It Isn't Easy To Qualify For Nationals In Indoor Track

Only the top 16 make it in individual events.  Only 12 relay teams qualify.

Penn State has its share of entrants:

Women:

• Danae Rivers - 800M
• Maddie Holmberg - Pentathlon

Men:

• Isaiah Harris - 800M
• Terrance Laird - 200M
• Bryce Williams - Triple Jump
• David Lucas - Weight Throw
• Morgan Shigo - Weight Throw
• 4 x 400M (Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Kier Miner, Isaiah Harris) 

Good luck at Texas A&M next week!


And don't forget to sign up for the Reunion and Golf Tourney!  Either with PayPal/credit card or via snail mail to Harry Smith.

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

Season Opening Meet Is More Than A Rustbuster! And a Homecoming For An Officer Of The Group

Don't forget, there is only one day left to get your vote in for the 2017 Performance of the Year.  Go to the full website.  Look at the left sidebar and vote for your top 2 out of the 6 finalists!

There were 2 School Records set in the first meet of the season at the Horace Ashenfelter Indoor Track.

• Bryce Williams stunned everyone except himself with an opening meet School Record in the Triple Jump.  (53’-3.50”)
• David Lucas heaved the heavy ball further than any Nittany Lion ever. 
  (70’-7.25”)

But in my eyes, the performance of the meet was our very own Undersecretary of Fun Billy Cvecko butting heads in the 800M with the younger crowd.  He finished third in 1:56.06.  And I'm betting he never gets enough sleep!

How Did The Men Do At The NCAA Championships?

 "It was a fun race."

-Isaiah Harris, runner-up in the 800M.

(And let's not forget this previous tweet from Isaiah!)

"Light yourself on fire and then roll in broken glass to put out the fire!" -from Isaiah Harris's Twitter Feed, explaining how to replicate the feeling after an 800M race.

The big answer is, tied for 20th in the team standings.  For the third straight year in the top 20!  Congrats to the coaches and all the athletes (and not just the ones who scored!).  Coach Gondak related his happiness and the hunger for more!

Coach Gondak and Isaiah Harris.

Isaiah Harris closed out the NCAA Championships with a very smart race, finishing second to the heavy favorite, UTEP's Emmanuel Korir.*  Isaiah stayed back early and ran relatively even splits (52.32 and 53.09).  That kept him out of trouble when the 2 UTEP runners tangled and Michael Saruni went down with 200M to go.  Many thought Korir could have been disqualified for the trip, but judges eventually ruled it out.

Isaiah Harris represents the 7th All-American performance in the 800M since 2009 and ties both Brannon Kidder and Casimir Loxsom with the highest finish in the event at the Championship level.

All the participants in the NCAA Championships: 

• Javelin - Michael Shuey   3rd   250' 9"
• Javelin - Ryan Kerr       9th     232' 0"
• Javelin - Michael Biddle   18th   219' 8"
• Long Jump -  Malik Moffett       18th   24' 1/4"
• Shot Put - Jon Yohman    11th      62'   1/2"
• 4 x 100M - Karson Kowalchuk, Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Malik Moffett  13th  39.15
• 4 x 400M - Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Tyreek Mathis, Isaiah Harris  9th   3:04.17
• 800M - Isaiah Harris   2nd    1:45.40
• 800M - Domenic Perretta   21st   1:49.14
• 200M - Malik Moffett   22nd   20.93
• Discus - David Lucas    9th  190' 3"
• Triple Jump - Bryce Williams  17th  51' 1 3/4" 

* Even better, Isaiah wore his "Alumni-like Singlet" in the Final.

My Choices Of Performance Of The Meet Nittany Lion Challenge

I watched a fair amount of the meet via Flo Track Pro, but of course I missed these two performances.  I would relish any arguments on this.

• Bryce Williams, 51' 8.25" in the Triple Jump, a year after an ACL injury.
• Danae Rivers, 1:29.06 School Record in the 600M.

The eagerly anticipated 1000M race was a very good one, but Isaiah Harris just couldn't get past the eventual winner Joseph White of Georgetown in 2:22.14 (to 2:21.96).  A note of impending goodness for PSU was Dom Perretta in third with 2:23.06!  PSU is 800U

Former Lion Robby Creese won the Mile in 4:06.29 and doubled back to place 5th in the 1000M in 2:25.08!  Robby probably already knows that he needs an Alumni Singlet for races like these, but if not, someone get him one!

Danae Rivers.

Dom Perretta, a generically shirted Robby Creese and Jordan Makins.

800 High

800 High lived up to the name at the PIAA State Championships. Coached by former Penn State standout Steve Shisler, and led by future Nittany Lions Will Cather and Kyle Adams, the Little Lions won the AAA 4x800 in a new school record of 7:41.99. They broke the old school set all the way back in 1969.

The 4x8 was just the start to their weekend, as both Kyle and Will ran on the schools 6th place 4x400 while Will placed 6th in the open 800 with a 1:54.56. Indoor and outdoor 4x8 State Champs, the pipeline from 800 High to 800 U continues!

One proud coach

 

Steve isn't the only Penn State Track Alum developing young athletes at State High. Despite his background in the long stuff, Artie Gilkes has made a nice transition to jumps coach. Under Artie's tutelage, Bryce Williams jumped himself to a 9th place (22' 5") and 3rd place (47' 7 1/4") finish in the long jump and triple jump respectively. Bryce will also be attending Penn State next year. I always love seeing local athletes going from State High to Penn State.

*If we are missing any Alums who had athletes at the State Meet please let us know in the comments section.

UPDATE: Steve Shisler with corrections.

Kyle Adams is headed to run for Bucknell next fall.

It's Mason Post headed to 800 U with Will Cather. All 3 of these guys ran on the 4x400 and Mason anchored with a 48.8 split.

Jump Guru Artie Gilkes also coaches the girl's jumper's at State. Veronika Karpenko, a soph, took 3rd in the Triple in a new school record 39 feet and 12th in the Long Jump on Friday