Homecoming Means Coming "Home" And A Visit With Coach Groves

A Home meet during Homecoming week means a Friday meet.  That means many of us can't swing it. But many certainly did!  Yesterday's Penn State National attracted many Track alums.

The meet went well, especially for the Women, who topped all teams, multiple ranked teams.

In her fourth race donning the Blue & White, Julia Paternain crossed the finish line in 20:30, which marks her third win of the season, two of which have come at the Blue-White Golf Course. Just 11 seconds after Paternain finished the race, sophomore Alison Willingmyre (Wernersville, Pa.) completed the 6k course in 20:41 to finish fifth overall.
Along with Paternain and Willingmyre, Danae Rivers (Derby, Conn.) and Kathryn Munks (Chester, N.Y.) both tallied top-15 finishes. For Rivers, she ran 20:48 to place seventh and Munks took 15th in 21:01. Moria O'Shea (Greensburg, Pa.) rounded out the scoring for the Blue & White as she ran 21:16 to finish 35th.

In the men's 5.2-mile run, the Nittany Lions ran to a 10th-place finish as a team with a score of 252 points. Individually, Colin Abert (Easton, Pa.) paced the Nittany Lion harriers as he placed 10th with a time of 25:17.
In addition to Abert, Alex Tomasko (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) finished 43rd with a time of 25:47 and John McGowan (Northport, N.Y.) took 53rd in 25:54. Underclassmen Isaac Davis (Cogan Station, Pa) and Owen Wing (State College, Pa.) rounded out the scoring as they finished 71st (26:08) and 87th (26:14), respectively.

Homecoming Visit: Steve Walsh and Dan Curran. Photo by Greg Fredericks.

Julia Paternain. Photo by Tom Shiffer.

Womens Start. Photo by Tom Shiffer.

Steve Shisler, Bob Hudson, John McGraw and Tom Shiffer.

Lives Are Always Changing. And The "Experts" Tell Me That This Is A Good Thing

As a lifelong York Countian, I am averse to any change.  And yet change is inevitable.  Qualified people in various professions tell me this is as wonderful thing, and should be embraced and celebrated.  But that doesn't take away the fear of the unknown.  But we must all dive in at some point!

Rob Whiteside conquered his fear and went on a lifetime quest with his daughter to traverse the entire Appalachian Trail.  He prepared for this over years, and just dipping a toe into the cold, cold waters of change occasionally.  And yet looking back, he did prepare well enough to actually do it!  Rob and both of his daughters are probably the only people on planet earth who have walked every single road in Princeton, NJ.  So I am confident that Rob and Phoebe will be the world's only people to trek the Trail and have seen every inch of Princeton!

Well, ALMOST do it, as he is now entering Maine in the final couple of hundred miles of tough, rugged hiking.  I was invited to tag along on his quest a long time ago, as I am a fan of the Trail overall.  But in the same way I am a fan of Mt. Everest.  I will never do either, but I have extreme interest in both.  And admiration for the brave, brave folks who conquer themselves and the target of their fears.

Rob took a break for one day after topping Mt. Washington, scene of America's worst weather.  He was pleased to have some of the best weather there that can possibly be.  My vibes must have worked...

Morning in New Hampshire..

And Stephen Walsh has decided to enter a new phase of life also.  He has ended his track coaching career at William and Mary after award-winning stints there, Providence and Penn. His PSU degree in Accounting will serve him well!

Stephen Walsh.

One final note for today:  Upon learning of the passing of Coach Bell of Indiana, Coach Groves smiled a little and noted that he had outlived another one.  There really is only one Coach Groves. Thanks to our Course Marshall for the Coach update.

A Colonial Coach I Almost Forgot

Thanks to Keeper of the Cup Harry Smith for alerting me to the CAA Conference Championships of both the Men and Women of William and Mary.  Coach Stephen Walsh coaches both teams, following the tradition set by Coach Groves.

For those that are interested, William and Mary was ranked 12th in an all-time ranking of Cross Country college programs several years ago, one ahead of Penn State.

Coach Walsh, Photobombing.

A very large Trophy.

I wonder if Zebulon Vance Stewart III is still banned from Colonial Williamsburg?

A Quick Post On The Coaches Reception and Sykes/Sabock Challenge

 

Track Alumni Golfer Owen Dawson paces the One Mile with a splendid 1200M (sorta 1200!) while wearing his Alumni Singlet.  Always a highlight in my book!

After Owen's excellent 1200M (sorta 1200!), future PSU Track and Field Alumni Golfer Robby Creese took over and won the mile with this year's #1 NCAA unconverted Mile of 3:57.86.

 Ex-Freshman Roommates Tom Rapp and Larry Mangan reunite at the Ashenfelter Complex.  Tom's wife Mary Rawe was also an All-American and 1977 Freshman classmate of all of us.

Alumni Golfer, past foursome teammate and William and Mary head coach Steve Walsh actually got me to pose for a very rare pic of myself.  I promised him I would post it on the blog with it all, despite my overall desire for anonymity. During the entire day, I noticed  that I was the shortest person in every room I was in.

Coach John Gondak arranged the whole affair to bring as many Alumni together as possible and to honor past coaches.  Coach Teri Jordan thanked the crowd of over 100 with a brief speech.

Coach Groves gave an even briefer speech, but was mobbed all night by everyone there.  Just as it should be.

In the background just to the right of Coach is Ken Brinker, Alumni Golfer extraordinaire!  It was announced that Ken recently donated $100,000 to the PSU Track Program.  Our Chief Morale and Laundry Officer Larry Mangan is currently organizing the effort to match Ken's magnanimity.  More of that is to come.

 Penn State's Indoor 3000M Record Holder Sam Masters and Fiance came up with the best excuse for missing this year's Golf Tourney.  They are getting married that day in Missouri.  Officially, that will be the only excuse us Idiot Officers will now allow!

 Greg Fredericks received his Alumni T-Shirt from Le faucon d'orange Mark Hawkins.  He was gifted the item by us Idiot Officers for the extraordinary efforts he has made for Coach Groves in the past year.

Greg models the Special Edition Alumni T-Shirt made for Roger "Gunny" Roll for his above-and-beyond efforts for Coach Groves in the past year. 

Addendum:

Artist's conception

 On the late-night drive home, I ran over a skunk near Seven Mountains and was later almost hit head-on by a high-speed car driving the wrong way on Route 83 north of York. I really wish I could have stayed over night in State College. Two trips through the car wash has not dissipated the smell and I still have a tremor thinking about the almost crash.

Stephen Walsh Setting Records Upon Records

I think Steve Walsh must have learned something from Coach Groves in his 4 years in Happy Valley.  His recent Coach of the Year Award in Track and Field for the Colonial Athletic Conference was his third in the same sports year, a record.  He also became the first coach to win Mens and Womens Awards in the same season.  Congrats to a great runner, a fine golfer, and obviously a heck of a coach!

CAC Freshman of the Year Bob Smutsky and 3-time Coach of the Year Stephen Walsh.

It's Raining Updates!

1. Congrats to Laura Loht, the Number 5 best Javelin Thrower in America!  With a PR toss of 177' 8" at the USATF Championships yesterday.  Lauren Kenney came in 13th.
2. From our Morale Officer, PSU Track Alumni Golfer and William and Mary Coach Stephen Walsh's Freshman 5000 M runner won the Junior Championship to make the team for the World Championships.  Emily Stites ran 16:13.77.
3. From Javelin standout and PSU Track Alumni Golfer Todd Leggett, retired PSU Professor and 93 year-old runner George Etzwiler conquered the Mt. Washington "One Hill"  7.6 mile race. I have made him an honorary member of our group with unanimous consent of all the Idiot Officers.
4. Casimir Loxsom (1:49.17) and Brannon Kidder (1:46.87) both qualified for the semi-finals of the 800 M at the USATF Championships.  Robbie Creese found himself in a jog and sprint preliminary of the 1500 M and failed to advance. 
5. Mike Pfaff will be filming a starring role in a film set in Beantown soon.  He will play a hitman with a change of heart who finds himself on the other end of a contract.  Costars will be Lenny Clarke, Adoni Maropis and Robert Wahlberg.  Hit his IMDb link to boost his Hollywood Rating!

Mike Pfaff's IMDb Link

Coach Groves Turns His Thoughts to the Reunion and Golf

The 12th Annual Coach Harry R. Groves Golf Tournament is upcoming on Coach Groves' busy schedule this Spring. It will coincide with the 2nd Annual Penn State Track and Field/Cross Country Reunion on May 17 and 18, 2013. This will follow his birthday and his 68th Penn Relay appearance.  Last week he was honored at William and Mary as the Founder of the Colonial Relays.

Coach Groves, Roger"Gunny" Roll (left) and Coach Stephen Walsh (right)

Batons used during the Relays

Is Penn State the Number 14 Most Powerful All-Time Cross Country Program in the Nation?

The good folks at the web site Faster Than Forty recently undertook the task of answering the question of which NCAA Division I Cross country Programs were the most dominant or excellent.  This task, of course, was met with many arguments on the web site LetsRun.com, where anarchy tends to rule.

There are many places to begin an argument, but they lay out their criteria in a dispassionate enough way and follow through with a detailed Excel spreadsheet for everyone to download and see the data.  My only gripe with it is that they begin their analysis in 1960, as that is the year that qualification for the NCAA Championships began.  This necessitates eliminating the great PSU teams of the '40s and '50s when PSU helped herald in the entire sport of College Cross Country.  Maybe these years shouldn't count as much, but not counting at all seems arbitrary and wrong.  Don't get me wrong; I still applaud their efforts and you haven't seen me trying to do all the hard work they did.

There are others amending and manipulating the data to accentuate one aspect or another with some minor and major changes in the rankings.  The back and forth seem to me a lot like the arguments of whether Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron or Albert Pujols is the best baseball player of all-time.  I suppose it 's all dependent on what you accentuate and what you dismiss.  The powers-that-be will always put more evidence on "what have you done for me lately'.  Is Galen Rupp a more excellent runner than Horace Ashenfelter III was?  I think you get my drift.  (For the record, I think Babe was the greatest ballplayer and I'll take Horace as the first runner in my fantasy cross-country team!)

An interesting side note emerged from the data after I stared at it long enough.  At Number 13, just above Dear Ole State, was William and Mary, the Program that Coach Groves took from obscurity to prominence before migrating to Happy Valley.  I was ready to ask the question, "Is there any other Coaches of 2 or more Schools in the top 20?"  The answer was YES, another PSU great, Steve Walsh!  He has run for Number 14 PSU and has coached Providence (Number 4) and William and Mary (Number 13).

Foursome Number 5: The Ringers

Steve Walsh '01, Andrew Jenkins '00, Bradd DelMuto '01 and Mike Enwright '04 combined to make what I considered to be the most formidable foursome of this year's tournament.  With 2 returning champions and Steve "Clubber" Walsh (he can really smack the ball) these guys could have easily won the tourney if they could only figure out this year's sanctioned cheating.  These four guys bought 4 12-inch strings for $100 (thanks for the donation to the scholarship funds!) and ended up not using them!  With their one-stroke loss to Clark Haley et al, if they had used 2 of them they would have been champions.  Either way, it was great having these repeat golfers.  I have enjoyed meeting them and spreading the mirth to a new generation of our group.  It's really what all of this is about.

2010 NCAA Results Including Alumni Coaches

The PSU Men finished in 30th place, with Kyle Dawson and Vince McNally placing 52nd and 77th overall.  I still put special emphasis on the contribution from the middle distance guys this year.  I'm sure the 10 K distance took its toll in this race.  I'm looking forward to great 800 M and 1500 M races this year from all of them.  Overall, a good year for the team, setting themselves up for even better things in the future.

The Lady Lions placed 26th as a team, with Brooklynne Ridder placing 82nd overall.  A solid year with a great young group, with great things coming in the upcoming years.

Steve Walsh's William and Mary crew placed 19th as a team in his first year as Coach.  Let's hope his golf game won't suffer following the move to Virginia.

Kate Curran's St. Lawrence Men's team placed third overall in the Div III Championships, with Steve Kiplagat's third place pacing them.  Her Women's squad placed 23rd also.  I'm surprised she ever had the time to fill out the Ten Questions I posed to her!

Steve Walsh Named Southeast Region Coach of the Year

Congrats to PSU Track Alumni Golfer, (and Closest to the Pin Winner 2010!) Steve Walsh.  He led his new William and Mary team to a first place finish in the region, garnering Coach of the Year Honors in the process. 

PSU Track Alum (Golfers) in the News: Steve Walsh and Mark Hawkins

Steve Walsh has begun his tenure as Track and Cross-Country Coach at William and Mary, which I'm positive will become a successful transition for both Steve and W and M. In an interview after his first several days, Steve was asked about Coach Groves' influences on his career choice.

You said in college you ran for Harry Groves, who used to be our coach here. Were there any stories that Harry would pop out about William and Mary? Or when this job came open, was Harry on the phone saying, “Look, you have got to take this job”?
"Yeah, when I called him about it, there was no question, he was like, “You have got to get that job.” He was a huge supporter of William and Mary. Even when we were at Penn State, he’d either talk about Penn State or he’d talk about William and Mary. And he always talked Wand M in the highest regards, always talked about the Colonial Relays and the importance of the Colonial Relays. We would come down every year. When I told him that the job opened and that I was informed about it, right away, he had stories on stories about how great the College is and what an unbelievable area it is and that he thinks that you can do so much down here. So he was a big reason why I kind of looked at the job and was interested in it, because just like I want to get my kids to have a lot of trust in me, I trusted Coach Groves. And if he says it’s the place to be, it’s the place to be"

And us old-timers are still hanging in there!  Larry Mangan sent me Great News from the Great Race in Pittsburgh last week.  In a race with more than 4,000 runners, 51 year-old (sorry about that Mark!) Mark Hawkins placed 20th in the 5 K race with his 17:55. This was a return to running after a few years that boggles my mind. You can see Mark finishing strong in the video from KDKA by scrolling ahead to his finishing time HERE.  Not too shabby; he's giving the 49 year-old Jeff Adkins a run for his money! My 3 10:00 miles daily pale in comparison.

Thanks again to Larry for the tip.  Larry has been one of the blog's biggest supporters, and will become an Idiot Officer as soon as I come up with a suitable title.  Suggestions are being accepted. Receptionists are standing by!  And now that you all have heard about Mark's exploits, pester him to attend our golf outing this year.  He has a knack for photography, a skill sorely needed  by our group.  (Although I do have some video upcoming from our well attended Alumni Run at last year's reunion starring Coach Groves as starter, timer and one-liner deliverer.)

Degrees of Separation

Steve Walsh, PSU '01, was just hired as the (Men's and Women's) Track and Field (and Cross-Country) Coach at William and Mary.  Steve is not only a great ex-PSU runner, but one heck of a good golfer also.  The chains that links William and Mary, PSU and our humble group are quite strong.  Coach Groves coached at W and M from 1958 1956 (via the Wand M site!) to 1968, before beginning his 38 year tenure at PSU.  Brian Mount ran with Gary Black, Steve Black and others at State College High and then at W and M.  While there, he ran with Zeb Stewart while Zeb was there at Grad School, (before being banned from Colonial Williamsburg for Life!).  Following graduation, Brian meandered to suburban Philly where he joined a running club run by our own Bob Gabel (past winner of the Golden Putter!).

I had the pleasure of golfing with Steve at last year's tourney.  I hope he can find time to golf with us again.  That's him all the way on the right, avoiding Ted Lyon and Coach at all costs!  A special tip of the cap to Jeff Sanden for the info.  That's him next to Ted and Coach!