A Good Weekend

The Nittany Lions qualified 7 individuals and the Mens 4 x 100M team for the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in a week and a half.

1. Morgan Shigo   -  Hammer Throw   223' 11"      10th
2. Steph Sievers   -   Javelin       159'11"                  10th
3. Megan McCloskey   -   High Jump     5' 10.75"    5th
4. Isaiah Harris    -    800M                   1:46.80        4th
5. Michael Biddle  -     Javelin               208' 6.25"     9th
6. David Lucas   -    Discus Throw          187' 2"      4th
7. Danae Rivers   -   1500M                     4:11.75     3rd
8. 4 x 100M Relay  -                               39.61         12th  (Will Henderson, Anton Porter, Xavier Smith, Malik Moffett)
9. We must not forget (I did) that Madeline Holmberg previously qualified in the heptathlon!

And Tyler McCandless has improved at every Boulder Boulder he has run, cumninating in this year's victory.

Tyler McCandless

Boulder, CO

M31

30:54.76

4:59

2015 - 26th, 32:35 2016 - 6th, 32:05 2017 - 4th, 31:04 2018 - 1st, 30:54

Wheelin' And Dealin'

"I feel like the wheel is for more than the current day, it is for the alumni, it is for all the athletes at Penn State, it is for everyone." 

 - Isaiah Harris 

Revenge is a dish best served at the Penn Relays. 

It wasn't just once, it was twice that PSU was denied a "wheel" in the Sprint Medley Relay at the Penn Relays in recent years.  Both times, a team from the second heat beat the winning time of the Nittany Lions in the Championship of America heat.  And whether a team that was late to the Championship heat deserved to be placed into the second heat at all, I am convinced it is not correct. 

                                         We Was Robbed  

And just last year, Jamaican G C Williams did it to us again! 

So, what does one do to make sure it doesn't happen a third time?   Well, how about have your "half-miler " run the third fastest 800M split in relay history! Note Randy Moore's 1:45.5 split from 1985!

1

Penn State

3:15.25

Xavier Smith, Malik Moffett, Kier Miner, Isaiah Harris (1:44.74)

It Isn't Easy To Qualify For Nationals In Indoor Track

Only the top 16 make it in individual events.  Only 12 relay teams qualify.

Penn State has its share of entrants:

Women:

• Danae Rivers - 800M
• Maddie Holmberg - Pentathlon

Men:

• Isaiah Harris - 800M
• Terrance Laird - 200M
• Bryce Williams - Triple Jump
• David Lucas - Weight Throw
• Morgan Shigo - Weight Throw
• 4 x 400M (Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Kier Miner, Isaiah Harris) 

Good luck at Texas A&M next week!


And don't forget to sign up for the Reunion and Golf Tourney!  Either with PayPal/credit card or via snail mail to Harry Smith.

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

The Best Race In This Year's Penn State National Invitational Was Named After Penn State Great Barney Ewell

"Ewell probably would have been the most decorated Olympian in the history of the games.”

-Bill Lyon, Philadelphia Inquirer

(The 1940 and 1944 games were cancelled.)

Barney Ewell.

 A Legacy of Greatness

Usually, the Mile has been the highlight of the Penn State National Invitational meet.  Occasionally the 800M has been great too.  But this year, the sprints outshined the middle distance races..  At least in my humble opinion.

An honorable mention has to go to the 400M effort of Penn State Junior Dan Chisena.  His PR of 46.27 got some Penn Relay-like ooohs and ahhhs out of the crowd.

But the best race of all was the Mens 200M.   This year's race was named after PSU great Barney Ewell to celebrate his 100th birthday.  With PSU stars Malik Moffett and Xavier Smith in the Finals, it was bound to be good!  Here's the race captured by 1979 Penn Relay Marathon victor Tim Backenstose's cell phone...



But who was that flash in the outermost lane?  It wasn't Malik or Xavier.  It was Penn State Freshman Terrance Laird in 20.79, from the same Coatesville area that brought us both Tim Backenstose and the Dawson brothers!  Wow!

2nd Semi-Final Poll For Performance Of The Year 2017

Happy New Year.  Now let's pick the final 3 finalists for our annual poll.  You know the drill...

• Go to the full website
• Look at the top of the left sidebar
• Vote for your top 3
• Tell all your friends to vote also

Our Semi-Finalists are:

1. Joe Kovacs - Silver Medalist at World Championships Shot Put 
2. Isaiah Harris - 2nd place at NCAA Championships 800M
3. Malik Moffett - Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year -200M and Long Jump
4. Mens Team - Big Ten Outdoor Championship
5. Doreen Statare McCoubrie - 2nd age group at Boston Marathon
6. Cas Loxsom (600M) and Brannon Kidder (1000M) 2nd USATF Indoor Champs.
7. Xavier Smith - 60M Big Ten Championship in 6.66
8. Mens 4 x 400M Indoor Big Ten Championship and School Record
9. Brannon Kidder wins Milrose 1000M ahead of Cas Loxsom
10. Danae Rivers with Indoor School Records in 600M, 800M, Mile and DMR

How Did The Men Do At The NCAA Championships?

 "It was a fun race."

-Isaiah Harris, runner-up in the 800M.

(And let's not forget this previous tweet from Isaiah!)

"Light yourself on fire and then roll in broken glass to put out the fire!" -from Isaiah Harris's Twitter Feed, explaining how to replicate the feeling after an 800M race.

The big answer is, tied for 20th in the team standings.  For the third straight year in the top 20!  Congrats to the coaches and all the athletes (and not just the ones who scored!).  Coach Gondak related his happiness and the hunger for more!

Coach Gondak and Isaiah Harris.

Isaiah Harris closed out the NCAA Championships with a very smart race, finishing second to the heavy favorite, UTEP's Emmanuel Korir.*  Isaiah stayed back early and ran relatively even splits (52.32 and 53.09).  That kept him out of trouble when the 2 UTEP runners tangled and Michael Saruni went down with 200M to go.  Many thought Korir could have been disqualified for the trip, but judges eventually ruled it out.

Isaiah Harris represents the 7th All-American performance in the 800M since 2009 and ties both Brannon Kidder and Casimir Loxsom with the highest finish in the event at the Championship level.

All the participants in the NCAA Championships: 

• Javelin - Michael Shuey   3rd   250' 9"
• Javelin - Ryan Kerr       9th     232' 0"
• Javelin - Michael Biddle   18th   219' 8"
• Long Jump -  Malik Moffett       18th   24' 1/4"
• Shot Put - Jon Yohman    11th      62'   1/2"
• 4 x 100M - Karson Kowalchuk, Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Malik Moffett  13th  39.15
• 4 x 400M - Dan Chisena, Xavier Smith, Tyreek Mathis, Isaiah Harris  9th   3:04.17
• 800M - Isaiah Harris   2nd    1:45.40
• 800M - Domenic Perretta   21st   1:49.14
• 200M - Malik Moffett   22nd   20.93
• Discus - David Lucas    9th  190' 3"
• Triple Jump - Bryce Williams  17th  51' 1 3/4" 

* Even better, Isaiah wore his "Alumni-like Singlet" in the Final.

Can PSU Be 100U Too!

The quartet of Malik Moffett, Xavier Smith, Dan Chisena and Karson Kowalchuk ran a school record of 39.49 and eclipsed the 42 year old record of Jack Davis, Steve Hackman, Mike Shine and Mike Sands at the Virginia Challenge on Friday!

Xavier Smith backed that up with a 10.38 in the individual 100M with Malik Moffett finishing right behind in 10.42! Both are PRs and the #2 and #3 times in school history.

Finishing Up With 3 More All-Americans

Danae Rivers again solidified her Freshman season as one for the ages in the first track event of the final day of competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  Having already run a heated prelim in the Mile and a leading 1200M leg in the Distance Medley Relay the night before, one would think she would be sluggish at the start of the Mile Saturday.

But you would be wrong, as Danae led the Mile in the early stages, obviously going for broke in the event with several favorites seeded ahead of her.  She held on and even had a very fine final 150M to place 3rd in the event!  That tops by one place for the best finish in the event in PSU history by a friend and great Nittany Lion Patty Murnane in 1982.  Time flies, Patty, but I remember those days like they were yesterday.

1.		Karisa NELSON	JR	Samford	4:31.24
2		Elinor PURRIER	JR	New Hampshire	4:31.88
3		Danae RIVERS	FR	Penn State	4:33.89

And another All-American finish was accomplished by Triple Jumper Danielle Gibson, who bettered her 12th seed in the event with an 8th place finish, scoring one point for the Lions.  That gave the Women's team a tie for 10th place nationally with Stanford (where emeritus Energizer Lion Jess Riden now abodes).

8.

Dannielle GIBSON

SR

Penn State

13.23m (43-5 )

Finally, Isaiah Harris raced against the current Freshman sensation Emmanuel Korir of UTEP. Previously, Isaiah had eclipsed the 600M Collegiate record from Korir at the Penn State National meet where Casimir Loxsom had set the World's Best indoor mark of all time.

This time out, Isaiah ran a fine race but didn't have enough to stay with Korir at the finish, letting 2 others nip him at the wire.  His fourth-place finish was the best at the Indoor Championships since Loxsom's runner-up finish in 2012.

1.		Emmanuel KORIR	FR	UTEP	1:47.48
2		Drew PIAZZA	SR	Virginia Tech	1:47.62
3		Joseph WHITE	JR	Georgetown	1:47.79
4		Isaiah HARRIS	SO	Penn State	1:47.94

Two other events saw close-but-no-cigar attempts at All-American status. Tessa Barrett doubled back from her 5th place finish in the 5000M to place 10th in the 3000M. And the Mens 4 x 400M Relay squad finished in 10th also. Notable among the stats was a 45.72 split by Xavier Smith, my current favorite meme of the blog.

10.

Tessa BARRETT

SO

Penn State

9:16.50

10.

PENN STATE

Penn State

3:07.43

Big Ten Awards

Coach John Gondak again was named the Big Ten Womens Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.  It gives me great pleasure is seeing him honored, as he has been with our group from his very first days as an assistant coach.  He is also a very good golfer!

One special note of award grabbed my attention and gives me faith in the goodness of Man and the goodness of the Penn State Track family.

I have especially noted the achievements of Xavier Smith during this Track season and he has been named my choice as Performer of the Meet several times.  But seeing him named as both a First Team Big Ten member and Sportsman of the Year by the Big Ten makes me especially proud to be a Nittany Lion!  Not only is he an excellent competitor and now School Record Holder, but he also has demonstrated and been honored for good academic standards and good citizenship outside the world of track and field.  Congrats Xavier, I am a big fan.  Always continue to elevate the standards to which all the rest of us Lions aspire.

Other Honors:

First Team
Rachel Banks, Penn State
Dannielle Gibson, Penn State
Julie Kocjancic, Penn State
Tichina Rhodes, Penn State
Danae Rivers, Penn State
Xavier Smith, Penn State
Dan Chisena, Penn State
Samuel Reiser, Penn State
Isaiah Harris, Penn State

Second Team
Tessa Barrett, Penn State
Megan McCloskey, Penn State
Alyssa Robinson, Penn State
Bryce Williams, Penn State

A Devil Of A Big Ten Championship

It was a record-breaking overall performance by the Nittany Lions at the Indoor Big Ten Championships.   There were plenty of sensational performances at the Spire Institute and every phase of the team was represented.  Throws, Jumps, Sprints, Middle Distance and Distance members of the team were integral to the Womens team win and the Mens best ever finish!

I watched significant portions of the event via BTN2Go and tried to keep up with the results via the Big Ten site.  (If Undersecretary of Fun Billy Cvecko and myself were given 1/2 of the budget that the Big Ten dedicates to its website, we would have it running like a well-oiled machine instead of the garbage it currently is!)

I tried to pick out one event that sums up the whole Meet, and I will anger plenty with my choice of Performance of the Meet.  I will overlook 800U, the School Record 4 x 400M Relay, the first ever DMR victory by the Women and many others to choose...

The 60M victory by Xavier Smith takes the honors for his School Record 6.66 seconds.  Although it was a beast of a run, I really will feel better when he runs 6.65!

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.

My Top 2 Performances From the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational

The distance runners didn't participate and Mike Slagowski isn't debuting until next week (?).  That left it up to the rest of the middle distance runners, jumpers, throwers and sprinters.

Despite a school record for last week's pick for performance of the week in the 800M (Danae Rivers, 2:04.04) and a fine early season 1:46.65 for Isaiah Harris (second in the NCAA in 2017), I went a different direction this week.

When was the last time Penn State had a 1-2 finish in the 200M at a large invitational?  Well, Malik Moffett and Xavier Smith did just that (21:10 and 21:28)!

Malik Moffett and Xavier Smith

 

PSU IS 200U

First up in my highlights of the Penn Relays other than Alumni Singlets is the team of Xavier Smith, Dan Chisena, Malik Moffett and Anton Porter.  They set the 4x200M School Record in placing fourth in the event.  It was a pleasure watching the sprinters represented so well in the Championship of America Relays (4x100M were ninth while stuck in the incredible, infamous Lane 1 of Franklin Field).  Next up is the ThrowsU highlights of Coach Ebel's forces...

2 Sophomores and 2 Freshman! 1:23.75

 

I Can't Remember The Last Time A Post Highlighted Sprinting!

It is rather exciting to be able to write this post. Penn State Men have a sprinting corps worthy of more than just one post.  And I'm sure that I will be bringing more of them later in the season. A great start to the season at the Big Ten/PAC-12 Challenge.

For the first time since 1975, 41 years for the recent practitioners of Common Core Math, the Nittany Lions broke 40 seconds in the 4 X 100M Relay.  That goes back to the days of Mike Shine and Mike Sands.

For the men, 39.92 is the first sub-40 second performance since 1975. The quartet of Chisena, Moffett, Porter and Smith raced their way to the No. 13 time in the nation thus far this season. The time also ranks as the No. 7 time in the east region at the moment.

In the sprints, Xavier Smith (10.59), Dan Chisena (10.72), and Anton Porter (10.74) finished 4-5-6 in the 100-meters collecting 12 points.

And there is still time to vote in the poll on the left sidebar for your favorite hot dog condiment. Here's Brian Boyer's favorite hot dog establishment in Vienna.

Kasekrainer with mustard and bread

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.

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. 

Watches And Wheels! Good Start To Penn Relays Carnival

Elizabeth Chikotas, 5000M Champion. 16:05.46

Darrel Hill, repeat Shot Put Champion, third longest mark ever. 68' 2.5"

Sprint Medley Relay Championship of America, Alex Shisler, Xavier Smith, Sancho Barrett and Brannon Kidder.

2 Generations of Wheel Winners, Stephen Shisler, Alex Shisler and Beth Shisler. (Photo from Larry Mangan and Mark Hawkins.)

 

Michael Gross, Wheel and watch from 1997 Corporate DMR!

Stephen Shisler brings us the video of the Sprint Medley!