Boston Marathon Weekend Warms Us Up For Penn Relays

 Doreen (Startare) McCoubrie will again be trudging from Hopkinton to Boston on Patriot's Day.  I am sure there are others...

Warming up for Doreen were Tim McGowan and Tori Gerlach who both placed 15th in the Boston Marathon 5K.  

A Lion In Winter

Lost amid the 800U shenanigans last weekend was Tim McGowan's 2021 Track debut in Austin, Texas. His 28:58 10K placed 5th in the meet and let him get together with blog favorites Isaiah Harris and Billy "Toad" Cvecko. Thought I would give him a shout-out for the fine opening effort! 

And let's not forget about THE TOAD himself, with a 15:19  5K hop!  Not bad for a 800M amphibian!!!  I thought he was there just as a celebrity.

It Was A Banner Weekend For 800U

 

Wow.  There was finally a lot going on.  There was a School Record in the Pole Vault and a second place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.  Luke Knipe scaled the heights to 17' 4.5"!!!  Sincere Rhea leaned better than all the rest to snag the 60HH Championship.  Whoa.

There were a few other finishes for the scaled-down teams sent to Geneva, Ohio.  But mostly, the 800U dominance continued for the Men and Women.

• Dom Perretta overcame injuries, Covid, surgeries and his recent 300-game bowling incident to return to the top of the Podium in the 800M .  He did it in a fashion favored by Yevgeni Arzhanov in the 1972 Olympic Finals.  Only this time Yevgeni holds on!  I have been thinking that this would happen each of the last 100 times I have watched that race, but here it is many years later with one of our own striking gold.  (12 of the last 14, and 5 in-a-row B1G)
  
• The dual Victorias medaled in the Womens 800M.  Not to be outdone by Dom, Victoria Vanriele channeled Dave Wottle instead and caught everyone at the tape.  Victoria Tachinski held on for 3rd.(5 in-a-row B1G titles)
  

 

 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1365704786625105926

Still, the Alumni provided even more 800U goodness.

• Instead of racing, Danae Rivers danced for the duration in the Dance Marathon to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund.
• Isaiah Harris bounced back from his disappointing opening season race to win the 800 in Autin, Texas  with a 1:46 and change.  He says he is confident on 1:43 when the time comes at the Olympic Trials...

Tim McGowan, Billy Cvecko and Isaiah Harris in Texas.

 

Exclusive Pics From The NCAA Regionals

Thanks to Frit Cooper, we have these pics from the NCAA Regional XC Meet.  The Womens team won for the 3rd straight year (with 2 of their top runners scratched for the season!) and the Men placed 2 in the top 10, sending Timothy McGowan and Colin Abert to Nationals in addition to the 7 women.

Pos.	Penn State Women	Time
2	Jillian Hunsberger	20:05.4
5	Alison Willingmyre	20:15.1
6	Kathryn Munks	20:15.8
8	Danae Rivers	20:17.6
10	Greta Lindsley	20:21.6
1st	Penn State	31
Pos.	Penn State Men	Time
6	Timothy McGowan	30:40.1
9	Colin Abert	30:43.5
20	John McGowan	30:52.6
43	Andrew Sell	31:21.8
53	Bobby Hill	31:33.8
5th	Penn State	131

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
 

A Brotherhood. We Are!

And by Brotherhood, I mean all of us, women included.  If that is allowed in this politically correct world? (Even if it isn't.)

And speaking of brothers, I saw quite a few families represented yesterday at the Coach Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational.

• The Fuller Brothers manned 60% of the Alumni Team.  And you all know that I can never remember which is which! (Fuller Harem member Mary Dell finished 4th in the Women's race.)

Psu Alumni
  643    30  Brian Fuller               27:36    5:18
  644    64  Mark Fuller                30:07    5:48
  732    65  Nick Scipro  (?)              30:15    5:49
  645    71  Kevin Fuller               31:05    5:59
  731    73  Sam Masters                32:29    6:15

Fullers with Harem. Which is which?

•  Owen Dawson represented the Dawson twins!
• Middle distance recruit William Ashenfelter, grandson of Horace Ashenfelter of the Ashenfelter Bros. was there.
• The McGowan brothers were representing PSU  (5th - Tim, John - 27th)

Visit the store and buy some stuff, Please! 

 Remember the rules:

1. Go to www.kellysteamsports.com
2. Click on    SHOP YOUR TEAM STORE
3. Type in the password:  PSTFA16

All orders must be placed by  September 19th!!!!!!!

Will I Or Won't I?

The season's first home meet will occur this Saturday on the PSU Blue/White Golf Courses.  I will try to make it up for a Airship 800U drone flight if possible, although I am not too sure I can.  Who knows what authority will come along and haul me away if I do?  Even though I have a $1,000,000 liability policy for the flight...

The Spiked Shoe Invitational is at 10:00AM on Saturday 9/10/2016.

The McGowan Brothers lead the way. Photo stolen from Gretchen Mills.

Airship 800U.

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

It's Going To Be A Super Stupendous Year!

The Track Season has really gotten off to a tremendous start for the Penn State Family.  And it promises to be even better in the coming months.

Here's just some of the evidence:

• Robby Creese bettered his PR and American Collegiate Record (2012-2014)  in the 1000M at the Nittany Lion Challenge and placed second to Brannon Kidder!  Brannon's new PR is 2:18.26 (his first ever dabble in the event!) and is the overall Collegiate (NCAA) Record.  Robby, running unattached this Indoor Season, ran 2:21.89.

Incidentally, there are now 6 active NCAA athletes, including Brannon, with 800M times under 1:46.00!  Donavan Brazier, Texas A&M Freshman, ran 1:45.93 in his first ever collegiate 800M.  "Watson, the 800 game is afoot."

• Rachel Fatherly continues PSU's Shot Put tradition by winning the event by more than 3 feet with a heave of 56' 0.50".
• PSU Men have a very good sprinter in Xavier Smith, 6.69 School Record for 60M!
• The Pole Vault is well represented by both the Men and Women.
• Tori Gerlach warmed the crowd up for Brannon's effort with her own School Record in the 1000M in 2:43.15.
• Transfer Timothy McGowan (welcome BTW!) won the 3000M in 8:08.24 with Alum Owen Dawson placing second in 8:16.39 and FR Colin Abert in third, 8:19.00.
• Down Under's Jordan Makins won the Mile in 4:06.86 after rabbiting Brannon to his historic 1000M.
• Alex Shisler, progeny of PSU Greats Beth and Steve Shisler, continues his incredible career, dropping down from his usual 400M to place second in the 200M with 21:45.

Remember, there are plenty of opportunities to meet and interact with the PSU Team this year. Show your support for the program and help us make Oregon jealous!  There will be a Dinner at Rotelli's this Winter with the coaches (highly recommended!), an Alumni Reception at the Penn Relays, and our Alumni Reunion and Coach Groves Golf Tourney in May (20-21).  Be sure to stay tuned for all of these great events.  Our Alumni Efforts really do make a difference.  If you can't participate, there are numerous ways to give financial help to the Program, even by donating right here on the Right Sidebar.

Also, don't forget to click on the ads on our site occasionally (or often!) to help defray the increasing costs of blogging in this dangerous world. Some costs for photo storage, form security and procurement of Awards are becoming higher and higher. This lowly blogger is finding it harder and harder to afford the quality of Interns you are used to.  "Sharing" and reposting all of our content really helps also. My blog adheres to the International Creative Commons Non-commercial 4.0 Standard. That makes it really easy to repost, share and even add to my content to spread the word far-and-wide.