Boomerangs Return Home To Welcoming Alumni Golfers

Ryan Foster and Kara (Millhouse) Foster have circled back to Happy Valley!  The Tasmanian native knows a thing or two about boomerangs.  They have a devil of the time not returning to their homes.  I, for one, welcome them with a smile.  Both have been very good to our group and make Penn State proud wherever they are.  Maybe Ryan can reprise his role as the Happy Gilmore of Mountain View country Club in a couple of weeks?  And Kara can be the Rene Russo (Tin Cup) support?

Kara Foster (maiden name Millhouse) will join the program as Director of Operations.

 

Ryan "Happy" Foster

Penn State Track And Field Alumni Golfers Promoted!

Not me.  I'm still a lowly regarded employee at my own business. But I'm really better at it than I am at golf...

Ryan Foster and Jess Riden (both Officers of our group!) have been promoted in the Track World.

Ryan Foster was named Assistant Coach at Tennessee, joining former Coach Alford-Sullivan at Rocky Top.  He takes his numerous Coach of the Year honors at Division II Edinboro and his wonderful wife Kara Millhouse south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  Our Tennessee friend and All-American, Patrick Davey is delighted.  He also joins Assistant Coach Steve Waithe. The Orange is starting to get a little more Blue, isn't it?

And Jess Riden has stepped up at Stanford to Assistant Athletic Director!  Congrats.

Both have golfed in our Golf Tourney and Ryan was able to pull off the "Adam Sandler" tee shot better than anyone among us ever has.

Penn State Track Alumni (Golfer) Dominates PSAC XC

It turns out that Austin Pondel had an extra year of eligibility remaining and found himself a home near his childhood home at Edinboro University being coached by another Penn State Track and Field Alumnus, Ryan Foster!

Austin won last week's PSAC Championship at California, PA, helping his team place second overall.

Austin Pondel.

There is a fund raising underway to help continue the great work Ryan, Kara and Austin are doing for Edinboro.  Consider giving at least a little to spread the good word of PSU XC!

Edinboro XC.

Coaches Kara and Ryan Foster.

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.

...They Practically Kilt Them!

Ryan Foster and Karaleigh Foster won the Mens and Womens version of the Kilted Mile in Edinboro as part of their Homecoming Festivities last week!  I'm just happy that KKOB wasn't quite sure where Edinboro is...

The Interns have been unable to ascertain the times, but when they awake some time today they will work on it.

Ten Questions: PSU Is 800U Edition (Part 1?)

 As most of you know, the 800M is my favorite event in Track and Field.  I wasn't particularly good at it, with a PR in high school of 1:58.4 for the 880Y, but I won all those I ran in my Senior year except the last one I let a teammate win for his only event win of his career. And even though my interest in the other events is constantly expanding, I still fall back on the event as a meme on the blog. It's easy with the perennial excellence of the middle distance runners in recent years at PSU.

Recently I have tried to reintroduce the 10 Questions Posts to the blog without much success.  My recent efforts have centered around asking the same 10 Questions to PSU middle distance runners of varying ages and decades.  I have heard back from some of the Honorary Members of 800U also, but not their responses to the questions.  I think the answers will be of great interest to those who share my love of the event.

The first to respond is Ryan Foster, the new Head Cross Country Coach of the Edinboro Fighting Scots of the great Division II PSAC.  Ryan and wife Kara (Millhouse) Foster are both Assistant Track Coaches. Ryan's running pedigree is well known to most of us, but my favorite highlight is the first Tasmanian to ever run under 4:00 for the mile! Take that devils!

With the end of his first successful season, Ryan took the time to respond in great detail to the questions that  both PSU Outdoor Mile Record Holder Larry Mangan and I (PSU record holder for the most "strawberries and bananas cups" ever eaten in the dining hall for dessert in one sitting!) asked.

My extreme thanks to him for responding, and both of us are throwing down the gauntlet to the others in the queue to respond also.

 800M Questions: 

1. What was your hardest and your favorite workout ever? (Larry Mangan question) 

Hardest and favorite would be 1x800m… outside of that, I always enjoyed The Ladder (3x200, 2x300, 400, 2x300, 3x200, with 90sec rec). Hardest was 3000m of 200 in 30sec, 100 in 20sec. Only did that one once and it was a bit of a flop. 

2. What 200M in an 800M race was your focal point? (Larry Mangan question) 

All important for different reasons. Probably from 300 to 500. It always felt the longest from home because I was starting to feel the pinch and had to focus on staying relaxed. Once I got into the last 300 it was just counting off the distance until it was done. 

3. Describe your training in your best season from base to peak? (Larry Mangan question) 

Around 60 miles a week. Substantial amount of work at mile pace. Most workouts finished with some type of speed component. Nothing overly complex but consistent and aerobic focused. 

4. What workout was the most common during your training? 

The Ladder (see above) 

5. What aspects of training other than running do you feel was most important, and why? 

I lifted a lot before getting to PSU and I feel that the residual strength from that was why I was more successful in the 800 as a sophomore. As a coach, I fit lifting into the schedule as I think the more explosive and more athletic you are the better. 

6. Who were your idols or mentors in Track and Field (Athletics)?

Growing up I was a big Hicham El Guerrouj fan. I remember tearing up when he finally won in Athens. “The greatest never to the greatest ever” was how Bruce McAveny called it. My high school coach Max Cherry was my number one mentor. He was a Percy Cerutty disciple and followed a lot of Cerutty’s ideas closely. It was a holistic, self-sacrificing approach that was the foundation that I’ve really built off of ever since (in training and life). 

7. Is there anything you would change about your training if you had the opportunity to live it all over again? 

Sure. Maintaining the lifting routine I had before PSU. Maybe wait another year before moving up to the 1500m/mile. A few more race model workouts to work on kicking harder and later. Who knows though. It’s easy to look back in training and see areas to improve but the reality is you just don’t know if it would be better or worse. I’m happy with what I achieved. 

8 . How do you see training for the 800M changing in the future? 

I’m not sure. Training is always changing with new fads. Coaches tend to try and pull from what the best performing athletes are doing at the time. I don’t always think that what is good for the goose is good for the gander so the way I coach athletes won’t change drastically. 

9. In the entire history of Track and Field (Athletics), who do you admire the most? 

Herb Elliott. He did it all and then had the balls to walk away on top. That’s an incredibly difficult thing to do. 

10. Other than Track and Field (Athletics), what other sport would you have excelled in? 

I was a good field hockey player. I think I could be a solid Australian Football player in the current game. It’s become a lot more running based so would suit someone like me.

A Lion Comes Home! (Actually 2 Of Them): With NCAA Schedule Included

Ryan Foster was just hired as the new XC Coach at Edinboro University.  That means we have lost our 2 Southern Hemisphere Outreach Specialists (Ryan Foster and Kara Millhouse Foster)  I guess that means we will be gaining a Lake Erie Monitor or 2?

Congrats to Ryan.  We may try to arrange a welcoming Alumni Outreach in the Pittsburgh area late in the Summer before the season starts.  Stay tuned. The competitive and well-respected PSAC will become even more so!

 And here's the schedule for PSU at the NCAA Championships starting later today:

PENN STATE COMPETITION SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY -
7:46 p.m. ET - 1,500-meters semifinal (Kidder)
9:14 p.m. ET - 800-meters semifinal (Harris)

THURSDAY - 
8:45 p.m. ET - Women's Javelin Throw (Kenney)

Friday-
8:05 p.m. ET - Men's Discus Throw (Lucas)
8:30 p.m. ET - Men's Triple Jump (Leap)
8:42 p.m. ET - 1,500-meters FINAL (Kidder)
9:47 p.m. ET - 800-meters FINAL (Harris)

Saturday - 
6:30 p.m. ET - Women's Triple Jump (Gibson)
8:25 p.m. ET - 5,000-meters (Barrett)

Ryan Foster and Kara Foster Obtain New Officer Statuses

The news hit me over the weekend that Ryan Foster was no longer an Assistant Coach for the team.  Turns out that Ryan and Kara Foster are moving to Australia, the land of a thousand dangerous animals!  Ryan has always been a big help to our group and I will really feel sorry to see him go.

Both Ryan and Kara will now have the designation of Southern Hemisphere Outreach Specialists for our group.  This Officer Status comes with all the bells and whistles of even the Founder of our group.  Quarterly royalty checks will be sent via the East India Company's top-of-the-line ships.  Barring piracy and shipwreck, they can expect 10s of dollars per decade, subject to the vagaries of US and Australian taxes.

All kidding aside, I wish them Bon Voyage.  Maybe we can start a Happy Gilmore tee-shot contest at the next Golf Tourney in honor of Ryan?

Dear Alumni and Friends of Penn State Track and Field:

I hope your summer is going well.  It is hard to believe it is August already and another school year is right around the corner.

As I hope you know by now, we recently hired two excellent additions to the coaching staff here at Penn State.  Erin Tucker has joined us from the University of Florida and will be our Associate Head Coach in charge of sprints and hurdles.  Angela Reckart has joined us from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and will work with me in the middle distance/distance aspect of the program.  We are all thrilled Angela and Erin have  joined us.

The reason we were able to hire new coaches is because we have the departure of Ryan and Kara Foster.  After many years of service to the program, both as athletes and coaches, Ryan and Kara have decided to move back to Ryan’s homeland of Australia.  The Foster’s have been instrumental to the program and were a significant help to the program as we made the transition to having a new Head Coach this past fall.

On August 15^th  in the evening we will have a combination going away party for the Foster’s and a welcome party for Erin and Angela.  We hope if you are in the area or local to State College you can join us to say hello and goodbye at the same time.  I will send out details of when and where as we get closer to the event.

Hoping to see you in a few weeks.  Enjoy the rest of your summer.

John Gondak

Updates On Recent Events

 

First up, co-blogger Nick Scarpello helped organize and ran in the Encinitas Mile.  He placed 7th overall in 4:27.  No word on the use of the Alumni Singlet.

Nick Scarpello 2nd from right.

Next, Beth Shisler and son Alex Shisler helped celebrate his All-American status with Beth's coach during her All-American past.  Coach Gary Schwartz retired to the Arkansas area following his great career.

Beth (Stever) Shisler in the lead.

Coach Schwartz with his wife and the Shislers.

And Kara (Millhouse) Foster placed 9th at the USATF 15 K Championships Gate River Run.

Kara Foster at the finish.

The top ten women.

Drama, As One Alumni Golfer Tries To Steal Another's Record

In my large stack of submissions, this one caught the eye of our Morale and Laundry Officer and makes for a great quick post before I head off to work.

"Ryan Foster, who earned All-American honors and a Big Ten championship for Penn State, won the State College First Night Resolution Run 5K on Jan. 31 in 15 minutes, 17 seconds, just two seconds shy of fellow Penn State alum Artie Gilkes’ course record.

His wife Kara (Millhouse) Foster, a two-time 10K champion for Penn State, took the women’s title in 17:13."

State College First Night Resolution Run 

Coming Soon: Coach Groves' Stories Podcast

I recorded a few mp3's at the Coaches Reception on Saturday night, with various Alums telling a "Coach Groves" story.  Ryan Foster's story is among them.  And considering that Ryan came to Penn State after Coach Groves retired, somehow his story will still ring true with everyone coached by him from 1968 through 2006.  The stories were coaxed from about a dozen people at the event, some willing, some reluctant and a couple quite resistant.  The caveat was they had to be R-rated or equal to what TV censors would allow on the TV show 2 1/2 Men.  That left a few of them out, as you can imagine.  All of them reflect Coach in a wonderful light, his ever present non-PC self shining through in each and every one. One even entails the day our Co-Blogger and Administrator Matt Groves came into this world!  I'll try to get to work putting them into a mini-podcast soon.  If anyone wants to add one let me know and we can arrange a Skype call to record it.  I may even add one or 2 of my own, which many of you have heard a million times. 

Some Lions Prowling The XC Course

The USATF Club XC Championships were yesterday at the Lehigh course.  And there was a big Nittany Lion influence.  Most of you know I'm on my own for the most part, and stressed beyond belief for time and energy.  So I'm not here today to bring you all the details, but I will distribute some tasty tidbits I've come across and then hope others step up to fill in the gaps!

Leading USA XC Club Champs at mile 1. #hellobetter

A photo posted by Tyler McCandless (@trackty) on Dec 12, 2014 at 2:31pm PST

Tyler McCandless started poorly in last year's race and vowed to do better this year.  So he led the pack at the 1-mile mark this year.  He faded some and ended up in 40th at 30:21.76 on the 10,200M course.  He was still happy, having taken the chance, and as in his meteorology doctorate courses, learned a valuable lesson.  His Boulder Running Co. team was fifth overall.

Owen Dawson was the first Nittany Lion with a very nice  30:01.23 for 22nd place.  Brother Kyle Dawson finished in 31:09.56 for 91st place.  The Bryn Mawr Running Club ended up 10th.

Kyle, left, and Owen Dawson, 3rd form left.

Doreen McCoubrie finished 2nd in the Women's 50 and over  Division (am I allowed to say that?).

Other Nittany Lions were represented in the Nittany Valley Running Club, along with a recovered Beer Miler!

26 #2762 Foster, Kara 24 Unattached 20:28.30

51 #1528 Herndon, Elizabeth 29 Cleveland El 20:59.58

71 #2142 Giannotti, Emily 22 Nittany Vall 21:23.67

80 #2145 Philbrook, Lauren 27 Nittany Vall 21:31.16

153 #2143 Kocjancic, Danielle 22 Nittany Vall 22:42.06

240 #2144 Marshall, Megan 28 Nittany Vall 24:06.97 199

19 Nittany Valley Running Club 601 60 65 125 152 199

Tyler McCandless

A Fuller! That's Tim Johnson taking pics with Brian Fuller next to him.

Kara Foster . Photo by Michael Scott.

John Evans, left ran too, but I couldn't find anything. so here is a pic of him and Paul Mackley a few years ago!

Owen Dawson .

I Suppose I'm The Biggest Turkey

It seems everyone ran in a Turkey Trot yesterday.  The entire clan here at Blog Central braved the cold and slippery conditions and joined 4,300 others in the annual York Turkey Trot.  I stayed home and took the day off from running.

But plenty of others in our group jumped into turkey trots of their own:

Kara (Milhouse) Foster and Ryan Foster (17th, 49:06) jumped into the Run for the Diamonds in Berwick, PA.  Kara won and set the course record in winning another diamond (50:33).  Group friend Nicholas Hilton won the whole darn thing in 44:39.

Twinkle, twinkle...

Ryan and Kara with author of Run For the Diamonds Mark Will-Weber

And Tyler McCandless took some time off from decorating his new place to go after his coach's record again in Colorado.  He just missed in besting 10,000 other runners in  19:39 for the 4 miles of the Denver Turkey Trot.

And it isn't a Camp Hill Turkey Trot post without some Fullers!

How Did This Slip Through the Cracks?

Kara Foster used the Big Sur Half-Marathon last Sunday in Monterey Bay, CA to obtain an Olympic Trials marathon qualifying mark with her time of 1:14:29. The time was good for second place and a $500 cash prize in what I imagine was perfect conditions compared to the sub-freezing temps and high winds back home.

Full write up from RunningUSA.

Some Excellent July 4th Fireworks

There were PSU Track Alumni (Golfers) in action all over yesterday highlighted by the great performances at The Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta.

Kara (Milhouse) Foster, left, 9th in Women's Elite.

$1250 for 6.2 miles!

Tyler McCandless, 8th in Elite Mens. (PRs at 5K and 10K)

$1500 for 29 minutes work.

Dawson Inc. at the Philly Zoo.

CoBlogger Matt Groves, at places unknown!

Director of Fun Teddy Quinn at the Firecracker 5K.

Dennis Pollow in Bergen NY.

And I'm finally home from West Virginia...

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.

USATF Day 2

I'll keep short and sweet today. Yesterday was a solid day for the Alumni competing at the USATF Outdoor Championships. In the men's 800 meters Cas Loxsom advanced out of the first round coming second in his heat with a 1:47.92. The semi-finals are tonight at 11:26 EST and can viewed on USATF.tv.

 

Bridget Franek won her heat of the steeple prelims in 9:39.56 to auto qualify for the final on Saturday.

 

 

Kara Foster competed in the 10,000 meter final and took 10th in 33:11.18.



 And probably the biggest headline of day 2 was Alysia Montano, who is 8 months pregnant, running the 800. She came last in her heat in 2:22.13, which is about 35 seconds slower than her PR but still faster than what the average non-pregnant person can run for a half mile.

Penn State At The 2014 USATF Championships

A bunch of PSU Track Alumni* have qualified (or nearly qualified) for the National Championships  on June 26-29 in Sacramento, CA. Here's a complete** rundown:

                                Event               Mark        Status

Casimir Loxsom 800M 01:46.8 qualified Brannon Kidder 800M 01:46.9 qualified Brannon Kidder 1500M 03:38.8 qualified Joseph Kovacs Shot Put 21.52m qualified Darrell Hill Shot Put 20.57 qualified Ryan Whiting Shot Put 22.11 qualified Michael Shuey Javelin 72.69 accepted Rob Cardina Decathlon 7,508 not qualified Mahagony Jones 100M 11.29 accepted Mahagony Jones 200M 22.97 qualified Kara Foster 10000M 32:37.2 qualified Evonne Britton 100M H 13.09 qualified Evonne Britton 400M H 57.41 not qualified Kiah Seymour 400M H 55.88 qualified Tori Gerlach 3000M SC 10:03.5 not qualified Bridget Franek 3000M SC 09:41.2 qualified Brittney Howell Long Jump 6.37 not qualified Laura Loht Javelin 54.41 qualified Karlee McQuillen Javelin 53.59 qualified Brittney Howell Heptathlon 5,625 not qualified *Utilizing the all-inclusive definition of anyone having matriculated at a particular school, not just male graduates!       **Go ahead, be a jerk and point out the ones I've missed! I won't mind. Those in red have scratched or just missed qualifying.