National Indoor Masters Championship For Phil Caraher

 A well-earned dominant performance in the over-50 division at the NY Armory.  This guy works hard and carries the mirth of our group with him always.

Phil Caraher

Unattached

15.59m

That's 51 feet 1 3/4 inches for those of us that made it through the gas wars of 1975-1977.  We were hardy souls (soles?) who systematically rejected the world's efforts at converting to the metric system despite the efforts of President Jimmy Carter.  Even his brother Billy drank 12 oz. cans of beers to thwart his famous kin.

Nice job Phil!

 

 

 

Indoor Season Has Arrived

Some Nittany Lions saw their first action of the season at the Bison Opener at Bucknell. The six total athletes combined for seven first places!

But I am not here to bring you the particulars of that meet.  I would rather tout the opening season exploits of one of our very own.

Phil Cararher opened his 30th-whatever season with the longest throw ever by a 49 year-old American!  His best put landed 50' 7.5" from the circle at the Appalachian State Open.  Well done, Big Guy. And he is looking for much more this season.

Phil overseeing an athlete at his fitness facility.

Coach Groves Gets Some All-American Visits During Olympics Time

In addition to the daily visit from our own All-American Course Monitor Greg Fredericks, Coach Groves also received some additional visits from several others while enjoying some fine Olympics Track and Field Action this weekend.

Here Coach shows off our group's highest honor, The Rusty Boot, to Steve Balkey and Steve Shisler, among others.  Bob Hudson was also around.

Fill me in on who the others are!

News from Steve Balkey, always right on top of things:  That's David McMillen, center, a formidable 1500M to 10K runner from South Africa, and Randy Moore, right!  I was ashamed to not recognize Randy, but I haven't seen him in quite a while.  Wonder if he remembers that great Christmas Party in Center City Philly we had in 1984-1985 or so?  And I'll bet he doesn't recognize me either!

And Phil Caraher and family made the long trip from North Carolina to see Coach.

Phil Caraher with a new T-Shirt!

But that wasn't all for Phil, as he apparently went golfing with Coach Bill Whittaker.  I have always said that it just isn't fair practicing for the next Coach Groves Tournament!

PSU Is Shot Put U

We all have been thrilled with the exploits of Rachel Fatherly, Joe Kovacs, Ryan Whiting and Darrell Hill lately.  PSU sure has been making a case to be Shot Put U.

And now, our Group's Alums are jumping back into "The Ring"!

Phil Caraher.

Masters Thrower Phil Caraher mixed it up with his younger college brethren this past weekend and topped 50 feet with his heave of 50' 1" to place 5th.  That ranks him highly in the US All-Time Master's Category even after a long lay-off from the sport.

Here's an old Collegian Article on Phil filling the shoes of CJ Hunter, a mighty fine role to have. Phil now runs Triangle Sports Performance Center in Durham NC.

Way to go Phil!

A Roundup of PSU Track Alumni News, Plus A Physics Board Game!

As a catch-up for plenty of submissions from astute readers of the blog, lurkers and other assorted miscreants, here is a mish mash of items.

First up is from Brian Mount, our William and Mary Roving Coorespondent, who "ran into" some Fuller Brothers in a race in Chambersburg.  As he put it, "The Glass was 2/3 Fuller" with Brian placing third in 31:31 and Kevin 8th in 34:07 for the 10K race.  Alas, no Alumni Singlet sightings as they are apparently sponsored now by an underwater treadmill company or stole some uniforms. Hee hee hee

Next, Phil Caraher has opened a new Fitness Enterprise in the Wonderland that is North Carolina.  I wish him the best of luck. Triangle Sports Performance Center is in good hands.

Speaking of North Carolina, Alan Scharsu recently moved from San Diego to North Carolina.  Those of you nearby need to get a hold of him and let him know he's welcome! And he promises it's close enough to make it to the Coach Groves Golf Tourney!

Tyler McCandless recently was interviewed for a Podcast about his eccentric pro running career.  Check it out here.

And as promised, here's Physics in a Board Game!  Although for most of us, it's probably just a bored game.

And don't forget to vote in the Semi-Finals of the Performance of the Year.  You must go to the full web site to see the poll on the left side-bar.  Vote for three.  The next Semi-Final will be next week and the Finals will be between Christmas and New Year.  So bookmark the site and return often!