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 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