Phabulous Phriday in Philly

And our Interns were there!

There were many highlights at the Carnival's second day.  Until the decision to withdrawal from the Sprint Medley Relay late in the day, Penn State was on track to be represented in ALL Championship of America Relays. The 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 teams all qualified for the finals in action on Phriday!

But of course, the highlight for us was the victory in the Distance Medley Relay by the Nittany Lion quartet of Robby Creese (1200M), Alex Shisler (400M), Isaiah Harris (800M) and Brannon Kidder (1600M) in the time of 9:35.51 !  All photos from unpaid intern Phil Passen except the last one!

Brannon Kidder leading the tall Ahmed Bile of Georgetown.

Wheels Up!

A happy bunch.

Robby Creese in lane 2 eyes the competition.

Intrepid (unpaid) Intern Phil Passen.

Alex Shisler with the lead!

Victory! (Photo by W&M Alum Tim O'Dowd via Brian Mount.)

And with Robby, Brannon and Alex graduating, PSU certainly needs to reload some talent.  But never fear, WE SEEM TO HAVE THAT COVERED!


Nittany Lion recruit Michael Slagowski of Rocky Mountain High School (ID) became the ninth prep runner to dip below the four-minute mark in the mile today. He ran 3:59.53 at the Nike Jesuit Relays in Portland, Oregon.

Slagowski, who ran a solo 1:48.70 800m earlier this year, formerly owned a 4:05.71 personal best for the mile. His performance today marked the fourth sub-four-minute mile run by a prep in the past calendar year.

Future Nittany Lion.

A Day For Blogging, And A Little Podiatry Thrown In

With the monumental snow still snarling most of York, I am here at "work" mostly twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the occasional patient.  This gives me time for what I really enjoy... Blogging about Track and Field and motivating other alums into attending our Reunion and Golf Tourney.

Efforts are already underway to expand upon the 800U meme that has acquainted us with Olympic Silver Medalist Yevgeni Arzhanov.  Phil Passen's embrace of "the beautiful sport" led him to Yevgeni and Phil is efforting to expand upon his brief reply to our questions previously posted!

And the string of Phil to Yevgeni has extended further, with Once Upon a Time In the Vest's George Brose getting me in touch with Sid Sink, All-American Steeplechaser and roommate of Dave Wottle at Bowling Green University.  I am about to message Dave in hopes he will also accept an honorary membership in our Alumni Group with Sid, as Bowling Green no longer even has a team!  This could lead to some great discussion on training and its changes over the years and hopefully more.  Keep your fingers crossed!

It turns out that Sid Sink was the coach of both of Bridget Franek's parents (Tom & Rosalie Franek) at Bowling Green.  It is no wonder that he describes her parents as "very good distance runners". Here's a couple of articles about Sid (and Dave Wottle), our latest Honorary Member!

Retired coach was world-class runner at BGSU

The Age of Innocence 

Murph Byrne, Bob McComber, Sid Sink, Rick Schnittker, Dave Wottle & Steve Danforth

 

 

Chief Laundry and Morale Officer Larry Mangan also is quite pleased with our latest couple of posts.  He relates that news of Yevgeni completes a weird trifecta involving him and each of the 1972 Olympic 800M medalists.  He was recruited by Dave Wottle at Walsh College and had the pleasure of occasional distance runs with Mike Boit while in Eugene, Oregon. 

I am literally astounded how almost every one of us is linked to each other in this glorious world of Track and Field, despite many miles and even time itself!

We Welcome The 1972 Mens Olympic 800M Silver Medalist From Afar As An Honorary Member of 800U

Phil Passen somehow found Yevgeni Arzhanov ( Евгений Аржанов) of the Ukraine (USSR back then) on this vast and wonderful internet.  He sent me a link and wondered if we should add him to our Group as an honorary member of our "800U".

Since I have nothing to do and am stuck inside with more than 2 feet of snow outside, I figured it was a very good idea.  Yevgheni was the leader of what I consider the world's most exciting race of all-time. He led until at least the last 1/2 inch!

We have featured that race on the blog before.  I have watched it maybe 100 times over the years.  And I still think that the next time I watch it, Yevgeni will finally win it.  Let's watch it together and see if Dave Wottle can pass him this time...





I'm hoping I can get some comments and memories from Yevgeni in the near future.

More Wristbands, Both Near and Far

It seems that bon vivant Phil Passen finally made it back from Israel, but not before sending one more pic from one of its more stable and secure borders (with Jordan).

Welcome back, Phil.

And we noted before that potential Group Physicist Ron Moore took his wrist band on a 50 mile tour in the woods.  Here's proof as he "sprints" toward the finish!

It's there, zoom in.

You go, Ron!

Our Proxy Tour of Israel Continues

Phil Passen missed our Golf Tourney (Again!), but has a wonderful excuse of being overseas.  He has sent us some excellent Wrist Band photos from the real Bible Belt.

The lowest Point on Earth. Matching my golf prowess.

The Israeli Army has our back.