Our First Semi-Final Poll On 2017 Performance Of The Year

2017 was a phenomenal year for the Penn State Track and Field Alumni Universe. there were literally hundreds of great things happening.  This triggered an unprecedented number of nominations to our Performance of the Year Awards.  I have had to combine numerous entries to narrow the field down, there were so many!

Vote for your top three in this semi-final poll on the left sidebar of the full web site! 

Remember, we want to hear from you at any time on submissions for this annual award.  There is a place on the right sidebar of the full web site (not on mobile devices!) to submit anything you find to be worthy at any time. 

Previous winners of the Award:

• 2016 - Joe Kovacs - Silver Medal Olympic Shot Put
• 2015 -  Joe Kovacs - IAFF World Champion Shot Put
• 2014 - Brannon Kidder - School Record 1500M  (3:38.3)
• 2013 - Penn Relays DMR Championship of America (Brannon Kidder, Brandon Bennett-Green, Casimir Loxsom, Robby Creese)
• 2012 - Bridget Franek - Finals of Olympic Steeplechase

Semi-Final 1 Nominations for 2017 Performance of the Year: (Vote for your top three! on the left sidebar)

• Andrew Sell transitions from the Club Team to #3 runner on the XC team at the Big Ten Championships.
• Darrell Hill wins IAFF Diamond League Shot Put Championships.
• Tori Gerlach 3rd at NCAA Steeplechase.
• John Gondak - Mens Big Ten Outdoor Track Coach of the Year.
• Brannon Kidder and Casimir Loxsom - World Champions at IAFF 4 x 800M Relay.
• Danae Rivers - 3rd at NCAA Mile.
• Best ever combined Indoor finish by Mens (2nd) and Womens (1st) teams.
• Danae Rivers and Isaiah Harris - Big Ten 800M Champions Indoor
• World Record and Collegiate Record in 600M by Casimir Loxsom and Isaiah Harris at Penn State National.
• Tessa Barrett School Record 3000M. 
• Michael Shuey 3rd at NCAA and Olympic Trials Javelin.
• Solo Womens DMR results in School Record and NCAA Qualifier.

How Did The Women Do At The NCAA Championships?

The big answer is tied for 29th place.

Tori Gerlach used her extra eligibility to All-American effect by placing third in the 300M SC! And Danielle Gibson used her first effort in the Triple Jump to place sixth for the second All-American for PSU!  Both Tori and Danielle PRed in their Championship performances.  Coach Groves would be proud.  Only Tori PRed, (Thanks Mimi McGarry McCloskey!) Coach Groves is still proud.  Blog interns will be denied soup at lunch for the next week. 

600M Record Holder Cas Loxsom with Tori Gerlach.

The Team Rundown:

• 800M - Danae Rivers     19th   2:07.17
• 3000M SC - Tori Gerlach      3rd   9:46.76
• 5000M - Tessa Barrett     20th   16:18.86
• 10000M - Jillian Hunsberger     10th   33:29.40
• Pole Vault - Hannah Mulhern      NH
• Triple Jump - Dannielle Gibson    6th   43' 10"
• Shot Put - Obeng Marfo   19th   53' 3/4"

Five New Nittany Lion All-Americans!

Tessa Barrett made good in her return to NCAA Championship action at the Indoor National Championships.  The Sophomore ran with the lead pack and finished in a fine 5th place, garnering 4 points for the Womens team.

	1..	Karissa SCHWEIZER	JR	Missouri	15:19.14
2		Erin FINN	JR	Michigan	15:27.36
3		Anna ROHRER	SO	Notre Dame	15:29.83
4		Allie BUCHALSKI	JR	Furman	15:41.69
5		Tessa BARRETT	SO	Penn State	15:42.29

And to finish the night, the Womens DMR team bettered their 10th place seed by finishing in 6th place.  Three more points for the Women! (Danae Rivers, Tichina Rhodes, Rachel Banks, Julie Kocjancic)

1.		COLORADO		Colorado	11:00.34
2		STANFORD		Stanford	11:00.36
3		OREGON		Oregon	11:00.68
4		BYU		BYU	11:03.42
5		MICHIGAN		Michigan	11:04.74
6		PENN STATE		Penn State	11:04.89

Fast Times In The Ninth Circuit

There's plenty of things happening in the Ninth Circuit lately.  But there isn't any dispute concerning the winner of the Womens 5000M at the Husky Classic Invitational yesterday!

Tessa Barrett led the way with a phenomenal PR of 15:51.32 and Jillian Hunsberger ran her best ever with a 16:08.61! Tessa's time puts her in the top echelon of college athletes for the year and #3 ever for PSU.

Tessa Barrett, Coach Reck and Jillian Hunsberger

Musings From The Penn State National

First, let's get the two Performances of the Week out of the way.

In order to not incur the wrath of Group Officers, the Interns have been banned from giving their opinion this week.  And despite the duo of Malik Moffett and Xavier Smith going first and second in the 200M AGAIN (21.06 and 21.26 with Dan Chisema in third!), they are just among the rest of the honorable mentions this week!

• A World Record absolutely deserves top mention, right?  Well, when 2 members of our group happen to dip UNDER the existing world record, even the Interns would have to pick that event, right?  So indeed, Casimir Loxsom's new world record 600M tops our list for the week.  Only the second runner to dip under the 1:15.00 barrier all-time (1:14.91), he was followed extremely closely by Sophomore Isaiah Harris* in 1:14.96!

A half of a victory lap!

I had the pleasure to speak with Casimir after the race and can offer this exclusive quote, "That was fun."  He was thrilled that efforts to erase his record just two hours later fell apart for Duane Solomon in Boston.  He also confirms he will participate with my 10 Questions about 800M running for a future post with 800M legend Dave Wottle (Honorary member of 800U) and other PSU standouts.

Le faucon d'orange with Casimir Loxsom.

• And next up is the third School Record in a row by Freshman Danae Rivers!!!, this time in the Mile.  She demolished the existing record with a dominating 4:34.87. She followed that up with a leg of the 4x400M relay!  Her range is astounding.

Both Danae and Casimir attended the same high school, Wilbur Cross HS in Derby, CT.  Whatever is in the water there, we need some more of it here. Or maybe it's the pizza there. I hear it's the best in the world?

I had the pleasure to speak with several members of 800U during the meet.  Michael Slagowski had just made his debut in the 1000M, so I didn't bother him (much!).  Domenic Perretta* was in a good mood after his very fine 1200M performance on Friday and went on to win the 800M Invitational in 1:50.33, just off his PR.  He seems to be adjusting to the rigors of University well!

Dom Perretta winning the 800M.

Robbie Creese returned to the ranks of fresh sub-4 Milers with a splendid 3:59.73 and family members are interested in finally getting him the Alumni Singlet he deserves. Mark Hawkins (who ran the Open Mile on Friday!) actually has an extra Medium version with blank year space for any emergencies.  Let us know! (The next order may coincide with the Alumni Reunion/Coach Groves Golf Tourney and Big Ten Championships! Stay tuned to the blog with it all.)  Robbie followed that up with the finest rabbiting of the day in the 3000M. (Where were the Fullers when they were needed?)  Owen Dawson mixed it up with the runners in the 3000M, so wasn't able to rabbit any of the other events either.

Another School Record fell with the 9:07.22 3000M efforts of Tessa Barrett, fastest in the NCAA so far this year.  Right behind her was graduate Tori Gerlach in 9:10.09 who has outdoor eligibility remaining.

Others in attendance were Jess Riden and Bridget Franek in their new roles for Stanford and Akron respectively.  Sorry I missed both of you.

All in all, it was a great afternoon spent with friends both old (you know who you are!) and new.

And after all of this, I got to celebrate Chinese New Year with Daughter the Elder and Daughter the Younger at the Golden Wok in State College.  An excellent version of Kung Pao Chicken was had containing actual lip-numbing  szechuan peppercorns! These were banned in the US for many years.

* It is remotely possible that the "Lion Pride" Alumni Wrist Bands I presented to Isaiah and Dom had a bit to do with their excellent performances later in the afternoon.  Isaiah actually wore his during his Collegiate Record 600M!  And I am scouring all the crevices in my house to find a "800U" version for both of them.

Third And Last Semi-Final For Performance Of The Year: Please Vote For Your Top 3

Head on over to the most viewed Track/Physics/Golf web site in the world to vote for your top 3 in the last of the Semi-Finals for the 2016 Performance of the Year!  All performances submitted during the year were randomly placed in the Semi-Finals by our crack staff of Interns.  And Coach Groves is disappointed in the number of votes so far!  Step it up, people.

1. Womens team winning the NCAA Cross Country Regional meet.
2. Olympic Silver Medal for Joe Kovacs.
3. Brannon Kidder, 4th at the NCAA 1500M.
4. Isaiah Harris, 4th at the NCAA Outdoor 800M.
5. Brian Leap's Big Ten title in the Triple Jump.
6. Tori Gerlach and Tessa Barrett, 2nd and 3rd in the Indoor Big Ten 3000M and 5000M.
7. Brannon Kidder, American Indoor 1000M Collegiate (NCAA) Record.
8. Isaiah Harris, Big Ten title in 800M as Freshman.
9. Isaiah Harris/Brannon Kidder both with opening meet 1:46 800M times.

Second Semi-Final Of The Performance Of The Year 2016!

Be sure to go to the full web site, http://psutafalumnigolf.blogspot.com and vote in the second round of the Performance of the Year on the left sidebar.  Vote for your top 3, as 3 will make it into the Final Round.

1.  Tessa Barrett wins the Regional NCAA XC Meet.
2.  Isaiah Harris wins the 800M at the NACAC Meet.
3.  Joe Kovacs and Darrell Hill both make the Olympic team.
4.  Brannon Kidder's 9th Big Ten Title (1500M)
5.  Mark Parker joins the Disney Board of Directors.
6.  Rob and Phoebe Whiteside thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.
7.  Cas Loxsom and Isaiah Harris both in the Finals of the Olympic Trials 800M. 
8.  Isaiah Harris wearing our Group Wrist Band and finishing 6th at Olympic Trial 800M. 
9.  Brannon Kidder 4th in the NCAA 1500M.

Final Results For PSU At The NCAA Regionals

Women 

  1 Penn State               36    1    3    4   12   16   60   80    20:32    1:06
  2 Villanova                93    7    8   17   22   39   40   43    21:05    1:04
  3 Penn                     99    6   10   20   28   35   56   69    21:06    1:08
  4 West Virginia           112    2   11   21   37   41   47   82    21:07    1:36
  5 Georgetown              141   15   24   26   30   46   74   83    21:25    0:47
  6 Bucknell                174    9   19   33   42   71   73  111    21:30    1:26

1. Penn State
    1  Tessa Barrett, So          20:00    5:22
    3  Elizabeth Chikotas, Jr     20:17    5:26
    4  Jillian Hunsberger, Jr     20:23    5:28
   12  Kathryn Munks, Fr          20:53    5:36
   16  Greta Lindsley, So         21:06    5:39
   60  Victoria Crawford, So      22:03    5:54
   80  Julie Kocjancic, Sr        22:19    5:59
Total Time = 1:42:39     Total Places = 36

 Men

  1 Georgetown               66    2    7   11   16   30   35   46    31:06   0:45
  2 Navy                     74    8   12   14   19   21   23   33    31:10    0:17
  3 Princeton                97    3    9   18   22   45   58   74    31:13    0:55
  4 Penn                    111    6   10   28   29   38   55   68    31:18    0:39
  5 Penn State              190   15   27   32   49   67   79  109    31:37    0:56
  6 Bucknell                193   20   39   42   44   48   50   63    31:36    0:29

5. Penn State
   15  Timothy McGowan, Jr        31:13    5:02
   27  Colin Abert, So            31:24    5:04
   32  John McGowan, So           31:29    5:05
   49  Brandon Tubby, Fr          31:47    5:07
   67  Billy McDevitt, Fr         32:08    5:11
   79  Conrad Lippert, Sr         32:21    5:13
  109  Bobby Hill, Jr             33:15    5:22
Total Time = 2:38:01     Total Places = 190
 

National Athlete Of The Week!

All the chatter among the nerdy class on running message boards was about the returning NCAA XC Champion Syracuse Orangemen and the debut of their transfer Iliass Aouani.  But when all was done at the Coach Grove Spiked Shoe Invitational, Tessa Barrett stole the show.

Tessa was named the USTFCCCA Athlete of the week for her dominating performance in the 6K race.

I Actually Never Met Eugene

I depend on others for a lot of my "reportage".  And when big things are occurring for PSU Track and Field waaaay over in Oregon, I need help to bring you pictures and news.

So it is with great delight that I present our newest Roaming Corespondent, Patty Murnane Nosack!  She happens to live very near Hayward Field, home of all track and field for the next millennium or so.  (Remember, our original Roaming Corespondent is on the Appalachian Trail somewhere in the Green Mountains!)

Patty had the wonderful chance to take her daughter to Eugene yesterday and hang out in the Nike section of Hayward Field with other Nittany Lions.  She generously sent me some exclusive pics for all of us to enjoy.  Thanks Patty!

Grace, Patty Murnane Nosack, Tina Leatherman Jones and Kathy Mills Parker.

Patty met Coach Gondak by chance when she was heading home!

"We must be in the front row!"

Mark Parker gives Grace advice on shoe design!

Tessa Barrett before the 5000M. (Heal up quickly!)

The whole gang.

If I had the chance to visit Eugene, I would briefly visit Hayward Field, but I would really want to make it to the Dexter Lake Club.  Here is Otis Day, still singing the Lake Club's favorite song in 2012!  He had to learn to sing after the movie.  He lip-synced the original!

Distance Night Performances

Here's all the PSU related distance results from the 2016 Penn Relays by place (just to mess with your mind).

• Tessa Barrett                  2nd place   5000M        16:08.11
• Jillian Hunsberger          4th place  5000M    16:27.39
• Brian Fuller (Alumni)    7th place  5000M    14:38.25
• Colin Abert                     9th place   5000M         14:10.66
• Ean Disilvio                    9th place   3000M SC    9:06.25
• Timothy McGowan       11th place   5000M      14:10.94
• John Dugan                    13th place  3000M SC    9:13.90
• Kyle Dawson (Alumni) 14th place   5000M  14:46.33
• John McGowan             20th place   5000M     14:23.09
• Wade Endress                24th place   5000M     14:28.83

And a special note for Don Skerpon's daughter Elyse Skerpon, who was 2nd in her heat of the 400M H!

• Elyse Skerpon                32nd place  400M H     1:03.53
• Rachel DeCecco             44th place   400M H     1:04.89

The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships Aren't Easy

With only the top 16 making any of the events, there isn't any lee-way in performance. It wasn't the best of days for PSU, but Brannon Kidder is well placed to medal in the 800M finals today, and Rachel Fatherly and Danielle Gibson have their events today also.

Isaiah Harris was in the same heat of the 800M as Brannon, and never seemed to find his stride.  He finished in eleventh overall with a 1:49.08.  And that's Second Team All-American in his true Freshman year.  Congrats Isaiah!

Also never seeming to find their stride were Tessa Barrett and Tori Gerlach in the Women's 5000M. The relentless pace of Notre Dame's Molly Seidel made many in the field fade.  Tessa Barrett finished in eleventh place with a time of 16:25.94.  Another Freshman Second Team All-American!  Senior Tori Gerlach also made second team with her 13th place time of 16:45.56.

Neither Brannon or Isaiah doubled back in the Distance Medley Relay.  The team of Jordan Makins, Robert Rhodes, Alex Shisler and Colin Abert finished in 9:50.64 for ninth place.

The final day of the Championships can be streamed live starting at 4:55PM (Eastern) on ESPN3.

End of Season Accolades and Rankings

It was a great Indoor Season for the Nittany Lions, and eight athletes are moving on to the very exclusive NCAA Indoor Championships in 5 events (only top 16 make it nationwide)!

 9  Tessa Barrett     FR 5000M         15:46.08D

14  Tori Gerlach      SR 5000M         15:50.49D

15  Dannielle Gibson  JR Triple Jump     13.14mD

 8  Rachel Fatherly   SR Shot Put        17.27mD

                                                                                                                

4  Isaiah Harris      FR 800M           1:46.24D

8  Brannon Kidder     SR 800M           1:47.01D

3  Distance Medley Relay                9:27.20D

 1200M)  Jordan Makins SR   400M) 426 Alex Shisler SR            

 800M)  Isaiah Harris FR 1600M) 424 Brannon Kidder SR  

Isaiah Harris to Brannon Kidder!

And two athletes and one coach earned Regional  honors!
 

MID-ATLANTIC - Track Athlete of the Year – Brannon Kidder, Penn State
Kidder, a senior from Lancaster, Ohio, broke the collegiate 1000 meters record in 2:18.26, ranks No. 8 at 800 meters in 1:47.01 and anchored the No. 3 DMR with a 3:55 1600-meter split. He won the mile at the Big Ten Championships and anchored the winning DMR. He’ll put his individual undefeated record on the line over 800 meters at the NCAA Championships, and will also run the DMR.
MID-ATLANTIC - Field Athlete of the Year – Rachel Fatherly, Penn State
Fatherly, a senior from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, broke the Penn State record in the shot put at 17.27m (56-8) for the No. 8 rank in the country. She finished runner-up in the event at the Big Ten Championships to go along with a fourth-place weight throw finish. She will contest the shot put at the NCAA Championships.
MID-ATLANTIC – Womens Assistant Coach of the Year – Patrick Ebel, Penn State
Ebel, in his fourth season guiding the Penn State throwers, coached his shot putters to three of the top four individual finishes at the Big Ten Championships. National No. 8 Rachel Fatherly finished runner-up as one of three Nittany Lions to surpass 50 feet, and he also had two finalists in the Big Ten weight throw. Fatherly, the school record holder in the shot put, will compete at the NCAA Championships.



And Penn State is ranked 2nd overall in the 800M as a team, just 0.3 seconds behind Texas A&M and Freshman sensation Donavan Brazier.  The top 4 runners from each team count in the standings.

The 800M Was The Highlight Again! PSU Is 8.....

I had the pleasure of watching the B1G Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships from the Spire Institute in Ohio on BTN2GO, the mobile app for the B1G Ten Network!  I actually negotiated all the pitfalls of the technology to stream the event in fabulous high definition on my big screen TV utilizing Chromecast via my phone.  I can't believe I actually got it all to work.*

There were quite a few highlights for Dear Ole State thrown into the mix on the event's second day.

• Brannon Kidder (Brandon according to the experts at the B1G Ten Network. Hope they correct that in post production.) won the Mens Mile, leading the entire way.  He was also on the winning Distance Medley Relay on Friday night.
• Freshman Colin Abert ran a brave race and dug deep in the Mile also and passed two near the finish to gain another team point in eighth. Julie Kocjancic also placed eighth in the Mile for the Women. 
• The Men scored significant points in the sprints (60M and 200M) for the first time in a while.  Xavier Smith placed 5th in the 60M and Malik Moffett joined him in the 200M where they finished in 3rd and 4th. 
• Tori Gerlach and Tessa Barrett repeated their 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the 3000M on Friday with the same places on the 5000M Saturday.  The duo accounted for 28 points in just those two events.  Tessa impressed me again by running with the leader for the first half of the race before fading back to the trailing pack, including teammate Tori.  Just when you thought she was fading out of the scoring places, she rallied to place just behind her Senior teammate.  A gutsy performance by someone learning to race with the Big Guns!
• But again, the highlight for many of us was the 800M.  Not only did all 3 runners in the Finals run PRs, but the Mens leader impressed everyone with a facility, B1G Ten and School Record.  The previous 2 record holders, Ryan Foster and Casimir Loxsom were both impressed via Twitter with Freshman Isaiah Harris's 1:46.24 victory in the event. Ryan's fellow Aussie Jordan Makins and Sarah Jane Underwood also set PRs with 4th place finishes for both.

  

  Isaiah Harris, on top.

Congrats @cazzylox @Iharris33 that is really FRolling!!!!

— The FRoller® (@thefroller) February 27, 2016

.@cazzylox life is tough when you work hard to set records and stud frosh show up and wreck them!

— Ryan Foster (@RunFosterRun) February 27, 2016

* I actually was on the treadmill for my usual "spirited" 3 miles during the 800M. My heart rate elevated to near max during the finish. Pretty cool to see that reaction recorded for posterity. And I was still only doing my usual 11:00/mile pace at the time.

Updated (But Still Incomplete) Top Penn State Womens Cross Country Runners Of All-Time

Through extensive searches requiring Herculean efforts (Google and even email!) and the actual transfer of legal tender, I obtained AIAW XC Championship Results of 1976 (partial), 1977 (total) and 1978 (partial).

These efforts were facilitated by Sarah Adams and the wonderful people at Eastern Kentucky University Special Collections and Archive.  She has been granted an honorary membership in our group and joins Jeri Elder and Kay Warfel as a Digital Archive Goddess on the right sidebar.  She will probably be somewhat confused by how much I paid for the few specific items I needed, but I am very thankful for them.  It gives me a little street cred when I say I am trying to run all of this stuff down, and come through with at least some of it.  Still looking for the results of 1975, 1979 and 1980! Only a troll under a bridge seems to have them.

So we can add a few names to the listing of the Greatest PSU Womens Cross Country Runners of All-Time!   I had the math intern retire to the basement with a calculator and figure out the results using the same arbitrary, self-serving and non-meticulous method I used before.  There are many ways to answer the question, but this method pleases my friends and infuriates some others.  You are welcome to promote your own listing as you please.  And Pete Rose is still the greatest baseball player of all-time, just in case you wanted to know!

 The Top Penn State Women Cross Country Runners Of All-Time (Including AIAW results 1976, 1977 1nd 1978 and all NCAA results 1981 to present):

New members in red

1. Kathy Mills Parker - 3rd 1976, 1st 1977 and 3rd 1978 for 133.8 points.
2. Liz Berry Larsen - - 11th 1976 and 16th 1977 for 66.4 points.
3. Bridget Franek - 23rd 2008, 26th 2009 for 52.8 points.
4. Susanne Heyer - 14th 2000 for 36.7 points.
5. Caitlin Lane - 16th 2011 for 35.0 points.
6. Kris Bankes - 15th 1977 for 33.0 points.
7. Stacia Prey* - 23rd 1985, 41st 1987, 31st 1988 for 30.1 points.
8. Kimberly Kelly - 27th 1992, 35th 1994 for 28.4 points.
9. Kimberly McGreevy - 28th in 1996 for 19.4 points.
10. Heather Carmichael - 31st 1981, 43rd 1983 for 13.1 points.
11. Tessa Barrett - 38th 2015 for 13.0 points.
12. Doreen Startare McCoubrie - 28th in 1982 for 12.0 points.
13. Kelli Hunt - 42nd 1992, 44th 1993 for 11.4 points.
14. Colleen Glyde - 41st 1992 for 7.1 points.
15. Wendy Nelson - 43rd 1990 for 5.6 points.
16. Torri Perri - 47th 2012 for 4.0 points.
17. Erin St. John - 46th 1994 for 3.6 points.
18. Jennifer Weaver - 46th 1993 for 3.6 points.
19. Meredith White - 45th 1984 for 2.6 points.   

Liz Berry Larsen, 2nd from left.

Kris Bankes.

*Thanks to Hugh Hamill for the correction of Stacia Prey's name, (not Perry as in the "official" results. The intern has been sacked.

XC Season Is Over: Onward To Track!

The Nittany Lion Women ended up 16th in the nation.  A fine season overall.  Big Ten Champions, Mid-Atlantic Region Champions and ranked as high as 9th overall in the USTFCCA voting.

                                      38- Tessa Barrett 20:26.7
                                      98 -Tori Gerlach 20:49.3
                                    102- Elizabeth Chikotas 20:50.4
                                    151- Jillian Hunsberger 21:12.8
                                    157 -Stephanie Aldrich 21:15.1

Billy Francis! Lady Lions!

Tessa Barrett, All-American.

Billy Francis and his Syracuse mates.

Our very own Undersecretary of Fun Billy Francis drove 1,700 miles to watch his graduate school mates from Syracuse win the title in an upset only to those who weren't paying attention. He found the time to charm the Lady Lions also! Including PSU's newest All-American XC runner, Tessa Barrett. (thanks to Coach Reckart for the pic!)