A 50-Year Record

 Hugh Hamill was in Philly recently for a celebration of his Father Judge high school team's record 4 x 800, which still stands! It's a shame he couldn't hang around for our golf tourney.

Happy Birthday To The Original Rusty Boot

Happy Birthday Bill Whittaker!

Hugh Hamill, Bill Whittaker and Coach Groves. 1980-something. 

A Decent Weekend

I traveled to suburban Philly on Friday for a 12 Hour stint in the JTP.  Twelve hours in Jenkintown and 3 trips to the best convenience store experience in the nation, WaWa!

I was there to visit another Penn State Branch Campus, Penn State Abington.  Which happens to be undergoing a Renaissance in Cross Country under head coach Jim McClernand.  Jim happens to be a friend of Hugh Hamill since their 3rd grade year in the Suburban Philly environs.  They ran for the powerhouse Father Judge teams in a time before they invented color photos!  hee hee hee

Coach Jim McClernand with Daughter the Younger.

PSU Abington XC, 2nd at the Immaculata Invitational.

And in other Track Alumni News, Coach Ryan Foster backed up his victory in the Kilted Mile with a victory for the Edinboro Fighting Scots in the Womens PSAC Championships over Shippensburg.  The Mens team perfomed well, finishing second.

Ryan Foster, right and Kara Foster, 2nd from left.

And in that other weekend event, everyone needs to thank me for not watching at all, as that ensured the great performance.  I think it is now 11 times in a row that my watching or not watching correlated directly with the performance of the team.  I will be taking donations to ensure I don't watch the next one in Columbus.  Any takers?

An effective use of the Alumni T-Shirt by Bob Hudson.  With Hanna Humphreys, Vivian Riddick and Todd Leggett.

Let's All Finish Coach Groves' Scholarship

We are close enough to get it finished before Coach Groves' next birthday in April and certainly before the next Track Alumni Reunion and Coach Groves Golf Tournament!

Co-Administrator Larry Mangan has spearheaded the effort to find donors willing to match every donation made by the rest of us and complete the funding of a full tuition scholarship for an athlete in the Program.

So that means each of us must step up to make it happen.  Every single donation you make will be matched by 13 special members of our group up to a level of $2500.  We must not let this opportunity slip by.  Please consider adding to the effort, share this post and spread the word to everyone you know in our Universe.  It will make our next get-together a real hootenanny and bring a smile to Coach Groves' face!

Our Premier Benefactors: 

• Joe DeStefano  (1971)
• Carol and Steve Gentry  (1969)
• Hugh and Yunhee Hamill  (1976)
• Chris Herr  (1985)
• Doug Kent  (1980)
• Todd Leggett  (1984)
• Larry Mangan  (1981)
• Todd Shenk  (1984)
• Rod Stahl  (1991)
• Bob Radzwich  (1992)
• Tom Shiffer  (1987) 
• Doug Walter  (1990)
• Don and Lynn Ziter  (1981)

September 5, 2017

Dear Fellow Track & Field/Cross Country Alumni:

We hope you had an enjoyable summer and are getting ready for the upcoming 2017-2018 Penn State Cross Country and Track & Field seasons. The women’s and men’s programs are perennial B1G favorites, fueled by spectacular individual accomplishments and a great coaching staff. Based on the turn out for the 2017 Big Ten Championships in May, the alumni are really energized and engaged.

The alumni listed below, from a variety of decades in Penn State history and a mix of walk-ons and scholarship athletes, are hoping to capture that energy by taking the lead and asking you to join them to meet a challenge! Coach Harry Groves’ scholarship fund needs approximately $55,000 in donations to exceed the $300,000 necessary to partially endow the position scholarship, which would provide $15,000 in annual tuition support to a student athlete.

The challenge is this – we have pledged to support Coach Groves’ scholarship in the amount of $30,500 to match alumni contributions of that amount (hopefully more)! We ask you to donate what you can in support of our goal to get Coach’s scholarship over the $300,000 hurdle! We are in the homestretch, can you help to get us over the finish line?

Coach will turn 88 in April 2018 and we would love to present him with an early birthday present, and add to his great legacy, before the end of this year. We know from Greg Fredericks that Coach is excited about this effort. Please join us in meeting this very important goal. Thank you and We are…..Penn State!

Please send donations made payable to: Penn State University, noting the Harry Groves Track/XC Scholarship (GIXGH) in the memo portion of your check, at 147 Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA 16802. If you have any questions, please call Kirk Diehl of the Varsity S Club at 814-867-2202.

If you would like to give online, you may do so at: https://secure.ddar.psu.edu/s/1218/nlclub/nlclub.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&pgid=826&cid=3234&dids=633&bledit=1 and then type in GIXGH in the fund area below the amount you select.
Thank you.

Joe DeStefano (’71) Carol & Steve Gentry (’69) Hugh & Yunhee Hamill (‘76) Chris Herr (’85)
Doug Kent (’80) Todd Leggett (’84) Larry Mangan (’81) Todd Shenk (’84)
Rod Stahl (’91) Bob Radzwich (’92) Tom Shiffer (’87) Doug Walter (’90)
Don & Lynn Ziter (’81)

A Visit With Coach

Greg Fredericks arranged a visit with Coach Groves for early arrivals to the Alumni Weekend.  I joined Greg, Hugh Hamill and his lovely wife Yunhee and visited Coach at his residence.  It was a good time.  All photos by Yunhee Hamill.

The weights are 5X what our President uses!

He just told a joke!

I then headed over to the Blue Course for PRACTICE.  Bob Gabel has moved into position to become and "A"golfer in our group.  Clark Haley is already rounding into good shape in all phases of his game for a FIFTH appearance on The Cup.  As for me, the stats are as usual.  14% adequate shots, 7% good shots and 79% atrocious shots.  Pray I'm not in your foursome.

More Coach Jackson Horner Goodness With Strong PSU Track Alumni Ties

I especially like Coach Horner's pants...  Takes me back to smiling memories.  I once fell off a pair of platform shoes when I tripped on my bell-bottoms.

This is a photo of the 1978 PIAA Cross Country Champions.  Note the PSU Track Alumni (Golfers) connections here.

Without help, I identify Coach Horner (1950's PSU captain), Nick K. (who still is running fast miles!), Dan Draper (where is he now?), Randy Moore (of 7:11.17 4 x 800 fame!), Brian Mount (our W & M connection and honorary Track Alumni Golfer), Bob Hudson (still with ginger locks!) and last but not least, Hugh Hamill (my foursome partner at last year's tourney!)

Others include John Dixon, John Coyle and Steve Phillips.

멀리서 친구 (Friends From Afar)

They both are from near Philadelphia, and both are Penn State Track Alumni Golfers.  But the first time they met, they were in South Korea!  It would be much easier for the rest of us to actually meet back in State College for the 14th Annual Coach Groves Golf Tournament and Track Alumni Reunion in May.

Hugh Hamill and Todd Leggett meet for the first time in South Korea!

The "Extra" Prizes From the 2014 Coach Groves Tourney

It has been Clark Haley's wish since the very first tourney to honor as many people as possible.  So with that in mind, we have several "extra" prizes awarded every year.

• The Longest Trip:  Dave D'Zurilla made it to Happy Valley all the way from St. Paul, Minnesota.  He's been back to State College several times but had not seen many of us (and vice versa!) for 30 years or so.  Thanks go to Chief Laundry and Morale Officer Larry Mangan for reconnecting us.
• Shot of the Day: Owen Dawson managed to recreate Munya Maraire's feat of hitting his tee shot backward.  Well done Owen, well done.
• Ghostman Award: This prize goes out to the "one" who returns after a lengthy absence to reconnect with the rest of us reprobates.  This year, the prize was divided up between Dave. D'Zurilla, Howie Triebold and Hugh Hamill.  It was especially good to entice Howie and Hugh AND to be able to golf with both this year.  They have been loyal readers and contributors to the blog.  It's as if we have been friends our entire lives. Which is kinda sorta what this group is all about! They have info on the origins of "Rusty Boots" I have been searching for a very long time.
• Numbnut Award:  This goes for a bonehead move that others happen to see and point out.  We've all done them, but sometimes no one see them and reports them.  This year the prize goes to Matt Groves for golfing despite having a sacral stress fracture.  Which leads to...
• The "Rob Whiteside" Brotherhood Award:  This goes to someone who golfs with us for the camaraderie despite having no talent for it or great excuses to avoid it.  Matt Groves takes the title this year for soldiering on despite pain and potential harm.  Well done Matt.  What do doctors know anyway...?

DFL*: But Not a Loser In The Bunch

The random draw this year was truly random.  Which is all well and good until YOU are assigned to the Methuselah Foursome!

At least I was the youngest member of the oldest foursome ever to chew up the links at our tournament.  Unfortunately,I was also the worst golfer amongst the group.  My 4 good shots all day weren't enough to drag our group from the bottom of the pile at (+9).*  We even managed 5 straight bogies to finish the round.  That's something quite difficult to accomplish with the Best Ball Format.

skwilli, Hugh Hamill, Coach Groves, Howie Triebold and Bill Whittaker.

My foursome combined me with some excellent people, all of whom support the blog with content and readership. Hugh Hamill, Howie Triebold and Coach Bill Whittaker all are better golfers than I, and deserve better than I gave them.  But, it was great to spend 5 hours with them on Saturday, thrashing at a damn little white ball, over and over and over...    You get the drift.

And they all finally supplied me with the missing link to the origins to the story of "Rusty Boots".  As soon as I can firm down names and obtain some photos, we'll have the scoop of the century.  Well, a scoop anyway.

* We were tied with another group, but claim the last spot anyway.