Nittany Lions In The Top Ten For 2021 According To TFN

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American Top Ten Performers:

• 200M        Terrance Laird     #6
• 800M        Isaiah Harris        #4
• 800M        Brannon Kidder   #5
• Shot Put    Joe Kovacs          #2
• Shot Put    Darrell Hill          #3
• Hammer    Morgan Shigo     #6
• Javelin       Michael Shuey    #2
• 400H          Kiah Seymour    #10
• Shot Put     Rachel Fatherly  #9

World  Top Ten Performers:

• 200M         Terrance Laird    #9
• Shot Put     Joe Kovacs         #2
• Shot Put     Darrell Hill         #7

Athlete Of The Year:

•  Joe Kovacs         #7
  

Comparison Of Top 12 Nittany Lion Performances At The Olympic Trials

 *This is using the 2017 revision of the IAAF Scoring Tables.

1.   Joe Kovacs               Mens Shot Put             22.34M             1261 pts.

2.   Darrell Hill               Mens Shot Put             21.89M             1234 pts.

3.   Terrance Laird          Mens 200M                 20.15                 1196 pts.

4.   Isaiah Harris             Mens 800M                 1:44.58              1187 pts.

5.   Brannon Kidder        Mens 800M                 1:45.08              1171 pts.

6.   Evonne Britton         Womens 100H             12.95                 1156 pts.

7.   Kiah Seymour          Womens 400H             55.84                  1147 pts.

8.   Morgan Shigo           Mens Hammer            74.39M               1107 pts.

9.   Michael Shuey          Mens Javelin               79.24M              1091 pts.

10.  Joe White                 Mens 800M                 1:48.57               1067 pts.

11.  Maddie Holmberg    Womens Heptathlon    5895 pts.            1054 pts.

12.  David Lucas             Mens Discus               58.99M               1042 pts.

Olympic Team Qualified

Our Brave And Talented Interns Are Off Duty, So I Will Post The Next To Last Olympic Trials Update Of Nittany Lion Finishes

 Women's Shot Put:

14.  Rachel Fatherly      17.12M

15.  Payden Montana (transfer)  17.05M

Mens Discus:

15.  David Lucas        58.99M

Womens 3000M Steeplechase:

31.  Tori Gerlach      10:25.39

Womens Javelin:

21.  Madison Smith      45.93M 

Mens Long Jump:

23.  Malik Moffett     7.25M

Womens 400M Hurdle:

9.  Kiah Seymour (transfer)   55.84

TwoThree Lions in competition on the last day...

The Ultimate Interns Guide To Nittany Lions At The 2021 USATF Olympic Trials

 Friday June 18:

3:00PM ET

Mens Shot Put Qualifying:

2.  Joe Kovacs 

3.  Darrell Hill

3:05PM ET

Mens Hammer Throw Qualifying:

 7.  Morgan Shigo

22. Tyler Merkley

5:26PM ET

Mens 800M First Round:

7.  Brannon Kidder

9.  Isaiah Harris

14.   Joe White (Volunteer Assistant from Georgetown)

9:30PM ET

Mens Shot Put Final:

Pending Qualification  (Joe Kovacs, Darrell Hill)

Saturday June 19:

5:15PM ET

Mens Javelin Throw Qualification

2. Michael Shuey

19. Mark Porter

8:04PM ET

Womens 100M Hurdle First Round:

 16. Evonne Britton 

10:04PM ET

Mens 800M Semi-Finals

Pending Qualification (Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris)

Sunday June 20:

7:25PM ET

Mens Hammer Throw Final

Pending Qualification (Morgan Shigo, Tyler Merkley)

9:03PM ET

Womens 100M Hurdle Semi-Final

Pending Qualification (Evonne Britton)

9:35PM ET

Womens 3000M Steeplechase First Round

26. Tori Gerlach

10:43PM ET

Womens 100M Hurdle Final

Pending Qualification (Evonne Britton)

Monday June 21:

7:15PM ET

Mens Javelin Finals

Pending Qualification (Michael Shuey, Mark Porter)

8:25PM ET

Mens 800M Finals

Pending Qualification (Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris)

Thursday June 24:

4:30PM ET

Womens Shot Put Qualifying

5.  Rachel Fatherly

21. Payden Montana  (transfer)

9:04PM ET

Mens 1500M First Round

8.  Brannon Kidder

10:05PM ET

Mens Discus Qualifying

19. David Lucas

11:00PM ET

Womens Shot Put Final

Pending Qualification (Rachel Fatherly)

11:47PM ET

Womens 3000M Steeplechase Final

Pending Qualification (Tori Gerlach)

Friday June 25:

4:00PM ET

Womens Javelin Qualification

21.  Madison Smith 

4:30PM ET

Mens Long Jump Qualification

22. Malik Moffett

6:30PM ET

Mens Discus Final

Pending Qualification (David Lucas)

6:35PM ET

Womens 400M Hurdle First Round 

8.  Kiah Seymour (Transfer)

7:05PM ET

Mens 1500M Semi-Final

Pending Qualification (Brannon Kidder)

8:04PM ET

Mens 200M First Round

          3  Terrance Laird (transfer now with Adidas)

Saturday June 26:

Womens Heptatlon Day 1

17. Madeline Holmberg

Sunday June 27:

Womens Heptathlon Day 2 

Madeline Holmberg

7:00PM ET

Mens Long Jump Finals

Pending Qualification (Malik Moffett)

7:20PM ET

Womens 400M Hurdles Final

Pending Qualification (Kiah Seymour, Transfer)

 8:10PM ET

Mens 1500M Finals

Pending Qualification (Brannon Kidder)

 

 

 

 

 

Penn State So Far At The USATF Championships, With A Big Day Today

So far, the top finish for PSU has been Karlee McQuillen's 6th in the Javelin.Here's the list, so far.  Today, top seed Casimir Loxsom and Joe Kovacs join Darrell Hill and Ryan Whiting in trying to do even better!

6        Karlee McQuillen        Javelin         56.76m (186-3)

8        Bridget Franek             300M SC     9:47.81
14       Brannon Kidder           800M         1:48.26

15       Evonne Britton            100M H      13.18

17       Robby Creese              1500M        3:47.12

17       Rachel Fatherly           Shot Put      16.49 (54-1 1/4)

17       Tori Gerlach                3000M SC   10:12.8

18       Kiah Seymour             400M H      58.66

It's Still Indoor Season Really: Awards And Coveted Entries At Nationals

Coach John Gondak, who I have been fortunate enough to call a friend since his arrival at PSU, was just named the Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year for Mens Indoor Track.  In his first season, John has brought some needed energy into the program, and not just in his natural coaching position of Middle
Distance tutelage.  I spoke with some athletes at the recent Sykes and Sabock Challenge, and across all disciplines of the sport, he was praised by everyone.  There are some exciting times ahead for all of us invested in PSU Track and Field.

And let's not forget about Darrell Hill's Field Athlete of the Year also.  We've kept up with his progress quite well on this blog.  For some reason, I really enjoy his Shot Put event despite it being the farthest from my limited wheel house. Can I call what I did a wheel house?

Entries to the Indoor NCAA Nationals (this year in Fayetteville, Arkansas) are always limited to the top 16 times or distances or performances.  PSU has quite a few entries, however.  The 3rd ranked Shot Put of Darrel Hill, the 2nd place Distance Medley team and the 3rd ranked Mile of Brannon Kidder lead the pack.

• Darrel Hill,   Shot Put    -3rd seed      67' 3.50"  School Record
• Robby Creese,  3000M     -8th seed    7:50.36    School Record
• Brannon Kidder,  Mile     -3rd seed     3:57.13  School Record (3 readers pointed out that Robby Creese's 3:57.11 is the school record.  Thanks to all! You guys are the best.
• Brian Leap,  Triple Jump   -13th sed   52' 6.75"
• Mens Distance Medley Relay -  Brannon Kidder, Robert Rhodes, Za'Von Watkins and Robby Creese   9:28.36   2nd seed
• Rachel Fatherly   Shot Put  -13th seed   55' 5.75"
• Rachel Fatherly   Weight Throw   -14th seed   69' 2"
• Womens 4 x 400M Relay  Megan Osborne, Dynasty McGee, Tichina Rhodes, Kiah Seymour 11th seed   3:34.90
• Kiah Seymour, 400M  14th seed   52.72

And it just doesn't seem like Outdoor Track Season yet.  My high school Freshman daughter has only had 2 practices so far, one of them indoors and the other one on the road doing hills. Here are my Nike snow boots I originally purchased in the early 90's.  I had to dig them out for some shoveling this week.  I hate them a lot.  But I love the throwback Nike Internationalists in the background!

Penn State at the NACAC-Under 23 Championships

Head Coach John Gondak is also the head distance coach at the championships, and has 5 current PSU student athletes with him in Kamloops, British Columbia.

• Darrell Hill  -  Shot Put
• Brittany Howell  -  Heptathlon
• Michael Shuey  -  Javelin
• Kiah Seymour  -  400 M Hurdles
• Steve Waithe (Trinidad-Tabago)  -  Triple Jump

Live Results

List of events/schedule:

400-Meter Hurdles – Seymour – 1:45 p.m. EDT (Sunday)
Heptathlon – Howell 100-Meter Hurdles – 7 p.m. EDT (Friday)
   High Jump – 7:40 p.m. EDT (Friday)
   Shot Put – 9:20 p.m. EDT (Friday)
   200-Meter Dash – 11:15 p.m. EDT (Friday)
   Long Jump – 4:10 p.m. EDT (Saturday)
   Javelin Throw – 5:30 p.m. EDT (Saturday)
   800-Meter Run – 6:30 p.m. EDT (Saturday)
Javelin Throw – Shuey – 4:05 p.m. EDT (Saturday)
Shot Put – Hill – 2:45 p.m. EDT (Sunday)
Triple Jump – Waithe – 2:50 p.m. EDT (Sunday)

John Gondak Has Been Named.............

...... men's distance coach of Team USA for the North American, Central America, and Caribbean (NACAC) Athletic Association Under-23 Championships, set for August 8-10, in Kamloops, Canada. Many of us are pulling for him to have that interim tag removed, well this certainly adds to the resume.

Other Nittany Lions competing internationally this summer are: 

Darrell Hill (USA, NACAC U-23)

Michael Shuey (USA, NACAC U-23)

Kiah Seymour (USA, NACAC U-23)

Brittney Howell  (USA, NACAC U-23)

Steve Waithe  (Trinidad and Tobago, NACAC U-23)

Dannielle Gibson (Bahamas, IAAF World Junior Championships, to be held July 22-27 in Eugene, OR)

Full press release from GoPSUSports.

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.

Diamond League Winner

Congratulations for Joe Kovacs for earning his first career IAAF Diamond League victory at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games in Olso, Norway. This victory, along with his second place finish at the Prefontaine Classic, puts Kovacs at the top the Diamond League standings for the men's shot put. Also, he now has eternal bragging rights as the first Penn State Alum to win a Diamond League event.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Result		Diamond Points	Diamond Ranking
1	KOVACS Joe	USA	21.14		8	1
2	STORL David	GER	21.08		2	4
3	HOFFA Reese	USA	21.07		5	2
4	LAURO Germán Luján	ARG	20.60
5	MAJEWSKI Tomasz	POL	20.22
6	PRÁŠIL Ladislav	CZE	20.14
7	CANTWELL Christian	USA	19.47		5	2
8	ANDERSEN Stian	NOR	16.87
	KOLAŠINAC Asmir	SRB	NM

Meanwhile Penn State already has one All-American at NCAA's as Laura Loth finished 5th in the javelin with a school record throw of 54.41m (178'-6"). Robert Cardina currently sits 6th in the decathlon with 4087 points after day. Mahagony Jones advanced to the finals of the 100 meters while Kiah Seymour moved on in the 400 meter hurdles.
Full Results

Big Ten Event Winners

Congratulations to the following Nittany Lion event winners at the Big Ten Championships.
Full results here

Steve Waithe -  Triple Jump

Darrell Hill - Shot Put

Michael Shuey - Javelin

Brittney Howell - Heptathlon

Melissa Kurzdorfer - Javelin

Kiah Seymour - 400 meter hurdles

Mahagony Jones - 200 meter dash

Dynasty McGee, Mahagony Jones, Tichina Rhodes, Kiah Seymour - 4x400 meter relay

For most the season and competition year are officially over. For those still with a shot at qualifying for NCAA's, that opportunity comes in two weeks at the NCAA East Regional meet on May 29-31.

Weekend Action

Fresh off his heat 1 win at the Payton Jordan Invitational, Casimir Loxsom is back at it again in the Oregon Twilight Meet. He'll be running the 800 against old rivals Elijah Greer and Charles Jock. A Brooks Beast and Oregon Track Club Rivalry? Yeah why not?

Bridget Franek is competing as well. Moving down in distance to the 1500 meters (lots of ways to convert the 1500 to the mile).

Tyler McCandless, fresh off a 2nd place finish at the Newport 10K, will be racing in Grand Rapids, MI at the Fifth Third Bank River Run. An event claiming to be the largest 25K road race in history.

If you happen to be in State College tomorrow. The Jim Thorpe Invitational is tomorrow, serving as tune-up for the Big Ten Championships next weekend. Not surprisingly, Brannon Kidder was named Men's Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week and Kiah Seymour joined him as Women's Track Athlete of the Week.

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.

All-American Honors

Congratulations are in order for the All-American honors earned this past weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

          First Team All-American:
          Will Barr                35 lb weight throw 
          Mahagony Jones   200 meter dash       
          Brittney Howell     pentathlon, 4x400 meter relay             
          Steve Waithe          triple jump            
          Kiah Seymour       400 meter dash, 4x400 meter relay  
          Za'von Watkins     800 meter run
          Dynasty McGee     4x400 meter relay
          Tichina Rhodes     4x400 meter relay    

          Second Team All-American:
          Evonne Britton      60 meter hurdles
          Jon Hendershot     high jump
          Wade Endress       distance medley relay
          Za'von Watkins    distance medley relay
          Brannon Kidder   800 meter run, distance medley relay
          Robby Creese        distance medley relay

        

Penn State Relays Observations

A great weekend for Penn State. James "Pope" Franklin* and a great number of quality performances at the Penn State Relays. Since I was participating I did not get any photos but I'll link to some when they become available. Results and a much more professional recap here.

A Nittany Lion took first place in a whopping 19 out of the 35 events contested including a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the men's 500 meter dash and a collegiate record in the women's 4x200 meter relay. We couldn't tell who won the 500 as twins Brandon and Bernard Bennett-Green were separated by 1/100th of a second (talk about identical genes). Third was freshmen Byron Robinson while Alex Shisler book-ended the sweep.

My performance of the meet goes to Mahagony Jones, Dynasty McGee, Megan Osborne, and Kiah Seymour for setting a new collegiate record in the 4x200 clocking 1:35.65.

Alumni singlets were worn with pride in the 1000 meter run and Distance Medley Relay. I used the age old strategy of just running away from everyone and winning the "B" heat of the 1000 in 2:33.98 while Brian Fuller, Kevin Fuller, Owen Dawson, and Kyle Dawson came third in 10:02.84 in the DMR. Kyle showed his trademark toughness on the anchor leg as he looked in extreme pain trying to make up ground and reclaim the DMR title for us graduates. The B team of Mark Fuller, Vince McNally, myself, and Chris Cipro were 7th in 10:41.41. Still beating two schools despite Vince coming down from the 10K to run a 400 leg; and he never was a sprinter to begin with. First place and current number 1 world ranking** went to the varsity team in 9:59.94.

Next week is the Nittany Lion Challenge at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. I don't believe there will be any alumni participating but the big timers will certainly be putting on another fine display of athletic prowess.

*I believe it was signified with white smoke coming from Old Main
**Unofficial of course

It Was a Very Fine Year

None of the Nittany Lions qualified for the Finals in yesterday's action at the USATF Senior Championships.  But with that disappointment comes the realization of what a great year it was for Penn State Track and Field.  (Several Lions are left in the Junior Championships and several alums and honorary alums are still in the hunt for the Seniors.)

Honorary PSU Track Alumni Golfer Ryan Whiting with Former Lion Coach T.J. Crater (UW Coach now) and Joe Kovacs ready for Sunday's action.

Tori Gerlach continued PSU Steeplechase prowess, placing 4th in the event at the Junior Championships in 10:55.19. Kiah Seymour just missed the Finals in the 400 M Hurdles, placing 9th in 1:00.38.

Freshman (now Sophomore!) Brannon "The Kid" Kidder found himself in a very fast Semi-Final of the 800 M.  With the leaders at under 51 seconds at the 400 M mark, Brannon found himself playing catch-up early.  Things never materialized and he finished 7th at 1:48.82, two seconds off his new PR and in overall 15th place.

Senior (now Brooks Running Group and PSU Track Alumni!) Casimir Loxsom also found himself in a pretty quick opening 400 M, with him in among the leaders.  The final 100 M looked to be a little bit of torture, as the looooong Collegiate season came to a close for him.  He finished 7th in his heat, 13th place overall in 1:46.73.  I want to take this opportunity to let Cas know that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching his Penn State career and can't wait to see what the sport has in store for him.  Keep in touch with our Alumni Group when possible!

Brook's star Casimir Loxsom. Photo by Becky Miller.

Here's a nice Flotrack Article about PSU's 800 M Semi-Finalists.

And let's not forget that Coach Beth Alford-Sullivan is the Head Women's Coach for the World Championships in Moscow.

Eugene Bound! And More 800 M Silliness

So far, eight Nittany Lions are into next week's NCAA Championships.  There is even one day left to go in the Prelims, including the Mens 1500 M and the Women's Javelin. As I had hoped, three of the qualifiers will travel to Oregon for the 800 M!

1. Melissa Kurzdorfer in the Discus.
2. Melissa Kurzdorfer in the Hammer!
3. Michael Shuey in the Javelin.
4. Mahogany Jones in the 100 M.
5. Mahogany Jones in the 200 M!
6. Kiah Seymour in the 400 M Hurdles.
7. Natalie Bower in the 3000 M SC.
8. Casimir Loxsom in the 800 M.
9. Brannon Kidder in the 800 M.
10. Ricky West in the 800 M.

And speaking of 800 M, here's former 2-lapper Steve Black's latest episode in his Web Series, The Grave Diggers!