One Nittany Lion In And One Out Of The Pan-Am Games, All Because of Paperwork

In my profession paperwork has taken over as never before, even if it all mostly online now.  But it also has taken over a lot of the Track and Field World, apparently.

Tyler McCandless will be lacing his shoes up in the marathon at the Pan-Am Games in Canada.  He was selected as the #2 marathoner.  There is a big controversy over the selection as another runner ran faster.  Possibly, he failed to fill out the required paperwork ahead of time.  LetsRun.com isn't a good source for anyone looking for "The Truth" but here's a link anyway.

The other side of the same coin has Fawn Dorr excluded from running the 400M Hurdles despite being the #2 at the National Championships.  She forgot the paperwork...

While I Was Away

Some of you may note by the relative lack of posting lately that I have been away for my annual vacation to West Virginia, the land of no internet.  Well, bad internet anyway.  I barely tried this year.  Here is some pics of my 2 dogs who went on the trip and got to hike the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal Trail.

Pooky checks out the cool Shenandoah River after a hike.

Harpers Ferry From Virginia.

Pooky and Spott after hiking 10 miles.

But others were even more active:

• Fawn Dorr placed 2nd in the Canadian Track Championships in the 400M Hurdles in 56.52
• Penn State was well represented in the Brentwood Firecracker 5K (Pittsburgh) (Thanks to our Chief Laundry and Morale Officer)

1. Mark Fuller  was 9th in 16:31
2. Scott Munro was 10th in 16:40
3. Natalie Bower was 37th in 18:12
4. Mark Hawkins was 65th in 19:22 (2nd in age group)
5. Don Ziter was there too, but I can't find his results.

British Commonwealth Games

"the empire on which the sun never sets" 

The British Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland weren't without PSU Track Alumni representation with Shana Cox and Fawn Dorr competing for England and Canada respectively.

Fawn bowed out in the first round of the 400 meters with a 55.33 for 4th in heat 1 while Shana advanced to the semi-finals where a 52.57 just missed the final.

Both came back to help there nations advance to the finals of the 4x400 where Shana claimed a bronze medal with team England and the Fawn led Canadians came in 5th. We all love to say that PSU is 800U but how does Quarter Mile Commonwealth sound?

If I missed any other alums who competed for a former or current Commonwealth nation, please let me know in the comments.

Full Results 

Was hoping we might get a shot of them with Prince Harry.

Let's Get Caught Up

So USATF wasn't the only national governing body to hold its national championships recently. The British Athletic Association Championship featured Shana Cox placing second place most likely earning a spot at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Shana ran 52.62 to win her qualifying heat and 52.51 for second in the final. Full results can be found here.

Speaking of the Commonwealth Games, this from the always entering Instagram of Fawn Dorr. Team Canada certainly gives out a lot of swag.



One last thing. Independence Day is a time honored summer tradition in this country and tomorrows Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, GA is a great part of that tradition. Tyler McCandless and Kara Foster are entered in the elite fields. So keep an eye for results and lots of peaches.

IAAF World Relays

Fawn Dorr and Shana Cox will be competing this weekend at the 1st IAAF World Relay Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. Fawn (Canada) and Shana (Great Britain) are both on there respective nations 4x400 meter relays.

The event will be broadcast live on TV and online by Universal Sports from 6:30-9:00 PM Saturday and Sunday.

Note: Your cable provider must subscribe to Universal Sports to view it online. Mine doesn't (Thanks Comcast)

Full Entries Here

What A Weekend

Some other alumni who couldn't golf with us this weekend, all with equally good excuses. While we were at hacking around Mountain View Country Club, these folks were busy globetrotting.

On the other side of the world in China, at the Shanghai Diamond League meet, Joe Kovacs and Ryan Whiting were part of a United States 1-2-3 sweep. With Joe throwing a personal best of 70' 1/4" (21.52m). Joe and Ryan notched 2 and 1 Diamond Point(s) respectively. Some big money to be won if they finish yeah atop the Diamond Points standings.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Result Wind		Diamond Points	Diamond Ranking			1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.
1	CANTWELL Christian	USA	21.73	MR	4	1			21.06	x	20.56	21.18	21.73	x
2	KOVACS Joe	USA	21.52	PB	2	2			20.64	20.50	x	20.94	21.52	20.85
3	WHITING Ryan	USA	21.31	SB	1	3			19.98	x	21.31	20.86	x	x
4	STORL David	GER	21.09						20.76	21.09	x	x	20.46	x
5	MAJEWSKI Tomasz	POL	20.93						20.25	20.59	20.59	20.66	20.93	x
6	ROBERTS Kurt	USA	20.60						19.34	20.37	20.60	x	20.59	20.33
7	MARTIN Cory	USA	20.11						19.87	20.11	19.89	x	20.02	x
8	IVANOV Georgi	BUL	20.06						19.15	20.02	20.05	x	x	20.06
9	RICHARDS O'Dayne	JAM	19.78						19.13	19.78	x
10	WANG Guangfu	CHN	19.18	SB					19.18	19.09	19.05
11	CHANG Ming-Huang	TPE	19.18						x	19.18	x
12	TIAN Zhizhong	CHN	18.33						18.33	17.92	18.20

In Puerto Rico, at the Ponce Grand Prix, Cas Loxsom took 5th in the 800 in a time of 1:46.79.

Event 112  Men 800 Meter Run IWC
=========================================================================
       World: @ 1:40.91  8/9/2010    David Lekuta Rudisha, Londres,GBR  
    Ponce GP: # 1:45.41  5/12/2012   Rafith Rodriguez, COL              
       NACAC: % 1:42.60  8/28/1985   Johnny Gray, USA                   
    National: * 1:44.64  4/19/2014   Wesley Vazquez, Barcelona, ESP     
    Name                     Age Team                         Finals
=========================================================================
Finals                                                                  
  1 Duane Solomon                United States            1:44.79#
                      
  2 Wesley Vazquez               Puerto Rico              1:45.40#
                           
  3 Harun Abda                   United States            1:45.55
                                   
  4 Charles Jock                 United States            1:45.90
                                  
  5 Casimir Loxsom               United States          1:46.79
                              
  6 David Torrence               United States            1:47.25
                              
  7 Mark Wieczorek               United States            1:47.27
                              
  8 Tayron Reyes                 Dominican Republic      1:47.55
                                  
  9 Jozef Repcik                 Slovakia                 1:48.15
                               
10 Richard Jones                United States            1:49.78
                                   
-- Matt Scherer                 United States                       DNF

The American Track League made its third stop of the season in Atlanta, GA where Fawn Dorr competed in the 400 meter hurdles. Running 1:00.39

There is also much to discuss from the Big Ten Championships, where the women won yet another team championship. Their ninth overall, second consecutive outdoor title, and second Big Ten win of the year. They took the team title at the indoor championships as well. More to come on Big Ten weekend later.

Also worth a mention. The State College High track team won it's first boy's PIAA District 6 AAA championship in 19 years. Worth mentioning because Artie Gilkes and Steve Shisler are on the coaching staff.

Shanghai Shot Put Showdown

Joe Kovacs and Ryan Whiting will be competing at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on Saturday. Since I am officially in charge of keeping track of the Alumni Records, there is a good chance that the Alumni Shot Put Record will be going down this year. Joe already set the indoor record this past winter at 70' 5" (21.46m) and certainly has what it takes to best the outdoor mark of 71' 9" (21.87m) by C.J. Hunter from 2000.

Also this weekend. The American Track League will be making it's third stop of the schedule with Fawn Dorr set to compete in the 400m hurdles.

However, this sadly means that these three will not be attending this weekends reunion. We will have to wait another year to see how far Ryan Whiting can drive a golf ball.

And of course, Big Ten competition begins tonight.

Track and Field is Starting to Heat Up Mid-Season

The season has hit the mid-way mark with a bang in the Penn State World.  And not on just one front.

• The American Track League started in Bloomington yesterday with Penn State well represented.  That's the limited Track and Field Meet punctuated with the music of the Velveteen Playboys with front-man Paul Souza. There were 2 season world-leading performances even despite there being only 10 events. (18 feet, 8 ¾ inches in the pole vault by Mark Hollis and 8 minutes, 33.89 seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by De' Sean Turner.)
• Fawn Dorr was 6th in the 400 M hurdles with 1:00.32.
• Shana Cox was 7th in the 400 M in 54.44.

There also happened to be a NCAA leading performance by a Nittany Lion at the Kehoe Twilight Track and Field Meet at Maryland by Kiah Seymour! With some other strong performances:

• Kiah Seymour won the 400 M hurdles in 55.88, tops in the NCAA this year.
• Darrell Hill continues to crush the Shot Put with a PR 64' 5 1/4", which is #3 all-time for PSU! 
• A sweep of the 400 M! (Brandon Bennett-Gree, Alex Shisler, Bernard Bennett Green and Aaron Nodolsky).
• Dual Javelin victories from Michael Shuey and Laura Loht.

And the 800M/1500M stars will be lacing up their spikes at the prestigious Payton Jordan Invite at Stanford on Sunday.

Sykes-Sabock Challenge

While our elite alumni were tearing it up in Boston on Saturday. The guys and girls on the varsity team took to the track for the season's final home indoor meet. Graduating seniors were recognized and will be joining us on the "other side" shortly. Probably wondering how the last four years could have gone by so fast. Results and recap here and here.

The women won the meet with 228.5 points, well ahead of second place Buffalo with 86. The men finished second to Connecticut 162.5-159. As it should in scored meets, the final score was decided by the 4x4. Penn State won but UConn got the necessary second place to secure enough points to clinch. Fitting that we have a scored meet the week after I shared an article about college dual meets.

The performance of the meet goes to Brannon Kidder and his 800 in 1:47.45. The time puts him in a tie for first in the nation with Eluid Rutto of Middle Tennessee State and earned Big Ten Men's Indoor Athlete of the Week. Owen Dawson set the race up perfectly pacing the first 400 meters. I guess he wanted a piece of the action after being left out of last weeks rabbiting glory.

Not to be forgotten. Fawn Dorr competed at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston as well. Coming in 6th for the 400 with 54.72. Live on national television of course.

It's Rabbit Season



But before I go there let me give mention to some of our alumni performances at the Penn State National. My apologizes for neglecting to mention yesterday.

Fawn Dorr - Invitational 200 meters (5th in 24.28), Invitational 400 meters (4th in 54.19)

Karaleigh Foster (fresh off a stint of training in Arizona) - Invitational 3000 meters (6th in 9:25.82)

Mark Fuller - Open mile (19th in 4:27.38)

Kyle Dawson - Invitational 5000 meters (9th in 14:41.36)

 

And of course our alumni continue to deliver a fast pace. The master's of setting up a high level race they are. It's a useful asset to have when our boy's and girls in blue are looking for a fast time.

 

Kevin Fuller pacing the 800.

 

Brian Fuller pacing the mile. I love the flotrack guys comment at 2:02 "They bring in Owen Dawson, I like it. That means it's gonna be a show."



Kyle Dawson pacing the 3000.


Watch more videos on Flotrack

P.S. Flotrack's coverage of the meet was great as was their commentary during all of the races.

National Championships Arrive With Plenty of Nittany Lions

Photo by Mark "Beef" Heckel, Premier Field Official in America.

With places on the World Championship team at stake, the USATF Championships have finally arrived.  There are several Lions with great chances of making the team who won't be named by me in order to avoid any jinxes.

Fresh off the NCAA's, the Mens Middle Distance contingent of Brannon Kidder, Robbie Creese and Casimir Loxsom (now representing the Brooks Racing Team) find themselves in the thick of some loaded events.

Joe Kovacs and honorary member Ryan Whiting will put the shot.  Or shot the put?  I'm always so confused! (just kidding.)

Kara (Millhouse) Foster faces 25 laps of fun for the Women Distance corps along with honorary member Rebecca Donaghue in the same 10 K and Bridget Franek in the 3000 M Steeplechase.

Evonne Britton will hurdle 100 M for a shot at the team.

Lauren Kenney and Laura Loht will toss the Javelin for glory.

 And don't forget Matt Lincoln and Fawn Dorr in the Canadian Championships.

I'll bet I missed a few, so berate me in the comments to add them!

Alumni News and Another Singlet in Action!

Having just won the World Indoor Shot Put Title,  Honorary Alumni Ryan Whiting looks ahead to even better things.

And Fawn Dorr talks about her Pro Career .

And another Penn State Track and Field Alumni Singlet was spotted in the wild.  Ian McCann bringing acclaim to the singlet at 1:35 to 3:00 and 11:45 to 11:50 in this video!  Well done!

Alumni Are Active All Around

1.  Tyler McCandless won the Iwaki Sunshine Marathon in Japan over the weekend.  Tough conditions and a challenging course, just like the Japanese like them. Get a glimpse of his finish in this video.

2.  Fawn Dorr placed third in the Millrose Games 400 M with a season best.

Watch more videos on Flotrack

3. Ryan Whiting won the Shot Put at the USATF Meet at Arkansas to take the lead in the overall Championship Point Race.

4. Group Friend Walt Chadwick supplied a great photo (by Jeff Johnson) for a LetsRun Memorial of Nike's third-ever employee Geoff Hollister. I bought many pairs of running shoes out of the trunk of a car, just as Geoff originally marketed the original Nike's from Blue Ribbon Sports. RIP

5. Ryan Foster will lace up the spikes representing Tasmania (and PSU Alumni!) against Craig Mottram in the 1500 M at the Sydney Classic

European Circuit Winds Down For Penn Staters

Many PSU Track Alums spread out over the European Continent this year representing Dear Old State.  I caught up with Fawn Dorr as she made her way back to the States following an exciting taste of Pro running.  She relates she "won a few and lost a few". She sounds upbeat and invigorated for next year's travails.  She also agreed to be one of the featured photos on the 2011 PSU Track Alumi Golf Calendar which will be on sale in the group store (there's a 20% off t-shirt sale until 8/26/10!) some time after I have the time to put it together.  You won't want to miss the finest track and field photo ever!  And at least 11 others.

Fawn also brings word that Shana Cox won a big 400 race in Yugoslavia recently, despite running in the slow heat (51.8)!  Aleesha Barber has one more race to go at the end of September or early October.  Bridgit Franek finished her grueling Steeplechase season and is now safely ensconced in Oregon to begin a new training phase.

Penn Staters in Europe

The Griswolds aren't the only people headed to Europe this Summer.  Nike's newest steeplechaser Bridget Franek placed 5th in her first meet in Barcelona.  Her two-year season continues on!  Others have headed East across the Pond as well.  I'll try to get some results for Rebecca Donaghue (honorary PSU Alumni Golfer) and Fawn Dorr, Brook's newest 400 M Hurdler.  She apparently won her first race, anyone know where?  I know there are others, someone let me know!

Addendum:  Fawn won a 400 M Hurdle race in Bottrop Germany on 7/10/10.  Thanks to 2 alert readers.  check the link to results in the comments.

Consuella Moore: National Champion and A Few (More) Good Men (and Women)

In no particular order:

• Ryan Fritz, 6th High Jump, 7' 2 1/2"
• Fawn Dorr, 3rd 400 M Hurdles,  55.99
• Blake Eaton, 16th Shot Put, 51' 11 1/4"
• Bridget Franek, 5th 3000 M SC, 10:07.49

And former PSU star Consuella Moore, National Champion, 200 M, 22.40.  She came back after a two-year hiatus!


It was a very good year for PSU Track and Field.  Get involved and help make the future even more exciting.  Operators are standing by. And remember, the golf part is entirely optional!

Addendum:  Kate Curran '06, current Head Coach of St. Lawrence University, has alerted me that I missed Shakeema Welsch's ('99) second place finish in the Triple Jump.  Blog fact checkers responsible for the slight have been sacked. 

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.

On to the NCAA Championships

Bridget Franek winning the Steeplechase. (Photo from Michael Scott.)

Fifteen individuals and 2 Relays qualified for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.  Some of the usual suspects and a couple of great surprises.  Nine women and six men will make the trek to Oregon's fabled Hayward Field.

Because of Bridget Franek's win in the steeplechase, she will toe the line in the event as the favorite.  Three also qualified in the 400 Hurdles with Fawn Dorr, Megan Duncan and Evonne Britton moving on.  The Sprints are also well represented with Aleesha Barber, Shavon Greaves.  Bianca Fung also qualified in the long jump and Karlee McQuillen tossed the javelin to third place booking her ticket to Oregon.

The Men also impressed, placing six individuals into the Championships.  800 U qualified two in the event, with Casimir Loxsom and Ryan Foster two-lapping into the next round. In the distances, Tyler McCandless ran a strong 10000 M to move on.

My emphasis on the track aspects of PSU Track and Field led a few Field Eventers to mildly protest at the Reunion, so here is another headline just for you!

Penn State Field and Track Team Impresses Crowd

In the Shot Put, Joe Kovacs and Blake Eaton both qualified for a trip to the West Coast.  Ryan Fritz also jumped at his chance of moving on and tied for first in the High Jump.

Back in the Saddle Again

Following the third place finish in the 4 X 800 at Penn Relays, the 800 U boys jumped right back up on the horse and thrilled spectators at the Payton Jordan Invitational on Saturday.  Cas Loxsom excelled and posted the top NCAA 800 M time so far this year with a 1:46.74 effort!  Ryan Foster also did not disappoint with a 1:47.78.  Lionel Williams rounded out the PSU performances with a 1:49.33 in the event.


Bridgit Franek again threatened the record book with her 15:46.8 in the 5000 M,  off the record of Kathy Mills from 1978 by 13 seconds. Sam Borchers is also rounding into shape,  posting a 3:46.67 in the 1500 M. 

The sprinters traveled to Ohio State where Fawn Dorr and Shavon Greaves both won 2 events apiece.  Dorr demolished the field in the 400 M and the 400 M hurdles while Greaves bested all in the 100 M and 200 M. Additionally, Karlee McQuillen won the javelin for the second week in a row.

The Nittany Lions have a home meet next week in preparation for the Big Ten Championships the following week.

Sometimes it takes more than one attempt to get it right.  This guy had to get back on the horse twice after failing to do a back-flip on a mega-ramp with a Big Wheel! Keep up the hard work and good things will happen.

2 to Finals for 800 U! / Goal: "Beat People" And 400 M Top Time!

800 U placed two people in the 800 M Finals on Saturday at the preliminary round of the NCAA Indoor Championships.  Ryan Foster and Owen Dawson moved on to the 8 man Finale.In a great Flo Track interview, Owen was asked for his goal for the race and replied, "Beat people!"  which, to me, was as good an answer as I've heard in quite a while.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

And Fawn Dorr moves on to the 400M Finals with the fastest preliminary time (and a PR!)  And we find out she started as a middle distance runner! More Flo Track Goodness.   (I've never heard of a runner moving down in distance as profoundly as she has.)  Maybe I missed my calling. Although my :54 best 400 M argues otherwise!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack