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.

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

Nittany Lions In The News

First up is Ricky Garcia with a C-Span 3 documentary about George Washington's Alexadria Home, which Ricky just happens to live in.

The documentary will air this evening at 6:00PM and 10:00PM (ET):

Archaeology at George Washington's Alexandria Property

George Washington owned a townhouse in Alexandria, Virginia. We visit the property, currently owned by Rick Garcia, to hear about his family’s connection to the Washingtons and the archaeology of two recently-discovered wells in their basement.

Airing Sunday, Apr 15 6:00pm EDT on C-Span 3

And second up is Megan McCloskey with a 2018 John Oswald Award!

Athletics
Megan McCloskey, who is majoring in advertising and public relations in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications*, was one of 20 Penn State students selected in 2017 to the Parmi Nous honor and tradition society. Students are selected for exceptional involvement with the University.
She is team captain of the varsity track and field team where she was twice selected as academic All-American, Big Ten Scholar, Big Ten Conference Championship High Jump Medalist and NCAA Championship Qualifier.

As president and events coordinator for the Fit for Fritz fundraiser, McCloskey was responsible for planning, promoting and executing an event that raised more than $40,000 in four years. The event honors assistant coach Fritz Spence and assists people battling cancer.
McCloskey was a marketing intern in 2017 for SEI Investments Company and in 2016 for Chartwell Investment Partners.
Her leadership opportunities include:

● NCAA student-athlete voting representative for the Big Ten Conference

● President and special events and outreach chair for the Penn State Student Athlete Advisory Board

● President of Penn State Athletes Take Action, a group that works with middle school students to enforce the importance of positive communication at an early age
“Megan has the gift of communication, leadership and team-building, and she has chosen to share those gifts with Penn State and those around her,” a nominator said. “She is the person I think of when I hear people talk about Penn State’s inspired doers. Megan will surely go on to do great things in her career and life. And she will continue to be a fine representative of the very best of Penn State.”

Megan McCloskey also won the high jump yesterday at the Bison Invitational at Bucknell with her leap of 5' 10"!

* I have told the story before of meeting Donald P. Bellisario in my elective 400-level documentary film class in 1981.  I famouslyy asked him if he was embarrassed to be working in a medium that was interrupted every 7 minutes to sell products?  The class gasped, turned around to stare at the idiot they did not know (I was a biology major) who had asked such an insolent question of one of Penn State's largest benefactors.  Mr. Belliasario chuckled and replied immediately that he thinks 7 minutes with a break is all human beings are able to tolerate.  I smiled and sealed my "C" in the class, despite earning a "B".

Something Old(er), Something New(er), Both Are Borrowed, Both Wear Blue

I really appreciate submissions from my HUNDREDS of readers!  And I just got 2 that seem to mesh together in a good way.  Thanks to our good friends Coach Bill Preston and Bob Hudson.

First up is an article promoting the upcoming Reunion of Track and Field greats from the New York metro area in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Glory Days

Fred Singleton handing off to Mike Sands at the 1974 Penn Relays.

Before college, Sands was a sprinting ace for Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay High School. He ran for the Bahamas in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Today, he runs the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations.

 And a brand new article in the Penn Stater highlights Megan McCloskey!

Leaping Lion

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

Fit For Fritz: A Guest Post From The Team

The recent story about the near miraculous finding of Fritz Spence's ring by a friend and co-worker at my surgery center has expanded the reach of the blog to a new audience and become the biggest post in the last year.

But behind it all is the miracle and good news of Fritz Spence himself.  Megan McCloskey, a current high jumper for the Nittany Lions is spearheading the efforts to help other families that find themselves in situations that Fritz has now faced twice.

My name is Megan McCloskey, and I am a senior high jumper on the Penn State Track & Field team. I am reaching out to you all to share some information on PSUTF’s main fundraiser each year, Fit For Fritz. If you still keep up with the team, you may be familiar with these fundraising efforts for our beneficiary, The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge.

Back in December 2008, Coach Fritz Spence (Women’s Jumps & Multis) was diagnosed with leukemia. After receiving treatment, and remaining cancer free for almost 5 years, Coach Spence relapsed in July of 2013. At this time, PSUTF athletes came together to help raise money for Coach Spence and his family. This ultimately became known as the Fit For Fritz Walk-a-Thon. This fundraiser meant everything to the Spence family during their difficult time.

Along with the help of the track & field team, the Hershey Hope Lodge provided Coach Spence and his family a place to stay for free while he was undergoing treatment.  Today, Coach Spence is healthy and looking to give back and help out others who are going through what he and his family went through. This is why we continue Fit For Fritz as an annual event, 4 years later.

We have 2 main goals for Fit For Fritz:
    1) Raise money for our beneficiary, The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge, in Hershey PA  We raised $11,700 last year. Our goal this year is $13,000.
    2) Get students and community members registered for the bone marrow registry through our partner, Be The Match.

Our 5th Annual Fit For Fritz event will be held November 5, 2017 from 11am-3pm at the indoor track. As part of this event, we will be hosting a 1 mile community walk, along with fitness challenges, karaoke, raffles, and more. We invite you to join us that day and help us support such an honorable and important cause. You can register for the walk through this link: https://goo.gl/forms/ajgfn96TFYsCShlb2 (no registration fee -- just suggested donation!)

If you are unable to attend, but would still like to show your support, we encourage you to visit our donation website, where you can make a general donation to the event, or donate under a current PSUTF athlete's page (by clicking on the list of participants in blue).

For more information on Fit For Fritz, check out our website, where you can read Coach Spence’s story, which he wrote himself.

Please also feel free to follow Fit For Fritz on social media, through the following links:
    our Twitter account 
    our Facebook page
   
We are very excited about Fit For Fritz this year, and hope you will help us make a difference for individuals and families battling cancer.

Thanks so much!

Megan McCloskey