 10,000 M Run, the PSU Quintet all had good starts to their Outdoor 2011 seasons.  Kara shattered the 10 K mark by more than 30 seconds with her 33:31.93 to place 10th in a loaded field.

Caitlin Lane PR'ed (old school abbreviation there!) with a 16:18.14 in the 5,000 M. She was followed by Brooklynne Ridder  16:45.08.  Natalie Bower hurdled and water-jumped to a 10:21.87 for the eighth best Steeplechase in School history.

The lone PSU Mens Team member making the long trip was Tasmanian Ryan Foster, who placed fifth in the 1500 M with a 3:45.56.

I'm looking forward to some great performances from both ranked PSU Teams this season!

2010 NCAA Results Including Alumni Coaches

The PSU Men finished in 30th place, with Kyle Dawson and Vince McNally placing 52nd and 77th overall.  I still put special emphasis on the contribution from the middle distance guys this year.  I'm sure the 10 K distance took its toll in this race.  I'm looking forward to great 800 M and 1500 M races this year from all of them.  Overall, a good year for the team, setting themselves up for even better things in the future.

The Lady Lions placed 26th as a team, with Brooklynne Ridder placing 82nd overall.  A solid year with a great young group, with great things coming in the upcoming years.

Steve Walsh's William and Mary crew placed 19th as a team in his first year as Coach.  Let's hope his golf game won't suffer following the move to Virginia.

Kate Curran's St. Lawrence Men's team placed third overall in the Div III Championships, with Steve Kiplagat's third place pacing them.  Her Women's squad placed 23rd also.  I'm surprised she ever had the time to fill out the Ten Questions I posed to her!

"None Shall Pass" (Actually, Only a Couple Did)

One against the men and 2 against the women.  It was a good showing at the Penn State National Invitational Cross-Country Meet at PSU this weekend.  A large number of quality teams participated in the event with the Men coming in second and the Women coming in third.

The finish of the Mens race was quite exciting with Kyle Dawson and Vince McNally (both Juniors!)  accelerating from the trailing pack to place second and third respectively.  All the scoring runners are improving each race, with the MIDDLE DISTANCE runners astounding everyone with their distance prowess.  Syracuse took the Mens title, trailed by PSU and Villanova, all ranked teams.

The Womens race was equally exciting with PSU placing third to Villanova and Syracuse.  PSU had a great spread of only :24 seconds.  Sophomore Brooklynne Ridder paced the squad with her 20th place finish.

In my long absence from the college XC scene I was not aware that it has become a contact sport.  Somewhere after the half mile mark there is apparently a bridge with a Black Knight not allowing passage without a fight!  A large number of participants were felled by the Knight. Two on the Alumni Team were bloodied in the melee.  I'm not aware of anyone still missing, but it certainly looks awful compared to the genteel sport I was familiar with.  We only attained marks like this when working out in Rec Hall!

  "It's Only a Flesh Wound!"

Despite starting in the very last corral (near Park Forest). the Alumni team of Dennis Pollow, Brian Fuller, Teddy Quinn, Cody Edling, Kevin Fuller, and Tim Johnson beat the Pitt Panthers and 4 other teams with their 22nd place team finish. They all looked resplendent with their Letterman Jackets at the alumni reception at our usual Damon's Haunt afterward.  I had offered my services as a 7th man, but officials would not allow my walker on the course.  I bring you this unique perspective on a XC start instead:

And here is footage smuggled in from the half-mile mark by brave survivors.  Let's hope the woods are rid of the riff-raff by the time of the NCAA Regionals!


And here are photos of current Letterman Jackets along with my size 34",  "Old School" model!

Evonne Britton: National Junior Champion 400 M Hurdles

Evonne Britton one-upped her second place finish in the 100 M Hurdles at the USATF Junior Championships with a winning effort in the 400 M Hurdles.  She has qualified for the USA for the World Junior Championships upcoming in glorious Canada!  (You know, Canada, the country that's sort of like our attic.  You forget its up there, but when you finally remember, you find all kinds of great stuff up there.)

Karlee McQuillen also finished eighth in the Javelin. Megan Duncan finished 20th in the 400 M Hurdles, while Fawn Dorr, now representing Brooks, qualified for the finals of the 400 M Hurdles with the second fastest time.  Also qualifying was Shana Cox, former Lady Lion, giving Dear Old State two lanes in the finals.  Honorary PSU Track alumni Golfer Rebecca Donaghue placed 7th in the 5000M.  Brooklynne Ridder placed third in the  Jr.5000 M, just missing a place on the US Squad for Canada.