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

The Last Two Lions At The Olympic Trials

 Mens 200M:

6.  Terrance Laird (transfer)      20.15

Womens Heptathlon:

7.  Maddie Holmberg Nickal     5895

Coming soon:   A comparative ranking of all the Penn State Track performances at the Trials. There are always surprises in these.

NCAA 2021 Outdoor Finalists

 The Nittany Lions will have 7 representatives at the upcoming championships at the renovated Hayward Field.  A modicum of attendees will be there.  Mark "Beef" Heckel, Blue Band Captain, Track Alumni (Golfer) and heralded Throws Official may throw us a bone or two when not busy!

21  Evan Dorenkamp   FR 800M           1:49.11 

 4  David Lucas     SR Discus          60.77m 

12  Tyler Merkley  SO Hammer          67.47m 

13  Mark Porter  JR Javelin         70.22m  

20  Noah Swaby    SO Decathlon         7517 

11  Danae Rivers   SR 1500M          4:12.81 

7  Madeline Nickal (Holmberg) SR Heptathlon        5839  

And don't forget to get your entries in for this year's Reunion.  You can do it the old fashioned way by sending the monies in to Harry Smith or to me via PayPal on the top of  the full web site!  Not available yet on the handheld site or via the Facebook Page.  The Interns will get around to it.

Coach Of The Year, Athletes Of The Year, And Another 800M Champion!

First up, Artie "Knute" Gilkes became the PIAA Boys Indoor Coach of the Year with his Little Lions victory at the State Meet.  Artie excels at coaching the jumps, of all things, but Nick K. tells us he gives a very good "Gipper" speech as well!  Congrats Artie.  And don't forget to golf this year!

While there is no video, I had the pleasure of hearing Artie’s pre-meet speech.  He comprehensively laid out the scoring possibilities so the team could see for themselves what had to be done in a way that empowered them to take control of the outcome.  No emotional BS.  

(Steve) Shisler’s mission was to re-establish, in his words, “a culture of achievement.”  Gilkes is extending and deepening that ethos.  As an SC alumnus, I am really grateful the young athletes again have outstanding coaches - including the event coaches, who genuinely care about guiding kids to steeper life trajectories through track and field.  During that championship Sunday, one could literally see guys mature and take a big step forward as they competed - not everything went as planned - and then put their hands on the prize.  Inspiring!     -Nick K.

State College Shows Off Depth

Not to be outdone by Penn State Track and Field Alumni, two present team members garnered awards for the season as well.  

Maddie Holmberg continued her great career and won the Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year.  She then set a PR at the NCAA Championships to place 9th in the Pentathlon. 

 Last, but not least, Danae Rivers backed up her Mid Atlantic Track Athlete of the Year award by winning the 800M at the NCAA Championships!

Danae used the tried and true tactic used by Dave Wottle in 1972, even splits, which took her from the middle of the pack to the victory in dramatic fashion.  Thus accentuating PSU is 800U! 

 Danae wins the 800M

Onward To Nationals!

Six Nittany Lions made it to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.  Remember, only the top sixteen individuals and the top 12 Relays can make it.  That's one of the hardest "makes" in all of track and field.

Women:

• Alexis Holmes   400M   
• Danae Rivers      800M
• Maddie Holmberg     Pentathlon

Men:

• Domenic Perretta     800M
• Morgan Shigo          Weight Throw
• David Lucas             Weight Throw 

Kudos Are Appropriate

There was a time several years ago when I wasted much time away from my day job to compile a listing of the times of competitions of Nittany Lions and ex-Nittany Lions at the USATF Championships.  And of course I was criticized when I messed up a little bit...   

But now, the PSU T&F Program itself has provided us with a complete listing!  I commend them thusly! And I will steal it to spread the word further.  Go Lions.

EVENT SCHEDULE

Thursday
Time (CDT)	Event	Competitor	Entry Mark	Seed
1:50 PM	W 3,000M Steeple (1st Round)	Tori Gerlach	9:55.52	14th
2:20 PM	W 800M (1st Round)	Danae Rivers	2:03.13	24th
2:40 PM	M 800M (1st Round)	Isaiah Harris	1:44.53	2nd
Friday
Time (CDT)	Event	Competitor
3:20 PM	M Hammer Throw	Morgan Shigo	72.47m	6th
3:50 PM	W 100M Hurdles (1st Round)	Evonne Britton	12.87	10th
6:50 PM	W 800M (Semis)	Danae Rivers
7:05 PM	M 800M (Semis)	Isaiah Harris
Saturday
Time (CDT)	Event	Competitor
10 AM	100M Hurdles - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
11 AM	High Jump - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
1:05 PM	Shot Put - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
2 PM	200M - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
2:10 PM	M Javelin Throw	Michael Biddle	73.02m	11th
		Michael Shuey	78.52m	2nd
2:20 PM	W 100M Hurdles (Semis)	Evonne Britton
2:45 PM	M Shot Put	Darrell Hill	22.44m	2nd
		Joe Kovacs	22.35m	3rd
3:20 PM	W 3,000M Steeple (Finals)	Tori Gerlach
4:52 PM	W 100M Hurdles (Finals)	Evonne Britton
Sunday
Time (CDT)	Event	Competitor
11:30 AM	Long Jump - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
12:50 PM	Javelin Throw - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
2:10 PM	W Shot Put	Rachel Fatherly	17.89m	12th
2:50 PM	800M - Hep	Maddie Holmberg
3:04 PM	W 800M (Finals)	Danae Rivers
3:13 PM	M 800M (Finals)	Isaiah Harris
Maddie Holmberg enters the heptathlon as the No. 5 seed (5,976 points). Italic events require qualification.

Four More All-Americans

The Nittany Lions ended up with 3 Men scoring and 3 Women scoring.  So that means both teams ended up with 3 First Team All-Americans.  The Men placed in a tie for 18th Place and the Women placed 24th.  Another very solid year for the blue and white!

For the Men, the only one not mentioned so far is David Lucas, who placed 7th in the Discus with 186' 7".  With his National title in the Indoor Weight Throw, it certainly was a great year.

Three Lady Lions (Are we still allowed to say that?) gathered points and All-American status.  They were led by Heptathlete Maddie Holmberg in 3rd.

Right behind her, placing 4th in the rainy High Jump was Megan McCloskey with a clutch clearance of 5' 10".

And Danae Rivers closed out her Sophomore year with 8th in the 1500M and 2 of her top 3 times ever.

The Latest Award For A PSU Track Athlete Really Pleases Me

Recently, three Penn State Track and Field athletes were honored with Athlete of the Year honors by the USTFCCCA.  High honors for the whole season for 3 really worthy student athletes.

• MID-ATLANTIC REGION MEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
  Isaiah Harris, a junior from Lewiston, Maine, is ranked second nationally in the 800 with a time of 1:45.31. The Big Ten champion in the event and Big Ten Championships record holder in the 800, he is headed to Tracktown next week. Harris also anchored the winning Sprint Medley Relay at the Penn Relays in 1:44.7.
• MID-ATLANTIC REGION WOMEN’S TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
  Danae Rivers, a sophomore from Derby, Connecticut, became the first Nittany Lion to win the Big Ten Championship in the 1500. Her time of 4:10.82 in the event at the Florida Relays set a school record and ranked fifth, nationally. She will compete in the 1500 at the NCAA Championships next week.
• MID-ATLANTIC REGION WOMEN’S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
  Maddie Holmberg, a junior from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, ranked fifth nationally in the heptathlon this year with a point total of 5976. She finished second at the Big Ten Championships in the event, and will travel to the NCAA Championships next week. Holmberg also scored in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.37m (20-103/4).

And to top it off, Isaiah Harris has been recognized as an Academic All-American as a Kinesiology Major. These three represent their Alumni fans in our group with the best any of us could hope for! Kudos, all around.

Notice the Group Wrist Band put to wonderful use!

A Good Weekend

The Nittany Lions qualified 7 individuals and the Mens 4 x 100M team for the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in a week and a half.

1. Morgan Shigo   -  Hammer Throw   223' 11"      10th
2. Steph Sievers   -   Javelin       159'11"                  10th
3. Megan McCloskey   -   High Jump     5' 10.75"    5th
4. Isaiah Harris    -    800M                   1:46.80        4th
5. Michael Biddle  -     Javelin               208' 6.25"     9th
6. David Lucas   -    Discus Throw          187' 2"      4th
7. Danae Rivers   -   1500M                     4:11.75     3rd
8. 4 x 100M Relay  -                               39.61         12th  (Will Henderson, Anton Porter, Xavier Smith, Malik Moffett)
9. We must not forget (I did) that Madeline Holmberg previously qualified in the heptathlon!

And Tyler McCandless has improved at every Boulder Boulder he has run, cumninating in this year's victory.

Tyler McCandless

Boulder, CO

M31

30:54.76

4:59

2015 - 26th, 32:35 2016 - 6th, 32:05 2017 - 4th, 31:04 2018 - 1st, 30:54

A Multi All-American!

Madeline Holmberg racked up a personal best score of 4,216 at the NCAA Indoor Championship Pentathlon yesterday to finish 7th and attain all-American status.  She won the Pentathlon Shot Put event with a heave of 45' 0.5", and placed 4th in the long jump with 20' 0.5".  In true PSU fashion, she ran a very fine 2:21 800M to assure her place on the podium!

Madeline HOLMBERG Penn State [SO]

4216 -356  PB

8.51 (7) 1015 [1015]

1.60 (16) 5-3 736 [1751]

13.73 (1) 45-½ 776 [2527]

6.11 (4) 20-½ 883 [3410]

2:21.26 (10) 806 [4216]

Both Isaiah Harris and Danae Rivers moved on to today's Final in the 800M.  Freshman "Fenom" Terrance Laird ran a fine 20.97 to place 12th and attain second team All-American status in his first season of action.

In action today, in addition to Isaiah and Danae are the Weight Throw duo of Morgan Shigo and David Lucas, and the 4 x 400M Men's team.

We want YOU to come to our Reunion and maybe even golf with us in the newbie-friendly Coach Groves Tourney this year on May 18 and 19:

One Person options:

Entire Package $205.00 USD    Friday and Saturday $135.00 USD    Friday Reception $45.00 USD    Saturday Reception $105.00 USD    Golf and Saturday Reception Dinner $155.00 USD

For additional family members, add up permutations in post and use snail mail to:
 Harry Smith
            508 Washington Avenue
            Elyria, OH  44035

It Isn't Easy To Qualify For Nationals In Indoor Track

Only the top 16 make it in individual events.  Only 12 relay teams qualify.

Penn State has its share of entrants:

Women:

• Danae Rivers - 800M
• Maddie Holmberg - Pentathlon

Men:

• Isaiah Harris - 800M
• Terrance Laird - 200M
• Bryce Williams - Triple Jump
• David Lucas - Weight Throw
• Morgan Shigo - Weight Throw
• 4 x 400M (Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Kier Miner, Isaiah Harris) 

Good luck at Texas A&M next week!


And don't forget to sign up for the Reunion and Golf Tourney!  Either with PayPal/credit card or via snail mail to Harry Smith.

One Person options:

Entire Package $205.00 USD    Friday and Saturday $135.00 USD    Friday Reception $45.00 USD    Saturday Reception $105.00 USD    Golf and Saturday Reception Dinner $155.00 USD

For additional family members, add up permutations in post and use snail mail to:
 Harry Smith
            508 Washington Avenue
            Elyria, OH  44035