Alumni Excel

Future (?) Official Group Co-Physicist Ron Moore helped his team to a victory in the Run to the Coast Relay in New Hampshire today.  He was joined by PSU Track Alum (Golfers) Mark Wimmer and Mike Castillo.  Ron had several splits near the 10 MPH mark!  For help with converting that, consult your local Physicist, they know all the formulas!

In addition, PSU Track Alumni Reunion attendee Bob "Scrap Heap" Osterhoudt fared quite well in his season end Championships, placing first in the 80 M Hurdles competitions in Lisle, Illinois and St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.  Bob competes in the 70-75 yo category.  His times were 14.83 and 14.46.  He only regrets the fact that he failed to get his Alumni Singlet in time for the competitions.  Something tells me he'll have plenty of chances to spread the word of the largest and most active Track Alumni Group in the World!

Congrats to Shavon Greaves who was hired as Assistant Coach at Wagner College, where she will also pursue her Graduate Degree.  Congrats!

Big Ten Championships

Shavon Greaves in the 200 M and the 4 X 400 Relay squad of Greaves, Doris Anyanwu, Ijeoma Iheoma and Megan Duncan captured individual Big Ten Championships at the Indoor meet.  Caitlin Lane placed second in the mile with her PR.  The Women's Team placed second overall.

On the Men's side, Joe Kovacs uncorked a monster shot put to win the event, his first.  His heave was the second longest in PSU history.  Ryan Foster won his third consecutive 800 M title.  Both Brady Gehret and Cas Loxsom snagged second places, as the men placed 6th in the Big Ten.

On to the NCAA Championships

Bridget Franek winning the Steeplechase. (Photo from Michael Scott.)

Fifteen individuals and 2 Relays qualified for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.  Some of the usual suspects and a couple of great surprises.  Nine women and six men will make the trek to Oregon's fabled Hayward Field.

Because of Bridget Franek's win in the steeplechase, she will toe the line in the event as the favorite.  Three also qualified in the 400 Hurdles with Fawn Dorr, Megan Duncan and Evonne Britton moving on.  The Sprints are also well represented with Aleesha Barber, Shavon Greaves.  Bianca Fung also qualified in the long jump and Karlee McQuillen tossed the javelin to third place booking her ticket to Oregon.

The Men also impressed, placing six individuals into the Championships.  800 U qualified two in the event, with Casimir Loxsom and Ryan Foster two-lapping into the next round. In the distances, Tyler McCandless ran a strong 10000 M to move on.

My emphasis on the track aspects of PSU Track and Field led a few Field Eventers to mildly protest at the Reunion, so here is another headline just for you!

Penn State Field and Track Team Impresses Crowd

In the Shot Put, Joe Kovacs and Blake Eaton both qualified for a trip to the West Coast.  Ryan Fritz also jumped at his chance of moving on and tied for first in the High Jump.

Back in the Saddle Again

Following the third place finish in the 4 X 800 at Penn Relays, the 800 U boys jumped right back up on the horse and thrilled spectators at the Payton Jordan Invitational on Saturday.  Cas Loxsom excelled and posted the top NCAA 800 M time so far this year with a 1:46.74 effort!  Ryan Foster also did not disappoint with a 1:47.78.  Lionel Williams rounded out the PSU performances with a 1:49.33 in the event.


Bridgit Franek again threatened the record book with her 15:46.8 in the 5000 M,  off the record of Kathy Mills from 1978 by 13 seconds. Sam Borchers is also rounding into shape,  posting a 3:46.67 in the 1500 M. 

The sprinters traveled to Ohio State where Fawn Dorr and Shavon Greaves both won 2 events apiece.  Dorr demolished the field in the 400 M and the 400 M hurdles while Greaves bested all in the 100 M and 200 M. Additionally, Karlee McQuillen won the javelin for the second week in a row.

The Nittany Lions have a home meet next week in preparation for the Big Ten Championships the following week.

Sometimes it takes more than one attempt to get it right.  This guy had to get back on the horse twice after failing to do a back-flip on a mega-ramp with a Big Wheel! Keep up the hard work and good things will happen.

PSU is Still 800 U

Ryan Foster defended his 800 M title at the Indoor Big Ten Mens Track and Field Championships in Minnesota on Sunday, keeping the interest up for a great 4 X 800 Relay at Penn this year. Congrats Ryan, keep it up. Tell the rest of the middle distance gang we're pulling for them too.

In other 800 M news, Steve Black will be appearing in another upcoming film, The Magenta Shamrock, playing one of the lead roles. He has recently appeared in the trailer for the remake of the "worst movie ever made" (Plan 9 from Outer Space). He has also recently appeared in an episode of The Bureau, many television commercials and the miniseries John Adams.

I took the whole family to the Women's Big Ten champs and all were impressed with Shavon Greaves, Fawn Dorr and Bridget Franek's efforts on the first day. My dad, a long-time track aficionado, was also impressed with the chess-like strategy involved in getting the victory. He was impressed with the entire coaching staff and the organization involved.

Wow!

Ryan Foster started the Indoor Track seaon in great form with a School Record, Australian National Record and World Leading time in the 1000M on Saturday. His 2:19.60 time obliterated the old record. I can't wait for the upcoming 4 X 800 races this year! There were also impressive performances from Shavon Greaves and Fawn Dorr.

The National Record by Ryan allows me to segue to the introduction of our "Hall of Honor" for the Coach Harry Groves Golf Tournament. It will be sort of like the Baseball Hall of Fame except for the voters, steroids, fame and millions of dollars! Final qualifications are not yet complete, but preliminary entries might include:

1. Those who appear on The Cup more than once, (so even shlubs like me have a prayer).
2. Any Olympian, All-American, National Champion or National Record Holder that participates* in one of our events.

Fine tuning of these criteria can certainly be done. Let me know by comment or email. Comments on the blog are now moderated to avoid the recent introduction of ads for "male enhancement", Nigerian Bank scams and ads for Ugg Boots. The process is painless and necessary, unfortunately. Maybe now that we are in the top 150,000 most read blogs, it's a price we must pay! (I'm making fun of myself, for those of you who don't know. My blog is still worth $0.00, a value I hope to maintain.)

And those of you that have been patiently waiting for your t-shirts and wrist bands can rest assured they are on their way Monday. Sorry for the delay.

*participation is loosely defined and subject to bribery!

A Fine Season Indeed

The NCAA Outdoor Championships just concluded with a 14th place finish by the PSU Women. There were notable All-American performances by Penn State on both the Men's and Women's sides.

Fawn Dorr- 400 meter hurdles, 57.43, sixth place.
Gayle Hunter- Heptathlon, 5797 pts., fifth place.
Clarence Smith- Triple Jump, 52' 6", eighth place.
Bridget Franek- 3000 m Steeplechase, 9:48.57, fourth place.
Ryan Foster- 800 m, 1:47.91, eighth place, (previous 1:46.78 PR in semi-finals).
Women's 4 X 400 m Relay- (Aleesha Barber, Shavon Greaves, Gayle Hunter, Fawn Dorr), 3:30.34, fourth place.

Kudos to Head Coach Beth Alford-Sullivan, who was named the Indoor Big Ten's Women's Coach of the Year. And also a special thank-you for Middle Distance Coach John Gondak for bringing PSU back to being 800 U! Let's hope he promotes our one-of-a-kind PSU is 800 U t-shirts! And I can't wait to find out if any of the coaches can golf next year.

Championship Week

A second and two-third place finishes topped the indoor season for PSU at the NCAA Meet. The Women placed 7th overall, first among the Big Ten.
Gayle Hunter set a school record in the Pentathlon with 4342 points. Ryan Fritz placed third in the high jump to lead the Men.

Others garnering All-American Honors included Bridgit Franek in the 5000 M, and the Women's 4 X 400 M Relay squad with Fawn Dorr, Aleesha Barber, Shavon Greaves and Gayle Hunter. The Men's Distance Medley quartet just missed 8th place by less than 2/10ths of a second.

In the USATF 15 K Championships, James Carney placed 10th in 44:13 and honorary PSU Track Alum Golfer Rebecca Donaghue placed 8th in 51:05.

Addendum: Odds for a hole-in-one at our tourney have been figured at (40 X 4/12,750) or 1 in 78. Good luck, and you can't win if you don't play!