Isaiah Harris NCAA Champion!

I can’t wait to talk to the alumni as they’ve been so supportive of us over the years.”

Isaiah Harris. 

The retro Singlet is always appreciated!

Another B1G Win!

Isaiah Harris runs a Personal Best of 1:44.76 to take down the collegiate record holder in the 800m! pic.twitter.com/dzuLbN8pwN

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 9, 2018

There has been a long line of excellent Penn State "2-lappers" who have paved the road that we affectionately call 800U.  And never mind that there are hundreds of others that weren't 800M runners among our group that have also helped cement that moniker even into the national Press.

The 800M is my favorite race to watch and I really enjoyed running it in high school. I just didn't have the talent to pull it off on a bigger stage.  But I consider myself fairly knowledgable on the event.  Watching Penn State half-milers over the last 20 years has been really fun.

Some notable PSU 800M runners I have had the pleasure to watch in the last 18 years

• Brannon Kidder
• Casimir Loxsom
• Domenic Perretta
• Matt Lincoln
• Owen Dawson
• Robby Creese
• Ryan Foster
• Sam Borchers

Add these guys to the other generations of middle distance specialists in the preceding generations all the way back to Alan Helffrich (1922-1923 800M NCAA Champion!) and you have 800U!

But all we were missing was another NCAA Champion in modern times.  And it hasn't been easy.  In the last several years there have been overwhelming dominant winners from domestic and afar.  Were we again to be satisfied with an incredible performance only to be celebrating another second place NCAA finish? (Brannon Kidder 2015, Casimir Loxsom 2013, Isaiah Harris 2017)

Very few had Isaiah Harris being able to slay the returning winner and NCAA record-holder Michael Saruni.  Very few except Isaiah and his coach, John Gondak.  They had a plan, and they had a program.  Us lucky Alumni who visited them a few weeks ago got to see that up close and personal.  And many of us started to believe.

The race was run to precision by Isaiah.  He demonstrated his intellect and wisdom at every stage. The fast opening lap of 51.x or so (rough guess) putting him in 5th place right near Saruni. It wasn't anything he hasn't done many times before.  He didn't panic, and held steady until the middle of the backstretch of the second lap.  Anticipating the surge of Saruni, Isaiah gently eased into the lead monentarily before Saruni rushed past, gaining a two-stride lead at the finish of the last turn.  He didn't panic, as Isaiah said he "saw blood" at that point, and knew that Saruni had used too much getting to where he was.

The last 100 meters was what all of us Alumni (Golfers) have been waiting for for "a few" years now. As Isaiah slipped by the defending champion, you could sense that the drought was finally over!

Isaiah eased a tad at the finish, possibly giving up another School Record, but nobody, including him, seems to care. Penn State was on the top of the podium!

Just last week I complimented Isaiah by noting that he has excelled in the classroom also, making all of us proud.  He also demonstrated his humility in post race interviews by including the Alumni in his thoughts.  I think he realizes how much we support the program's success in every aspect.  Any future 800 specialists out there have a role model and a college destination being represented with the highest recommendation posssible.

 

Did you miss the final of the men's 800-meter run from Friday? Well, we won't spoil who wins. 😏 #WeAre #PSUTF pic.twitter.com/vWbT7O6CP9

— Penn State Track & Field/Cross Country (@PennStateTFXC) June 9, 2018

The Interns Reshuffled The PSU Sub-4 Listing Chronologically!

Now I owe them time and a half and all my leftover Kung Pao Chicken...  But it was worth it!  The effort is always appreciated.

Greg Fredericks          Reading AA                3:59.7      State College            8/05/78

Larry Mangan             Penn State                   3:58.4      University Park        5/16/80

Mike Wyatt                 Philly Pioneers            3:58.0      Philadelphia             5/18/80

Matt Lincoln               PSU Alum                   3:59.39i    University Park          1/27/07

Ryan Foster                 Penn State                   3:58.49i    University Park        1/29/11

Robby Creese              Penn State                   3:59.52i    Seattle                      2/11/12

Brannon Kidder          Penn State                   3:59.48i   University Park        1/26/13

Owen Dawson             PSU Alum                   3:59.74     Philadelphia             4/27/13

Colin Abert                 Penn State                   3:59.51i    University Park        2/03/18

* Someone chime in and let us know the location of Matt's sub-4!  Matt himself and Ryan Foster have chimed in via our Facebook site and corrected this "corrected" version again.  My interns are the greatest!

And Now There Are Nine!

Colin Abert won the Mile at yesterday's Sykes and Sabock Challenge Cup at the Ashenfelter Track.  With his 3:59.51 time, he has become the ninth Nittany Lion and Alums to break the 4-Minute barrier for the imperial distance.  Congrats Colin!

Colin Abert.

He joins 6 other Americans and 2 Alums from foreign lands.  I include Matt Lincoln and Ryan Foster as honorary Americans for several reasons:

• Matt is from Canada.  The English speaking part!  I have always said that Canada is like America's Attic.  We rarely go up there, but when we do we discover that it is filled with wondrous things and we can't wait to come back again.  He also coaches American high school students well enough for National Honors!
• Ryan comes from Australia, which also is predominantly English-speaking.  With a cool accent. Even bettrer, he is from Tasmania.  He has also never had a single Foster's Lager, which he says is only sent to America! He has also golfed in our Tournament and performed a "Happy Gilmore" drive.  He has rejuvinated the XC/Track program at Division II Edinboro University.
• Both have married Americans. And any of us male reprobates who are married realize that all of us "marry up".

Penn State Athletes and Alumni Breaking the 4-Minute Mile:

Greg Fredericks (Reading AA)

3:59.7 (2)

University Park

August 05, 1978

Larry Mangan (Penn St)

3:58.4

University Park

May 16, 1980

Mike Wyatt (Philly Pioneers)

3:58.0

Philadelphia

May 18, 1980

Robby Creese (Penn St)

3:59.52(i)

Seattle

February 11, 2012

Brannon Kidder (Penn State)

3:59.48(i)

University Park

January 26, 2013

Owen Dawson* (unattached)

3:59.74

Philadelphia

April 27, 2013

Colin Abert (Penn State)  3:59.51   University Park  February 3, 2018

Canada      Matt Lincoln 3:59.39(i)  2007
Australia   Ryan Foster (Penn State)  3:58.49(i)   University Park  January, 2011

* Owen Dawson became the first ever to run a sub-4 minute mile wearing a Penn State Track Alumni Singlet.  He will forever be enshrined as a barrier-breaker of the first order.

Owen Dawson Sub-4 Penn Relays 2013. Photo by Matt Groves.

Here's a great map showing where athlete's first ever sub-4 were run. The dot at State College just got a little larger!

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. 

A Hat-Tip To Coach Groves: Penn State Track And Field Alumni Golfers Make Great Coaches: Part 2

It was a bang up day again across the fruited plain for Coach Harry Groves' coached athletes.  Honestly, I think this has a little to do with Coach Groves himself.  He instilled a love of the sport(s) in each and every one of us.  He taught us values, organization, goal-setting, and hard work, even when we disagreed and b*tched about it among ourselves.  All of us came out of it much better off than when we entered his domain.  (Even prodigal sons are welcomed with open arms to our Group!) Here are a few of the recent coaches achieving great things on cross country courses with a little help from Coach's past tutelage:

• Coach Mark Haywood's Class A Camp Hill boys won the PIAA State title for the first time in school history. Here's his wife's thoughts on this.  I was at their wedding and did I mention it was a great affair?

  

  Mark Haywood, right.

• Coach Jayson Jackson's St. Joseph's Academy won the PIAA Class A girls title.  Jayson is another Nittany Lion I have had the pleasure to meet because of my efforts at herding cats to our Reunion and golf outing.  You should think of attending too so you can realize just how great members of our Group are! Absolutely everyone is invited to join.

  

  Jayson Jackson's St. Joseph Academy victors.

• Matt Lincoln's Chandler Wolves won the Arizona Division 1 title.  A Canadian in Arizona via Happy Valley!

  

  Matt Lincoln, right.

• The State College boys were 9th in the PIAA Class AAA race.  Coaches Steve Shisler, Dave Felice and Nick K. keep the Little Lions near the top of the game!

  

  Dave Felice, Steve Shisler and Nick K., right.

• The State College girls were 5th in the PIAA Class AAA race with Artie Gilkes and Rebecca Donaghue guiding them.

  

  Artie Gilkes, Rebecca Donaghue, left.

• Dominic Hockenberry repeated as Class A Champion and will be headed to Syracuse in the Fall.  Dominic was is coached by Bill Kvashay until his retirement this year.

  

  Bill Kvashay, left.

• Gettysburg's lone runner placed 10th in the PIAA Class AA race.  He is coached by Group Friend and William and Mary liaison Brian Mount.

  

  Brian Mount, center.

• I'm sure I missed some.  Let me know!
• John Mahoney, Assistant Coach of Central Bucks West, helped his team to 3rd in the PIAA AAA race.  (Thanks to Beth Shisler for the update!) 
• Here's an update from Tom Rapp on his season: 
  

  Hey!

   

  I wanted to bring you up to speed on our recently-concluded season. After winning the state meet last year, we stepped into this year knowing we were a bit depleted by graduation. Add in a couple of injuries and illness and basically we lost numbers 1,2 5, 6 and 7 from last year. Still we had a very successful season winning our league, district and regional (SW Ohio - one fourth of the state) meets. We scored the second lowest total ever at regionals - 35 points.

   

  We finished runner up at state to Cleveland St. Ignatius, a perennial power currently ranked #10 in the country. We actually scored 25 points less than our championship team last year but couldn't quite match St. Ignatius. In Ohio, only two teams make the podium and receive medals and trophies. We were thrilled to be one of the two. We have been on the podium three out of the last four years. I feel like this might have been my best team ever, but part of winning a championship is picking the right year to be good. Guess we didn't quite do that. We lacked a solid number one and had four different guys at that spot this year. However, our 1-5 split was usually between 15 and 25 seconds. Lots of pack running which made it fun, but sometimes hard to coach during a race because they would all zoom by at the same time - tough to give individual instructions like that.

   

  Anyway, thanks for reading.

   

  Run Happy!

   

  Tom

Nittany Lions return to the Sunshine State, and Alumni unite at the Carlsbad 5000

I was thrilled to see some great results from this weekend's Florida Relays for the Nittany Lions.  It's actually been four years since the team made the trek down to Gainesville for this meet, and so to put that time elapse in perspective, I'll recall a few quick memories from that meet in 2011...

1) Chris Cipro, Sam Borchers, Tyler Corkedale, Connor Revord and I almost got eaten alive by an alligator.

2) Cipro ("Kipro" as announced by Flotrack's play-by-play broadcasters), Corkedale and I all toed the line for the men's 5K at about 11pm (delayed by five hours after the race was scheduled to start) Actually the cool air of the late evening probably benefited the whole field quite a bit.  That weekend was scorching hot I recall.  Race vid here:  http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/238228-2011-Florida-Relays/video/481893-M-5k-H01-1403-Winning-Time#.VSDB8vnF9u4

3) Cip ran an inspiring anchor leg of the DMR in his first (and maybe his only ever?) collegiate 1600m/mile.  But the MVP was the lead off, Connor Revord, returning to his home state, for his first ever collegiate track race, running a solid 1200 leg, then letting BBG and Borch the Torch handle the middle stages of the race.  Vid here:  http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/238228-2011-Florida-Relays/video/482142-M-dmr-H01#.VSDCcPnF9u4

Lo and behold, four years later, I'm sharpening up for a 5K once again, only this time it will be Mt. SAC.  The alumni singlet has been getting some love over here in San Diego, by the way.  This past weekend at the Carlsbad 5000 I had the pleasure of meeting the 2006 PSU grad, and 3:38 1500m man, Matt Lincoln, who picked me out from the crowd as I was sporting the singlet on my cooldown.  Small world, eh?

Classic Scarp tactics- hanging back early.  The neon green singlets are my track club buddies.  I go rogue w/ the white jersey.

One-Mile Club

From a comment on yesterdays blog post regarding the 60th anniversary of the first sub 4 minute mile.

"Anonymous said...

Time for a shout out to all Penn State (undergrad[u] or grad[g]) Sub4 milers:
Greg Fredericks[g] 1979 US #94
Larry Mangan[u] 1980 US #103
Mike Wyatt 1980[g] US #104
Ryan Foster[u] 2011
Robbie Creese[u] 2012 US#372
Brannon Kidder[u] 2013 US#386
Owen Dawson[g] 2013 US#401
As of 4/15/2014 420 American runners have accomplished this feat." 

That let me to dig up the Penn State Track and Field media guide from 2006 which features this list of Penn Staters who have gone under, or been close to, four minutes. Since it is from 2006 the recent sub 4's are excluded from the rankings. The conversion used (presumably by "Coach" Groves) has Doug Walter and Dave McMillan under four minutes.

click image to enlarge.

 

Let the discussion, corrections, additions, and omissions continue! Staring with the addition of Matt Lincoln, his 3:38.44 from 2009 is tied with Larry Mangan for the Alumni 1500 meter record.

The "Official" PSU Track Alumni Records List: Middle Distance Section

Working with Track Records creates only slightly less statistical and categorical conundrums than working with MLB statistics.  There's always another category or variable that can be added, making it a full-time job for the most compulsive and obsessive among us.

Should we include only graduates?  Should we considers those without degrees from PSU who are still enrolled in Graduate School?  Do Indoor records count, or do they deserve a second listing?  How about conversions from yards to meters?  How about PEDs affecting any marks?

My answer to all of these is, "I don't know." (Hint: any doctor who allows themselves to utter that phrase in your presence is worthy of being your doctor.)

I have been aided and abetted in starting the list by, in order of appearance: Matt Groves (whose father kept a list that was published every year until his retirement), Artie Gilkes, Larry Mangan and some anonymous character lurking around the site.  I have expressed to each of them some thoughts and expressed my thanks for helping. Please give me input and corrections at any time.  Other Idiot Officers can attest to my occasional difficulty with facts.

We will start with the simple MENS OUTDOOR MIDDLE DISTANCE ALUMNI RECORDS (because it's what I'm used to and the simplest so far).

800 M:   Casimir Loxsom:  1:45.98  2013 (and this will probably go down in the next few weeks by Cas himself!)  I told Matt that I'm sure Randy Moore was close, and I was right! 1:46.04 1987.
Addendum: Now 1:45.75! by Cas Loxsom with more to come.

1500 M:  Larry Mangan:  3:38.44 1982. I don't think anyone has beaten this one in the years since.
Addendum from Tim Johnson: A Tie!  Matt Lincoln 3:38.44 2009.  This internet sourcing works!

Larry Mangan in Holland, 1984.

Mile:  Larry Mangan:  3:56.9  1984.  My hope is that Larry will expound upon these races via the comments.  I'd like to know more since I had already entered my hermit-phase by then!

Penn State Track Alumni Rabbits Are Everywhere

When the Fuller family vacations at the DelMarVa Shore, they take their Alumni Singlets with them and put them to good use.  Like first and third place in a local 5K, garnering local press and spreading the word of the soon-to-be largest Track Alumni Group in the world.

Kevin and Brian Fuller "down the shore"

Now, Matt Lincoln can be added to the mix of "rabbits" in the Track Alumni Golfing Universe.  He helped Nate Brannen eclipse the Canadian record in the 2K last week in York College of Canada.  He actually uses the word "pacing" instead of "rabbiting", so I hope I'm not slighting him in any way.  If I am, I'll send him a gift certificate for some Tim Horton's goodies as amends!

West Virginia Isn't the Place to Be

From what I can see, Canada is on the list for sure.  In addition to Matt Lincoln and Casimir Loxsom heading to Vancouver for the Harry Jerome Track Classic on Canada Day (Monday July 1), Mac Fleet worked out with Cas yesterday and took this picture:

Cas Loxsom lacing them up. Photo by Mac Fleet.

Maybe Kansas is near the top of the list too.  Here's Tyler McCandless, posing with Coach John Lucas's favorite Olympic athlete, Billy Mills.  Tyler won the Double Road Race in Overland this weekend.  That's a 10K and then a 5K.  Tyler's time of 30:16/14:57 is the new World Best in the event.

Billy Mills with Tyler McCandless.

Or maybe the place to be is Istanbul!  Here's Phil Passen with his wife Priscilla at the bridge between Europe and Asia.  Priscilla is from South America, so that's 4 Continents in one photo, so to speak. Phil's travels often leave ME exhausted!

Phil Passen and his wife Priscilla.

Meanwhile I'm enjoying the 1/2G* (as apposed to 3G or 4G) internet service of beautiful West Virginia.  I started this post yesterday, but it's just getting done now....

*I deem the internet service in WV "C" service, which is 1/2 of "G" or thereabouts.

A Fast 800 in Canada

Whenever there is a fast 800 M race in Canada, you can usually count on Matt Lincoln being there.  The Edmonton International Track Classic wasn't an exception. While he may not be happy with his finish, it certainly was a fast one.

  1 Nick Symmonds         United States        1:44.86^
  2 Duane Solomon         United States        1:44.91^
  3 Michael Rutt          United States        1:46.89$
  4 Geoff Harris          Canada               1:47.11$
  5 Anthony Romaniw       Canada               1:47.31$
  6 Matt Lincoln          Canada               1:50.09 
  7 Brad Bickley          Canada               1:52.99 
 -- Quinn Ferguson        Canada                 DNF 
 -- Julius Mutekanga      Uganda                 DNS 

Meanwhile, Casimir Loxsom is headed to Vancouver to join 

Matt for another fast 800?? And all I get is a trip to 

West Virginia! Let's hope the internetty thingie is 

working there this time! 

National Championships Arrive With Plenty of Nittany Lions

Photo by Mark "Beef" Heckel, Premier Field Official in America.

With places on the World Championship team at stake, the USATF Championships have finally arrived.  There are several Lions with great chances of making the team who won't be named by me in order to avoid any jinxes.

Fresh off the NCAA's, the Mens Middle Distance contingent of Brannon Kidder, Robbie Creese and Casimir Loxsom (now representing the Brooks Racing Team) find themselves in the thick of some loaded events.

Joe Kovacs and honorary member Ryan Whiting will put the shot.  Or shot the put?  I'm always so confused! (just kidding.)

Kara (Millhouse) Foster faces 25 laps of fun for the Women Distance corps along with honorary member Rebecca Donaghue in the same 10 K and Bridget Franek in the 3000 M Steeplechase.

Evonne Britton will hurdle 100 M for a shot at the team.

Lauren Kenney and Laura Loht will toss the Javelin for glory.

 And don't forget Matt Lincoln and Fawn Dorr in the Canadian Championships.

I'll bet I missed a few, so berate me in the comments to add them!

Nittany Lions Still in Action All Over the World

I'm not even talking about the three Nittany Lions heading to London in 3 weeks with our Throws Assistant Coach Ryan Whiting.

• Brady Gehret will be running the open 400 M and the 4 x 400 M Relay at the "Under 23" NACAC Championships in Guanajuato, Mexico.
• Casimir Loxsom will be running the 800 M at the same NACAC Championships.
• Joe Kovacs started his pro-career in Paris at the Samsung Diamond League Meet.  He started it in style with a second place effort!

• Matt Lincoln is in action following the Canadian Trials.  His next stop is the Hub City Classic in Moncton. 

Here's a great pic from Tyler McCandless on a trail run.  What do you call two members of the moose species?  Meeses?  And who here thinks he actually caught that thing?

 

Teddy Quinn is Our Director of Fun

Or at least would be, if we could get him to golf with us!  He may be more apt to appear next year now that I have taken PSU Track Alumni Golf onto Twitter.  He was the first of many to advise me to make the leap onto another Social Network.  It only took this confirmed hermit 3 years to get there!  Now I have to figure out how to use it to the advantage of our group.  I may even try to attract Followers by promising exclusive content, otherwise not seen in the Track Alumni Golfers Universe. Don't forget to Follow me to see what I come up with.

Speaking of Directors of Fun, here's the Charleston RiverDog's Director of Fun bringing back memories of Rick Dempsey at the venerable Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.



And let's not forget some real Track and Field content.  Here's PSU's and Canada's very own Matt Lincoln rounding into shape with a fine 3:39.32 1500M.


Watch more videos on Flotrack

PSU Alums at Penn Relays

There were many Alums competing at the Penn Relays, and also in the stands.  Soon we will outnumber the Jamaicans!

Blake Eaton won the Olympic Development Shot Put, Allen Pettner won the Olympic Development Javelin, Matt Lincoln was fourth for Canada in the USA vs. the World Distance Medlay and Shana Cox was fourth in the USA vs. the World 4 x 400 for Great Britain.

The Fullers were there (they seem to be everywhere!) both in the stands and on the track.  Also spotted on the track was Sam Borchers.  Our Chief Morale Officer (and doing a fine job BTW!) Larry Mangan was hanging out in the Jamaican section for the Saturday events, as was past winner of The Best Shot Kelley O'Brien.  Both sent me reports of the thrilling events via today's internetty thingie.  Thanks.

Here's a few of the alums out on the town in my beloved Philadelphia.  I used to own those streets myself.  I know, kinda hard to believe!

That's Christian Eck, Will Nowicki, Scott Sherwood, Dennis Pollow, Brian Fuller, John Maloney, Ryan Foster, Chris Ferry and Tim Johnson burning the town down.

A Busy Time of Year

We're in the middle of the Outdoor Track season, which is the busiest time of year for results and overall happenings. I'm not able to keep up with my day job always interfering!

I'm  always looking for a little help, and I certainly appreciate all I get from my dozens of readers!  I'm also hoping Pastor Campbell Lovett will say a word or two on my behalf!

Big, big kudos go out to Kara Millhouse for her victory at the Mt. Sac Relays 10000M run on Thursday!  Her 33:31.37 is a PR and another school record.  She unveiled her devastating kick with 800 M to go and beat a former Olympian in the process!  (I'm making her an honorary member of PSU is 800U just for that!)  She received an entry in the Performance of the Year Nominations also.  Don't forget the Nominations on the right sidebar.  They are for absolutely anything at all, not just track or XC performances.  I'm thankful at least someone remembered it was there.


Watch more video of 2012 Mt. SAC Relays on flotrack.org


There were also a trio of good performances in the 1500M at the same meet.  Alum Matt Lincoln has overcome injuries and recovered from surgery to post a great 3:43.88 as a tune-up for today's 800M.  Owen Dawson posted the best PSU related time with a splendid 3:42.54 with Robbie Creese coming in just behind in 3:46.38.

Traveling With Euros

Several PSU Track Alums(and honorary ones!) are gallivanting around Europe on the Track Circuit and are doing quite well for themselves.

Matt Lincoln has posted a couple of strong finishes in the 1500 in Belgium Meets:

• 7th Huesden 3:41.19
• 3rd Ghent 3:39.80

Rebecca Donaghue (honorary alum and alumni golfer) has PR'ed in several distances, also in Belgium:

• 3rd 5000 M Liege 15:34
• 7th 1500 M Ghent 4:12.07

Matt is shown on the left with the rest of his Canadian allies. Rebecca is shown autographing this Belgium tot's program.

As the inventor of the French Fry, I salute Belgium and envy our compatriot's success.

Penn State's Extended Family at Nationals

Bridget Franek qualified for the World Championships in Berlin with her third place finish in the 3000 M Steeplechase at the USATF Nationals. Her time of 9:36.74 is another PSU record. I hope to hear from her at the World Championships! She continues PSU's great steeplechse tradition.

Other PSU (and honorary alumi golfers!) notables in no particular order:

• Rebecca Donaghue, 5th 5000 M, 15:36.09.
• James Carney, 4th 10000 M, 28:13.37.
• Shakeema Welsch, 1st, Triple Jump, 46' 11".
• Anya Uzoh, 6th JuniorDecathlon, 6671 points.
• Matt Lincoln, 4th 1500 M, 3:49.52 in glorious and free Canada.

Any other results I missed, please let me know. As Malmo would say, "I have my best men on it!"

Penn Relays, Again (not Meat Loaf)

An all-out effort will be made next year to entice ALL of the 1985 4 X 800 Penn Relays Record Holders to attend our Reunion and Golf Outing. The record will be 25 years old and although the record may last 50 years, maybe the four of them won't! (Just kidding guys! In 50 years maybe you won't be able to golf is all I meant.)


2009 Penn Relays Highlights:

1. Fawn Dorr 57.76 400M Hurdles for a victory!
2. Women's DMR 11:25.72 - Fourth
3. Karlee McQuillen 169' 8" SecondJavelin
4. Gayle Hunter 20' 3.75" Second Long Jump
5. John Vellenoweth 16' 6.75" First Pole Vault
6. Tanner Evak 225' 6" First Javelin
7. Matt Lincoln ran the opening leg of the DMR for Canada (2:56 for 3/4 mile) in their photo- finish Second place to Kenya.
   

Canadians Successfully Invade Happy Valley Armed Only With Passports!

Matt Lincoln (l)

Matt Lincoln dug out the old passport and brought 3 of his friends down from The Great White North to invade The Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track last weekend. When allowed back into his home country, he will have to haul a lot of hardware back with him. The 4 X 800 team of Matt, Andrew Maloney, Kyle Smith and Andrew Heaney set a Canadian Indoor Record with their 7:23.13 clocking. They also teamed up for a Distance Medley victory in 9:42.99. Matt posted a 4:07.0 mile and a 1:49.2 800 meter in the relays and added a 49.2 400 in the 4X 400. (Watch out Larry!)

Canadians are held in high esteem by this blooger, owing to the invention of hockey, a great national anthem and the superb combination of Wendy's and Tim Horton's under one roof. A Wendy's triple with a side order of donuts can't be beat! (Tim Horton's name is also on The Stanley Cup!)