It Was A Banner Weekend For 800U

 

Wow.  There was finally a lot going on.  There was a School Record in the Pole Vault and a second place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.  Luke Knipe scaled the heights to 17' 4.5"!!!  Sincere Rhea leaned better than all the rest to snag the 60HH Championship.  Whoa.

There were a few other finishes for the scaled-down teams sent to Geneva, Ohio.  But mostly, the 800U dominance continued for the Men and Women.

• Dom Perretta overcame injuries, Covid, surgeries and his recent 300-game bowling incident to return to the top of the Podium in the 800M .  He did it in a fashion favored by Yevgeni Arzhanov in the 1972 Olympic Finals.  Only this time Yevgeni holds on!  I have been thinking that this would happen each of the last 100 times I have watched that race, but here it is many years later with one of our own striking gold.  (12 of the last 14, and 5 in-a-row B1G)
  
• The dual Victorias medaled in the Womens 800M.  Not to be outdone by Dom, Victoria Vanriele channeled Dave Wottle instead and caught everyone at the tape.  Victoria Tachinski held on for 3rd.(5 in-a-row B1G titles)
  

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1365704786625105926

Still, the Alumni provided even more 800U goodness.

• Instead of racing, Danae Rivers danced for the duration in the Dance Marathon to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund.
• Isaiah Harris bounced back from his disappointing opening season race to win the 800 in Autin, Texas  with a 1:46 and change.  He says he is confident on 1:43 when the time comes at the Olympic Trials...

Tim McGowan, Billy Cvecko and Isaiah Harris in Texas.

 

Let's Let Two Of Our Esteemed Honorary Members Introduce This Year's Track Season!

 

 1972 Olympic Gold and Silver Medalists Dave Wottle and Yevgeni Arzhanov struck up a nice friendship following their incredible race.  My hopes for America's future can be symbolized with this photo. Photo thanks to Yevgeni.

And right on cue, the most notable result from the opening meet of 2021 was Evan Dorenkamp's superb Mile in 4:01.91.  He was paced by fellow 800U runners Dominic Perretta (1:59.53 809M) and Will Ashenfelter (3:05.10 1209M).  He followed them and accelerated to the win for a 7 second PR.

The Toad Interviews The Hat

 

Although it has appeared on the Facebook Page before, I wanted to feature The Undersecretary of Fun's epic interview with Dave Wottle on the blog itself.  I wanted to interview him previously and even made him, teammate Sid Sink and Evgeni Arkhonov honorary members of 800U.  All of them accepted.  The difference between Billy Cvecko and I is that Billy always follows up on his ideas.  His dogged determination is another feature I admire.

 

Here are some links to previous posts featuring all of the key figures:

Sid Sink Also Wore A Hat

Yevgeni Arzhanov Joins 800U

Greg Fredericks Sorta Kinda Helped Dave Wottle Tune Up 

More From Yevgeni Arzhanov

Coach Of The Year, Athletes Of The Year, And Another 800M Champion!

First up, Artie "Knute" Gilkes became the PIAA Boys Indoor Coach of the Year with his Little Lions victory at the State Meet.  Artie excels at coaching the jumps, of all things, but Nick K. tells us he gives a very good "Gipper" speech as well!  Congrats Artie.  And don't forget to golf this year!

While there is no video, I had the pleasure of hearing Artie’s pre-meet speech.  He comprehensively laid out the scoring possibilities so the team could see for themselves what had to be done in a way that empowered them to take control of the outcome.  No emotional BS.  

(Steve) Shisler’s mission was to re-establish, in his words, “a culture of achievement.”  Gilkes is extending and deepening that ethos.  As an SC alumnus, I am really grateful the young athletes again have outstanding coaches - including the event coaches, who genuinely care about guiding kids to steeper life trajectories through track and field.  During that championship Sunday, one could literally see guys mature and take a big step forward as they competed - not everything went as planned - and then put their hands on the prize.  Inspiring!     -Nick K.

State College Shows Off Depth

Not to be outdone by Penn State Track and Field Alumni, two present team members garnered awards for the season as well.  

Maddie Holmberg continued her great career and won the Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year.  She then set a PR at the NCAA Championships to place 9th in the Pentathlon. 

 Last, but not least, Danae Rivers backed up her Mid Atlantic Track Athlete of the Year award by winning the 800M at the NCAA Championships!

Danae used the tried and true tactic used by Dave Wottle in 1972, even splits, which took her from the middle of the pack to the victory in dramatic fashion.  Thus accentuating PSU is 800U! 

 Danae wins the 800M

Another Honorary Member Of Our Group?

My quest goes on to compare and contrast the 800M training of the 60s, 70s, 80s and present.  And now that Dave Wottle has joined our team as an Honorary Member, it is only a matter of time until I find the free time to actually get to work on it.  (Our Obersturmbahndronenfuhrer is going to help!)

Dave Wottle at Penn. I think AFTER the Olympic Gold...

But there is still another Honorary Member to-be!  Pippa Middleton, yeah THAT Pippa, just ran the Great Wall Marathon and placed 13th for the women!  And we have a representative of our Group that may be able to personally alert her to our offer.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.  Keep Calm and Run On!

 

800U News Keeps Getting Better!

And there is even more to come!

First up, Steve Shisler was just named Coach of the Year for the PTFCA!  His State College Boys team took home the team title by 1 point at the PIAA AAA Championships last week for the first time in school history.  The fact that he golfed with us and attended our Reunion with his busy schedule is a testament to his organizational skills!

His 4 x 800M team won with a splendid 7:37.25 time, #1 US, which I am sure pleases him more than just about anything could.  State College is 800HS!

Alex Milligan, anchor.

 And in other news....

Olympic Champion Dave Wottle has accepted an honorary membership in 800U!  With his school,  Bowling Green University, without a Mens track team (yeah, they have a Womens team!), I thought he might like to join with us.  That means he is on a team with his Bowling Green mentor, Sid Sink, and his 1972 Olympic opponent Yevgeni Arzhanov, who joined us a few months ago.

Dave Wottle, right, with Jim Ryun, left.

There will be more to come, I promise.

A Day For Blogging, And A Little Podiatry Thrown In

With the monumental snow still snarling most of York, I am here at "work" mostly twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the occasional patient.  This gives me time for what I really enjoy... Blogging about Track and Field and motivating other alums into attending our Reunion and Golf Tourney.

Efforts are already underway to expand upon the 800U meme that has acquainted us with Olympic Silver Medalist Yevgeni Arzhanov.  Phil Passen's embrace of "the beautiful sport" led him to Yevgeni and Phil is efforting to expand upon his brief reply to our questions previously posted!

And the string of Phil to Yevgeni has extended further, with Once Upon a Time In the Vest's George Brose getting me in touch with Sid Sink, All-American Steeplechaser and roommate of Dave Wottle at Bowling Green University.  I am about to message Dave in hopes he will also accept an honorary membership in our Alumni Group with Sid, as Bowling Green no longer even has a team!  This could lead to some great discussion on training and its changes over the years and hopefully more.  Keep your fingers crossed!

It turns out that Sid Sink was the coach of both of Bridget Franek's parents (Tom & Rosalie Franek) at Bowling Green.  It is no wonder that he describes her parents as "very good distance runners". Here's a couple of articles about Sid (and Dave Wottle), our latest Honorary Member!

Retired coach was world-class runner at BGSU

The Age of Innocence 

Murph Byrne, Bob McComber, Sid Sink, Rick Schnittker, Dave Wottle & Steve Danforth

 

 

Chief Laundry and Morale Officer Larry Mangan also is quite pleased with our latest couple of posts.  He relates that news of Yevgeni completes a weird trifecta involving him and each of the 1972 Olympic 800M medalists.  He was recruited by Dave Wottle at Walsh College and had the pleasure of occasional distance runs with Mike Boit while in Eugene, Oregon. 

I am literally astounded how almost every one of us is linked to each other in this glorious world of Track and Field, despite many miles and even time itself!

He Can't Possibly Pull That Off!

Rob Whiteside brings us this juicy video of the 1972 Munich Olympic 800 meter finals. Watch it three or four times and you will still swear Dave Wottle can't win that race. A tip of the cap to a man with a pair of pickle jars (as Coach would say). 53 second first lap and then a sub-51!


Another one I find to be even more astounding is Billy Mills finish at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic 10,000 meter finals. Ron Clarke and Mohammed Gammoudi probably still don't see him coming yet!