I'm Not Going To Tell Him It's Not OK To Cavort With Buckeyes, Are You?

We took Ryan Whiting into the Nittany Lion fold when he decided to train in State College and become a volunteer coach for PSU.  That led to some wonderful things with a multitude of throwers at Grand Ole State.  And although Ryan never did grace our Golf Tourney with his 350-yard drives he promised me, we didn't hold it against him when he moved away.

Now, of all things, Joe Kovacs has settled into Buckeye territory and even married a local.  And she became his coach AND elevated him back into the stratosphere of shot putters!  My bet is that his blood still has a blue hue no matter how many buckeyes fall into his yard.

Joe Kovacs In Buckeye Land

Notable Notables!

Darrell Hill did his compatriots in the Penn State Track and Field Alumni Universe well this weekend at the IAAF Indoor World Championships.  He snagged 6th in the world with his toss of 69' 1", edging out former Assistant Coach Ryan Whitting who finished 7th.

And be sure to check out former middle distance star Mike Pfaff in his appearance of the CBS Show Scorpion tonight at 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central!

Hi Friends... great news - I booked a fantastic role on the CBS hit show Scorpion! It airs on Monday, March 5th on CBS 10/9C. Couldn't be more grateful to join this incredible cast. Thank you to my amazing team - Mariko Ballentine (Mariko MINC) at Minc Talent and Matthew Prater and Tyler Browne at Dedicated Talent Management... you guys are the bomb.

Be sure to sign up for the 17th Annual Penn State Track Alumni Reunion and Coach Groves Golf Tourney on May 18-19!

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

"Nits At Nats"

There were 6 Nittany Lions in action at the USATF Championships in Albuquerque this past weekend.  Each were vying for a chance at a trip to Birmingham England for the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

•  Evonne Britton   60M Hurdles   12th Place   8.16
•  Rachel Fatherly   Shot Put            7th Place   55' 8.25"  
•  Brannon Kidder   1500M            6th Place     3:43.78
•  Casimir Loxsom     800M               DNF        (51.41 400M)

It has been a rough year for Casimir, but he did get his degree in December!

Men’s Heat 2  From LetsRun summary:
Cas Loxsom took things out really hard so hard that he tied up on third lap and dropped out before 600. to act as a pacer to give other runners a better shot at advancing.
24.74 Loxsom has gapped field with Brazier 5 meters back.
400 – Loxsom – 51.43 with Brazier close behind.
On back stretch of third lap, both Russell Dinkins and Brazier went by Loxsom

Video:  Cas Loxsom on his 2018 Indoor Season

• Ryan Whiting   (former Assistant Coach)  Shot Put    1st Place   67' 9"
• Darrell Hill      Shot Put        2nd Place      65' 8.25" 

That means Darrell and Ryan are headed to Birmingham!

PSU Is Shot Put U

The 2017 rankings are out and Penn State affiliated Shot Putters are high on the list again.

The US List:

• #2 Joe Kovacs - 2nd place World Championships
• #3 Darrell Hill - Diamond League Champion
• #4 Ryan Whiting - former Assistant Coach

The World  List:

• #3 Joe Kovacs
• #6 Darrell Hill
• #9 Ryan Whiting

And here's a nice article about Darrell Hill from another prominent track blog (although it has no Physics content as far as I know!)

Darrell Hill - Irrational Confidence 

And there is still a little time to vote in the 2nd and last semi-final for the  2017 Performance of the Year. Go to the full website and vote for your own top 3 on the left sidebar to put them into the Finals!

Penn State Track And Field Alumni (Golfers) In The Indoor Record Books

It is Indoor Season and all of us are looking forward to another great season from the Nittany Lions. There will be veterans hungry for top-flight performances and also some newcomers to challenge for attention.

But if we were to look back, we would find that there are plenty of Lions on the All-Time Indoor Record Books in many categories:

• World Records:  Casimir Loxsom  600M   1:14.91   2017.  (The 600M is not recognized as a sanctioned event by the IAAF, so this is a World Best.  The 600M is one of the most competed non-recognized events worldwide.)
• US Men:  Casimir Loxsom 600M on 2 different sized tracks  1:15.33 2105 and 1:14.91  2017.
• US Women  Shana Cox   500M   1:08.70   2010.
• Collegiate Men:   Isaiah Harris  600M  1:14.96   2017.
• Collegiate Men:  Brannon Kidder    1000M   2:18.26   2016.
• Collegiate Men:  Ryan Whiting   SP  71' 3.5"  2008. (Ryan was an Assistant Coach)
• Collegiate Women:  Penn State 4x200M   1:35.65  2014.
• US Junior Men:  Robby Creese    1000M  2:19.53  2012.

Nittany Lions Finish Their World Championship Performances

There were at least 5 Nittany Lions associated athletes in the IAAF World Championships.  They have all concluded their events after day 3.

• Eddie Lovett is an Assistant Coach and hurdler who represented The Virgin Islands.  He finished 5th in his Semi-Final heat in 13.67.  He ran 13.41 in his Qualifying heat to make the Semi-Finals.  That makes him the 18th best hurdler in the World.
• Isaiah Harris ran his 35th race of the year in the Semi-Finals of the 800M.  The early pace was slow and he roughly ran even splits for each 400M.  He finished 4th in his heat with a 1:46.66.  He had Auto-Qualified with a 1:45.82 second place finish in his heat. He finished officially in 17th position in the World.
• Former Assistant Coach Ryan Whiting returned to International action following last year's surgery and made the final eight in the Shot Put.  He finished in 7th with a toss of 21.09M or 69' 2 1/4".
• Darrell Hill backed up last year's Olympic appearance with an 11th place finish in the Shot Put with a heave of 20.79M or 68' 2 1/2".
• Despite a final toss that could have been the winner, Joe Kovacs again had a minor touch of the top of the board and had to settle for 2nd in the Shot Put. 71' 3/4" Congrats, Joe!

Silver Medalist Joe Kovacs!

Darrell Hill

Isaiah Harris

A Lull In The Action

As we await the start of the IAAF World Championships on Friday (and the start of the XC season at PSU) here's a reminder of PSU ties.

Remember, PSU has 4 athletes in action at the World Championships:

• Isaiah Harris  800M  currently ranked 9th in the world!  1:44.53
• Darrell Hill    Shot Put   currently ranked 7th in the world!  71' 10 3/4"
• Joe Kovacs   Shot Put  currently ranked 2nd in the world   74'  3/4"
• Ryan Whiting   Shot Put   currently ranked 11th in the world   70' 8"

Schedule:

• Shot Put Qualifying   Saturday, August 5th   5:00AM Eastern
• 800M Qualifying      Saturday, August 5th   7:45AM Eastern 
• 800M  Semi-Finals   Sunday, August 6th  4:15PM Eastern
• Shot Put Finals          Sunday, August 6th  3:35PM Eastern 
• 800M Finals              Tuesday, August 8th   4:35PM  Eastern     

Isaiah Harris

Darrell Hill

Joe Kovacs

Ryan Whiting

The Newest Professional Nearly Topped The Rest Of The Nittany Lions!

The last Meet in the Tracktown Summer Series was last night in NYC.  Turns out that Tori Gerlach, the newest professional Nittamny Lion Alumnus, was second in the 5K Road Race!  Congrats Tori.

She was topped by Darrell Hill in the Shot Put, who placed first ahead of former Assistant Coach Ryan Whiting.  Evonne Britton placed fourth in the 100M Hurdles, while Cas Loxsom placed eighth in the 800M.

4

Evonne BRITTON

New York Empire

12.97

1 Darrell HILL San Francisco Surge 20.87m (68-5¾ ) 2 Ryan WHITING Philadelphia Force 20.73m (68-¼ )

8 Casimir LOXSOM New York Empire 1:47.34

2

Tori GERLACH

Portland Pulse

16:11.60

We Need A Coorespondent For The Tracktown Finale!

Only 1 week left to get your PSU Track Alumni Jacket, t-shirts and Rain Pants at the group store!  Use the code PSUTFAL.

My brief vacation to West Virginia is already over and I'm headed back to the salt mine.  The Tracktown Summer Series' West Coast events are over and they are headed east to NYC for the Final event at Icahn Stadium.  I'm looking for anyone going to be our Official Corespondent?


 Nittany Lions competed in both the San Francisco and the Portland Meet:

4

Evonne BRITTON

100M Hurdles  New York Empire

13.05

8 Casimir LOXSOM 800M New York Empire 1:47.42 1 Ryan WHITING Shot Put Philadelphia Force 21.14m (69-4¼ ) 3 Darrell HILL Shot Put San Francisco Surge 20.83m (68-4¼ )

West Virginia Campsite.

Three, Er... Four To London

The top echelon of the USATF Shot Put was nearly a Penn State Reunion.  And that Reunion will be traveling to London in early August!

With the 2nd place finish by former current World Champion Joe Kovacs and the fourth place finish by Olympian Darrell Hill, you would think PSU had a lock on the event.  But then you have to add the third place finisher Ryan Whiting who was a past Assistant Coach at "dear ole State".  With the exemptions available to past Champions, the USA gets 4 bids to the IAAF Shot Put Championships!

So, three Nittany Lions are headed to the Games?  But wait, there's more! 

With a really smart race (and really all three races were smart), Isaiah Harris took advantage of the absence of Clayton Murphy (who tried to do too much in the heat) and cruised into second place in the 800M with an almost even split 1:44.53!  (51.87 and 52.66)  That's the new School Record for the SOPHOMORE.

The "almost" Alumni Singlet is always appreciated!

Alumni (Golfers) In The News

Brannon Kidder ran a PR 1500M last weekend in the Asics Furman Elite 1500.  His 3:38.79 is the equivalent of a 3:55 or so Mile, which is significantly longer than his preferred distance!

And 3 Nittany Lions were drafted into the Tracktown Series of 3 meets with the Final meet to be held at Icahn Stadium in New York and televised on ESPN.

• Ryan Whiting (former Asst. Coach) Shot Put - Philadelphia Force
• Darrell Hill  Shot Put - San Francisco Surge
• Casimir Loxsom  800M - New York Empire 
• Others may be joining the fray as Free Agents...

2017 SCHEDULE

JUNE 29 – San Francisco
JULY 2 – Portland
JULY 6 – New York City

You Can Go Home Again

Joe Kovacs made it back to hometown Nazareth, PA and to the game between Nazareth and Bethlehem Catholic, his alma mater.  He received a hero's welcome from both sides, something we rarely see in these times!

And he has a little more spending money, as three former Nittany Lion Shot Put specialists received a little extra spending money from the concluded Diamond League events.

• Joe Kovacs - 35th overall money winner,  $39,000
• Darrell Hill - 267th overall, $7000
• Ryan Whiting - 409th overall, $4000

Throwers Back In Europe: And Why Time Flies!

PSU Big Men, including Darrell Hill, Joe Kovacs and Ryan Whiting* all traveled to Paris for the Diamond League Meet last weekend.

Ryan was 4th, Darrell was 6th, and Joe was 8th.
That means the current overall standing are:

  1.  Tom WALSH (NZL)

  2.  Joe KOVACS (USA)

  3.  Kurt ROBERTS (USA)

  4.  Konrad BUKOWIECKI (POL)

  5.  Tomasz MAJEWSKI (POL)

  6.  Tim NEDOW (CAN)

  7.  Michal HARATYK (POL)

  8.  Darrell HILL (USA)

  9.  Reese HOFFA (USA)

10. David STORL (GER)

 

 

And every year goes faster and faster, doesn't it?  Well here's 2 explanations why:

Why Does Time Go Faster As We Get Older?

Why half of the life you experience is over by age 7

*  Yeah, yeah, so he didn't actually go to PSU...

This Doesn't Mean Penn State Will Have 20 Olympians This Year!

But 2 on the first day of 10 is rather great, isn't it?

It certainly is a rare day when news that 3 Nittany Lions made the 16 man Semi-Finals of the 800M Olympic Trials (later today!) isn't enough for a PSU is 800U headline.

•  Isaiah Harris - winner heat 3   (53.37)  1:47.60 
• Brannon Kidder - 3rd heat 2    (52.86)   1:46.22
• Casimir Loxsom - 2nd heat 3   (53:06)   1:47.76

And this doesn't rise to the level high enough to warrant a headline! Because PSU nearly dominated the Shot Put Finals. Those formerly affiliated with PSU finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th!!

• Joe Kovacs - 2nd     (21.95)   72' 1/4" Olympian!
• Darrell Hill - 3rd      (21.63)  70' 11"   Olympian!
• Ryan Whiting - 4th  (20.89)  69' 6 1/2"  (former assistant coach)
• with my contemporary PSU thrower Mark Heckel ringside as an Official!

Some pics stolen from many sources...

Joe Kovacs.

Isaiah Harris, Brannon Kidder.

Pic from Mark Horton.

Passion from Big Homie!

Brannon Kidder's first appearance for Brooks Beasts.

Darrell Hill, Coach Art Venegas and Joe Kovacs.

Podium pic with winner Ryan Crouser.

Power, grace, humility, finesse and a Lion's roar!

It's Olympic Trials Starting Today

We have another insider at the Trials this year.  Mark "Beef" Heckel is there as a Field Official and will be allowing us use of his pics to spread to our audience.  He has the pleasure of hanging around with PSU's Big Men at the Shot Put.  What the heck, let's have all three make the team!

• Joe Kovacs
• Darrell Hill
• Ryan Whiting (former assistant coach)

Big Homie

Joe Kovacs

Exciting Times For Shot Put U

More than one person tweeted out "Clean World Record" after yesterday's Shot Put competition at the Diamond League Meet in Monaco.  Congrats to Joe Kovacs in surpassing the 74 foot barrier (74' 1/4")!  And Ryan Whiting is rounding into shape also.

And don't forget that Darrell Hill is finishing up his preparations for the Pan-Am Games.

Diamond League Update

The latest Diamond League Track and Field Meet was in Lausanne, CH (Switzerland), a place I have actually been!  Several Nittany Lions were there.

Bridget Franek was 10th in the 3000M SC in 9:40.53

Joe Kovacs was second in the Shot Put with 21.71M (71 feet, 2 3/4 inch)
Ryan Whiting was sixth in the Shot Put with 20.83M (68 feet, 1/8 inch)

Teammates Once More

I was anticipating a big day for PSU on the last day of the USATF Championships.  And everyone came through with great performances.  Joe Kovacs defended his Shot Put Championship on his birthday and Casimir Loxsom held on for third in the 800M off of a blistering 50.00 second first 400M.  They now become teammates again and are headed to the Bird's Nest in Beijing, China.

Never, ever eat bird nest soup.

Chasing Solomon to a a 50.00 first 400M.

Cas Loxsom, with Ryan Foster and Coach John Gondak.

Here's the stats of a great day for PSU, with Darrell Hill garnering 6th with a near PR and Ryan Whiting a half inch back in 7th.

1    Joe Kovacs            Shot Put       21.84M  (71' 8"))
6    Darrell Hill            Shot Put       20.80M  (68' 3")
7    Ryan Whiting*      Shot Put       20.79M  (68' 2 1/2")
3    Casimir Loxsom    800M           1:45.35

And we had a big bump in readership when George Brose featured my story of the 24-Hour Relay "24-Hours in Hell" on his Award-Winning Track and Field Blog. I would love to hear any more stories of that event from everyone!  Thanks, George!

*Although not an ex-Nittany Lion, Ryan is an Assistant Coach and has trained in Happy Valley for many years, grooming several big guys to prominence.

The Right Coast Had A Big Track Meet Too

With all the attention on Eugene and the NCAA Championships (PSU Men = 10th!) it was easy to forget the Diamond League Meet in NYC.

But PSU was there too!  A couple of the Big Men were represented in the Shot Put:

Joe Kovacs wins the Diamond League Shot Put at NYC.

1.	Joe KOVACS	USA	89	21.67  (71' 1.15")
2.	Jordan CLARKE	USA	90	21.34
3.	Tom WALSH	NZL	92	21.16
4.	O'Dayne RICHARDS	JAM	88	21.00
5.	Reese HOFFA	USA	77	20.85
6.	Ryan WHITING	USA	86	20.15  (66' 1.30")

And Bridget Franek had a Season Best Steeple also:

1.	Hiwot AYALEW	ETH	90	9:25.26
2.	Ashley HIGGINSON	USA	89	9:31.32
3.	Sviatlana KUDZELICH	BLR	87	9:31.70
4.	Genevieve LACAZE	AUS	89	9:35.17
5.	Geneviève LALONDE	CAN	91	9:35.69
6.	Bridget FRANEK	USA	87	9:36.88

And Shana Cox was 2nd in the 400M!

1.	DeeDee TROTTER	USA	82	51.96
2.	Shana COX	GBR	85	52.62

PSU Big Guys Steal Thunder at Pre Classic's First Day

1 Kovacs , Joe                     USA      22.12   World Leader   
    2 Storl , David                    GER      21.92   Season Best    
    3 Whiting , Ryan                   USA      21.37 Season Best