Ten For Twelve!

The Nittany Lions had 2 more Big Ten Champions yesterday, both from the Middle Distance ranks.

First, Danae Rivers bested the field in the 1500M in 4:27.47.  Greta Lindsley placed 8th in 4:32.14.

And Isaiah Harris made it six 800M Big Ten titles in a row (both Indoor and Outdoor) with a resounding 1:45.31, a new Big Ten Championship record.  Jordan Makins ran to 6th in 1:48.62.

That Outdoor title made it 10 of the last 12 Big Ten 800M titles for the Nittany Lions!

Let's Return To Our Usual 800M Meme. Sorry Sprinters!

It was the opening meet for some of Penn State's fine middle distance corps.  And it didn't disappoint!

Four of the crew traveled to the real Vacation-land Florida even though one of them originally comes from that State that claims to be Vacation-land (Maine).  Many top 800M and 1500M runners were there to greet them.

Gainesville resident and Florida Gator Andres Arroyo placed second to Nike's Wesley Vazquez. Both dipped under 1:46.  They were followed by the Nittany Lion duo of Isaiah Harris (1:46.02) and Brannon Kidder (1:46.42).  In his first race in quite a while, Robby Creese ran 1:50.73.  One-time Penn State Commit Myles Marshall, (Harvard) placed 9th in 1:48.2.  Isaiah and Brannon now have the 2nd and third fastest 800s in the nation in the early season.

Jordan Makins ran a personal best in the 1500M with his 3:48.96.  Director of Operations Laura Loht placed 6th in the Javelin.

6      Laura Loht      49.23m      (161' 06")

The Boys

 






 

The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships Aren't Easy

With only the top 16 making any of the events, there isn't any lee-way in performance. It wasn't the best of days for PSU, but Brannon Kidder is well placed to medal in the 800M finals today, and Rachel Fatherly and Danielle Gibson have their events today also.

Isaiah Harris was in the same heat of the 800M as Brannon, and never seemed to find his stride.  He finished in eleventh overall with a 1:49.08.  And that's Second Team All-American in his true Freshman year.  Congrats Isaiah!

Also never seeming to find their stride were Tessa Barrett and Tori Gerlach in the Women's 5000M. The relentless pace of Notre Dame's Molly Seidel made many in the field fade.  Tessa Barrett finished in eleventh place with a time of 16:25.94.  Another Freshman Second Team All-American!  Senior Tori Gerlach also made second team with her 13th place time of 16:45.56.

Neither Brannon or Isaiah doubled back in the Distance Medley Relay.  The team of Jordan Makins, Robert Rhodes, Alex Shisler and Colin Abert finished in 9:50.64 for ninth place.

The final day of the Championships can be streamed live starting at 4:55PM (Eastern) on ESPN3.

End of Season Accolades and Rankings

It was a great Indoor Season for the Nittany Lions, and eight athletes are moving on to the very exclusive NCAA Indoor Championships in 5 events (only top 16 make it nationwide)!

 9  Tessa Barrett     FR 5000M         15:46.08D

14  Tori Gerlach      SR 5000M         15:50.49D

15  Dannielle Gibson  JR Triple Jump     13.14mD

 8  Rachel Fatherly   SR Shot Put        17.27mD

                                                                                                                

4  Isaiah Harris      FR 800M           1:46.24D

8  Brannon Kidder     SR 800M           1:47.01D

3  Distance Medley Relay                9:27.20D

 1200M)  Jordan Makins SR   400M) 426 Alex Shisler SR            

 800M)  Isaiah Harris FR 1600M) 424 Brannon Kidder SR  

Isaiah Harris to Brannon Kidder!

And two athletes and one coach earned Regional  honors!
 

MID-ATLANTIC - Track Athlete of the Year – Brannon Kidder, Penn State
Kidder, a senior from Lancaster, Ohio, broke the collegiate 1000 meters record in 2:18.26, ranks No. 8 at 800 meters in 1:47.01 and anchored the No. 3 DMR with a 3:55 1600-meter split. He won the mile at the Big Ten Championships and anchored the winning DMR. He’ll put his individual undefeated record on the line over 800 meters at the NCAA Championships, and will also run the DMR.
MID-ATLANTIC - Field Athlete of the Year – Rachel Fatherly, Penn State
Fatherly, a senior from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, broke the Penn State record in the shot put at 17.27m (56-8) for the No. 8 rank in the country. She finished runner-up in the event at the Big Ten Championships to go along with a fourth-place weight throw finish. She will contest the shot put at the NCAA Championships.
MID-ATLANTIC – Womens Assistant Coach of the Year – Patrick Ebel, Penn State
Ebel, in his fourth season guiding the Penn State throwers, coached his shot putters to three of the top four individual finishes at the Big Ten Championships. National No. 8 Rachel Fatherly finished runner-up as one of three Nittany Lions to surpass 50 feet, and he also had two finalists in the Big Ten weight throw. Fatherly, the school record holder in the shot put, will compete at the NCAA Championships.



And Penn State is ranked 2nd overall in the 800M as a team, just 0.3 seconds behind Texas A&M and Freshman sensation Donavan Brazier.  The top 4 runners from each team count in the standings.

The 800M Was The Highlight Again! PSU Is 8.....

I had the pleasure of watching the B1G Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships from the Spire Institute in Ohio on BTN2GO, the mobile app for the B1G Ten Network!  I actually negotiated all the pitfalls of the technology to stream the event in fabulous high definition on my big screen TV utilizing Chromecast via my phone.  I can't believe I actually got it all to work.*

There were quite a few highlights for Dear Ole State thrown into the mix on the event's second day.

• Brannon Kidder (Brandon according to the experts at the B1G Ten Network. Hope they correct that in post production.) won the Mens Mile, leading the entire way.  He was also on the winning Distance Medley Relay on Friday night.
• Freshman Colin Abert ran a brave race and dug deep in the Mile also and passed two near the finish to gain another team point in eighth. Julie Kocjancic also placed eighth in the Mile for the Women. 
• The Men scored significant points in the sprints (60M and 200M) for the first time in a while.  Xavier Smith placed 5th in the 60M and Malik Moffett joined him in the 200M where they finished in 3rd and 4th. 
• Tori Gerlach and Tessa Barrett repeated their 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the 3000M on Friday with the same places on the 5000M Saturday.  The duo accounted for 28 points in just those two events.  Tessa impressed me again by running with the leader for the first half of the race before fading back to the trailing pack, including teammate Tori.  Just when you thought she was fading out of the scoring places, she rallied to place just behind her Senior teammate.  A gutsy performance by someone learning to race with the Big Guns!
• But again, the highlight for many of us was the 800M.  Not only did all 3 runners in the Finals run PRs, but the Mens leader impressed everyone with a facility, B1G Ten and School Record.  The previous 2 record holders, Ryan Foster and Casimir Loxsom were both impressed via Twitter with Freshman Isaiah Harris's 1:46.24 victory in the event. Ryan's fellow Aussie Jordan Makins and Sarah Jane Underwood also set PRs with 4th place finishes for both.

  

  Isaiah Harris, on top.

Congrats @cazzylox @Iharris33 that is really FRolling!!!!

— The FRoller® (@thefroller) February 27, 2016

.@cazzylox life is tough when you work hard to set records and stud frosh show up and wreck them!

— Ryan Foster (@RunFosterRun) February 27, 2016

* I actually was on the treadmill for my usual "spirited" 3 miles during the 800M. My heart rate elevated to near max during the finish. Pretty cool to see that reaction recorded for posterity. And I was still only doing my usual 11:00/mile pace at the time.

Another Coach Of The Year And More 800 Goodness

Last year, friend and classmate Tom Rapp made the list of Coaches of the Year on the USTFCCCA list for Ohio.  This year, Matt Lincoln made the list for Arizona!  The number of great coaches that have come out of PSU's Program is astounding. It's hard to keep track of all of them.  Congrats Matt.  I really wish I had the time and opportunity to coach too.

USTFCCCA Coaches of the Year

Both of Penn State's 4 x 800 relay teams have the early season World Lead in the event!  

Julie Kocjancic, Victoria Crawford, Elizabeth Chikotas, and Tori Gerlach combined to post a world leading time of 8:45.85 on January 9, 2016 during the Penn State Relays.

Jordan Makins, Bobby Hill, Isaiah Harris, and Brannon Kidder recorded their world leading time at the same meet in a time of 7:25.28. 

It's Going To Be A Super Stupendous Year!

The Track Season has really gotten off to a tremendous start for the Penn State Family.  And it promises to be even better in the coming months.

Here's just some of the evidence:

• Robby Creese bettered his PR and American Collegiate Record (2012-2014)  in the 1000M at the Nittany Lion Challenge and placed second to Brannon Kidder!  Brannon's new PR is 2:18.26 (his first ever dabble in the event!) and is the overall Collegiate (NCAA) Record.  Robby, running unattached this Indoor Season, ran 2:21.89.

Incidentally, there are now 6 active NCAA athletes, including Brannon, with 800M times under 1:46.00!  Donavan Brazier, Texas A&M Freshman, ran 1:45.93 in his first ever collegiate 800M.  "Watson, the 800 game is afoot."

• Rachel Fatherly continues PSU's Shot Put tradition by winning the event by more than 3 feet with a heave of 56' 0.50".
• PSU Men have a very good sprinter in Xavier Smith, 6.69 School Record for 60M!
• The Pole Vault is well represented by both the Men and Women.
• Tori Gerlach warmed the crowd up for Brannon's effort with her own School Record in the 1000M in 2:43.15.
• Transfer Timothy McGowan (welcome BTW!) won the 3000M in 8:08.24 with Alum Owen Dawson placing second in 8:16.39 and FR Colin Abert in third, 8:19.00.
• Down Under's Jordan Makins won the Mile in 4:06.86 after rabbiting Brannon to his historic 1000M.
• Alex Shisler, progeny of PSU Greats Beth and Steve Shisler, continues his incredible career, dropping down from his usual 400M to place second in the 200M with 21:45.

Remember, there are plenty of opportunities to meet and interact with the PSU Team this year. Show your support for the program and help us make Oregon jealous!  There will be a Dinner at Rotelli's this Winter with the coaches (highly recommended!), an Alumni Reception at the Penn Relays, and our Alumni Reunion and Coach Groves Golf Tourney in May (20-21).  Be sure to stay tuned for all of these great events.  Our Alumni Efforts really do make a difference.  If you can't participate, there are numerous ways to give financial help to the Program, even by donating right here on the Right Sidebar.

Also, don't forget to click on the ads on our site occasionally (or often!) to help defray the increasing costs of blogging in this dangerous world. Some costs for photo storage, form security and procurement of Awards are becoming higher and higher. This lowly blogger is finding it harder and harder to afford the quality of Interns you are used to.  "Sharing" and reposting all of our content really helps also. My blog adheres to the International Creative Commons Non-commercial 4.0 Standard. That makes it really easy to repost, share and even add to my content to spread the word far-and-wide. 

Women Third, Men Fourth At Big Tens

There were some great performances Saturday at the Big Ten Indoor Track Championships at the Spire Institute in Nowhere, Ohio.  And Jim McClelland, father of PSU high jumper Michael McClelland (10th in the high jump) was there apparently clicking his camera every second of the competition.  I haven't met him yet, but he is on record as golfing with us this year at the 14th Annual Coach Harry Golf Tournament and Track Alumni Reunion in May.  Come join us! Maybe we'll get some actual good pictures this year, instead of my blurry unframed ones. Can't wait.

Robby Creese and Brannon Kidder, 1,2 in the Mile. Photo by Jim McClelland.

Darrell Hill, tops in the Shot Put. Photo by Jim McClelland.

Steve Waithe, Brian Leap, #2,#3 in the Triple Jump. Photo by Jim McClelland.

Distance Medley Relay Squad, #1 with Brannon Kidder, Za'Von Walkins, Jordan Makins and Alex Shisler. Photo from Steve Shisler.

Tori Gerlach, #1 in the 5000M. Photo by Jim McClelland.

And there's Alumni action at the USATF Indoor Championships today, as Casimir Loxsom runs the finals of the 600M.  There is no 800M this year!

And last, but not least, Original Alumni Golfer Bill Malchano broke out his Alumni Singlet for a hearty run in The Cardinal 10K in North Carolina.

Bill Malchano unleashes his Alumni Singlet.

Distance Runners Get PSU Off To Good Start At Big Ten Championships

That's a headline I have not been able to use in the 7 or so years of the blog with it all.  I enjoyed writing it today.

The 3000M was a good start for both the Men and Women at the first day of the Big Ten meet at the Spire Institute in Ohio.  With wins in both the Shot Put and the Distance Medley, the Men are in second place entering the penultimate Saturday finish. The Women are tied for fourth.

W 3000 M:      3  Tori Gerlach             9:17.39
                        4  Elizabeth Chikotas   9:21.62

M 3000M:       1  Robby Creese           8:10.75
                        6  Matt Fischer             8:14.13

M Shot Put:     1  Darrell Hill               66'  6"

M Distance Medley: (Jordan Makins, Alex Shisler, Za'Von Watkins, Brannon Kidder) 1  9:40.62

Brannon Kidder, Photo by Jim McClelland.