Track's Hot! So is the runway...

Track temperature surfaces estimated at 120 Fahrenheit today in Sacramento.

Just a few moments ago Mahagony Jones took fifth in the USATF Outdoor 200m final (22.64). One heck of a way to go out as a senior.

Just less than half an hour ago Casimir Loxsom took second in the USATF Outdoor 800m final (1:45). Duane Solomon took the bell lap at 49 seconds with Cas on his heels. Always one to get out hard, Cas' agressive running paid off in big ways as Charles Jock caused a bit of a stumble from the middle pack with 500m to go. Congrats Cas.

Meanwhile back here in Bucks County, the airport runway was hot. The afternoon heat was tipping over 90 degrees as Owen and Kyle Dawson took 1-2 in the Bucks County Mile — an out-and-back on the Johnstown Naval Air Base Runway in Warminster, PA. Hobbling on the sideline but cheering nonetheless was me.

These two remind me of that scene in Happy Gilmore where Happy keeps throwing big checks in the back seat of his car as he hops from tournament to tournament trying to buy back his Grandmother's house.

How do I get one of those big checks?

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

The Newly Anointed Alumni Golfer

For those of you who may not have met me yet, I am the new guy. My name is Nick Scarpello, and I am honored to join the ranks of this highly esteemed group of track & field alumni golfers. Of course, to get to this point, I had to first go through a very important vetting process. And so fellow alumni golfer David Baskwill invited me to meet him on the White Course’s ninth green at 9 o’clock for my first test. I actually have some footage from the meeting.

After the necessary newbie pranking was over with, David got into the hard interview questions. First, I had to tell David that I've never won a free game in mini-golf. No extra benefits: still eligible.  Next, I had with me a titanium driver and demonstrated for him that I do in fact have a slice worse than Charles Barkley.

Bad golfer:  check.

Next I reached into the back pocket of my golf slacks and pulled out printed race results from last week's Henderson Distance Carnival.

This may confirm the rumors you have heard. In my first post-collegiate race, I was indeed defeated by not one, but two, high school runners. Therefore I officially enter into that generation of athletes complaining about new generations getting faster each and every year. Take note also of fellow alumnus Owen Dawson in eighth.

From left:  Kyle Dawson, Me, Owen Dawson,
and PSUT&F rising senior Glen Burkhardt.
May 31, 2014. Henderson Distance Carnival.

Overly-enthusiastic runner:  check.

I had David convinced. But just to be safe, we did Rusty Boots and the bond was sealed.

So that sequence of events is basically what brought me here today. That, along with a passion for running, a sincere desire to help in connecting the Penn State T&F family worldwide, and a firm belief that there is something special about our community. Just the fact that a Penn State T&F Alumnus whom I have NEVER met, David, (the story told above is completely fabricated) has invited me to contribute to this blog, and to do it with the help of a teammate and friend (Matt Groves) I think speaks volumes about what it means to be a Penn Stater. So thank you, David.

My goal here will be to help all present and future alumni golfers to recognize and appreciate the closeness of the Penn State Track & Field family, and to take pride in knowing that you…yes, YOU… are a valued part of this tradition. Whether you were a mid-pack fighter or an All-American, you are, and always will be, Penn State. And we are proud of you.

On another note, the team’s NCAA travel group should be touching down in Portland right about now. The championship action for Penn State starts this Wednesday, June 11, with Melissa Kurzdorfer in the Hammer at 4:30 p.m. EST. Mahagony Jones will be the first Nittany Lion on the track: she runs in the 100-meter semifinals on Wednesday at 8:45 p.m. EST.

Here is TV/broadcast info for the weekend:

Wednesday:  6:55 p.m. EST on ESPN3

Thursday:  6:55 p.m. EST on ESPN3

Friday:  7:30 p.m. EST on ESPNU

Saturday:  5:00 p.m. EST on ESPNU 

Some Honors

From the Annual SAAB (Student Athlete Advisory Board) Awards Banquet:

Congratulations to Emily Giannotti on receiving the 2014 Big Ten Medal of Honor! pic.twitter.com/SaNpU9HV37
— PennStateTFXC(@PennStateTFXC) April 16, 2014

Also receiving an award tonight is Dan Jordan as the recipient of the SAAB Above and Beyond Award! pic.twitter.com/tijo4PLXf8
— PennStateTFXC(@PennStateTFXC) April 16, 2014

And that's not all. Congrats to Steve Waithe and Mahagony Jones for earning Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors.

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

        

Awards, Awards, and more Awards!

A massive collection of hardware for the Nittany Lions from the USTFCCCA. Winning five of the eight Mid-Atlantic Region awards.

Brannon Kidder - Men's Track Athlete of the Year

Mahagony Jones - Women's Track Athlete of the Year

John Gondak - Men's Assistant Coach of the Year

Randy Bungard - Women's Assistant Coach of the Year

Beth Alford-Sullivan - Women's Head Coach of the Year

 

 

As well the men and women are ranked 8th and 12th respectively heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend.

 

From the USTFCCCA



 

 





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