Nice Try Though



 

Reminds me of that time Lynn Swann did a 20 miler in State College. He was training to run the New York Marathon and happened to be in town for sideline reporting duties at a Penn State football game. Lynn had more success than this lady.
 

Shot Putting on the Willamette: A Guest Post

By George Brose* from http://www.onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com

Our own Joe Kovacs with George Brose.

"This ain't no county track meet."    John Jacobs  University of Oklahoma head coach 1921-1958

The Willamette River rolls past Eugene, Oregon through a series of eddies and low rapids.  Wikipedia says it is 187 miles long, was formed by plate tectonics about 35 million years ago.   Friday night, May 30, 2014 , the plate tectonics were about to be pushed back into motion by the weight and power of nine world class shot putters, among, them a new member of that elite club,  Joe Kovacs.  

Joe placed second, coming through with a 21.46 meter  result on his last throw in a competition where 67 or 68 feet just wasn't going to get your name on the scoreboard.  He started well with a 69 footer and was leading the competition after two throws, but then two others went by him and finally Reese Hoffa took the lead with a 70 footer.   On Joe's second and third  puts he had what might  have been leaders, but he was judged to have barely touched the top of the board.  Though disappointed he was able to pull himself together.  Going into his  last throw , he seemed a bit more relaxed and rallied with his 70' 4 1/2"  throw which brought him into second place where he finished a few inches behind Hoffa.

Here is the link to shot put results

http://www.diamondleague-eugene.com/Live-StartlistsResults/Overview/Shot-Put-Men/

During this world class meet, the organizers allowed fans to come onto the infield to watch the event more closely and  hundreds came down from the stands and surrounded the throwers.   I could exaggerate a bit and say that when these guys threw, their explosive force and speed sucked the air out of the stadium.  It wasn't far from that.  I have to admit I never watched a field event from ground level through every throw.  This was a first for me.  The close presence of the spectators seemed to have an effect on everyone, and every throw was made followed by polite applause or rousing cheers.  What was interesting too is that there seemed to be a camaraderie between all the athletes.  No staring down of each other like an MMA fight.  Yet these were some of the strongest men in the world doing what they do best.  

After the event was over,  people returned to their seats and watched Galen Rupp break the American record in the 10,000 meters.  What a night!

I caught Joe's eye as he was walking back to the post event media area and told him I had a connection to the Penn State Alumni Track and Golf blog and he grinned and was happy to talk to this total stranger.   We met in the press tent  and had a very cordial chat.   I asked him about the comeback on his last throw.  He recalled that  though disappointed with the fouls on the third and fourth throws, he focused off the emotional side and went to the technical side to get him back in the groove.   Being able to do that in athletics is just part of being a pro, but he really showed a lot of maturity and control in that situation.  We talked about his career and feelings of joining the elites.  He said he came to Penn State on a sort of mixed bag of track and football.  He found he was too small to play in the line where he had played in high school and was moved to fullback.  But in his freshman year, he also threw the shot and got to 46 feet with the 16 pound weight.  Finally he decided to focus on the shot and the rest is history in the making.  He said,  "Just a few years ago, I had these guys' (Reese Hoffa and Christian Cantwell) posters hanging in my room, and now I'm throwing against them."       Is there a Joe Kovacs poster out there yet?   There should be.  

Joe is from Nazareth, PA and now lives in Chula Vista, CA where he trains.  He plans to go to Oslo for the next Diamond meet.  He said having a good agent is really important now because it is their negotiating that gets you into these meets.  Especially if you are an up and comer.   Somehow I think the 70 foot throws Joe has been making will give his agent some leverage in the negotiations.  That's the way the Diamond League appears to operate   from our distant perspective.  There were no prelims to anything.  The field was set before most people arrived.  Probably there was a little politicking in the distance fields and adding of pacers.   But when most of the athletes arrived they knew exactly where they stood in the order of things.  

Interesting little sidebar.  Joe is related by marriage to the Andretti family of Nazareth, PA.   Marco who finished third at the Indy 500 this year is Joe's second cousin.   Joe said he has yet to see a 500, but that is on his list of things to do.   I think the Andrettis may want to consider going to Oslo in two weeks. 

* George relates he is the former record holder in the mile at Oklahoma University.  And he points out that there were 26 sub-4 minute miles at the Pre Meet this year!  I'm not even going to bother to look up whether that is a record or not.

NCAA Qualifiers

As promised  here is the official list of  the Nittany Lion qualifiers to the Big Dance in Eugene, OR.

Evonne Britton 100 and 400 meter hurdles
Robert Cardina decathlon
Matt Fischer 5000 meters
Tori Gerlach 3000 meter steeplechase
Darrell Hill shot put
Brittney Howell long jump, heptathlon
Mahagony Jones 100 meters, 200 meters, 4x400 meter relay
Brannon Kidder 1500 meters
Melissa Kurzdorfer hammer
Brian Leap triple jump
Laura Loht javelin
Dynasty McGee 4x400 meter relay
Tichina Rhodes 4x400 meter relay
Kiah Seymour 400 meter hurdles, 4x400 meter relay
Steve Waithe triple jump

The NCAA Championships take place June 11-14.

What Governement Agency Will Regulate the Beer Mile?

At the recent Track Alumni Reunion Alumni "Run", I showed up early to bring the donuts and the Dunkin Donuts coffee for everyone.  I noticed in the trash can at the finish line of the track a healthy smattering of discarded, empty beer cans.  It seems Happy Valley is home to a growing cadre of participants in "The Beer Mile" phenomenon.

Back in my day, the beer mile was a loosely judged, lightly regulated Fraternity fundraiser known as the "Phi Psi 500".  It was sorta kinda of a mile, with beers thrown in at 7 or so downtown bars.  The event drew bigger and bigger crowds, and eventually became too rowdy even for State College's permissive big-wigs.  First they started substituting soda for beer (which is probably more difficult to do!), but the crowds dropped off radically and it was inevitably abandoned.  Several PSU greats were among winners, and I remember Don Ziter almost claiming victory our Senior year (5:03 or so!) , only to be disqualified for drops on his shirt!  (Any other stories would be appreciated!)

Now that we've entered an era of political corrective dissonance, people have come up with rigid rules for the running of the event.  My thoughts are this ruins what would have otherwise been a very fine past-time indeed.   Which Government Agencies will try to get their hands on the regulations?  Will the Federal EPA or the FDA seek to monopolize this?  Will the State Weights and Measures Agency try to jump in?  Will local School Boards allocate funds to policing the practice?  Where will it end?

So I tip my "PSU is 800 U" golf cap to the Roger Bannister of Beer Milers, James "The Beast" Nielson whether he followed the rules or not!  Does anyone know the Happy Valley record?

I'll Bet Matt Will Post About the PSU NCAA Qualifiers!

But I have some exclusive pics from our friends from William and Mary of the early 1500M action. All photos of Brannon Kidder by Tim O'Dowd via Brian Mount.  Thanks, guys!

Alumni Debut

Nick Scarpello made his Alumni debut last night at the 9th Annual John Hay Memorial Pennsylvania Distance Festival at West Chester Henderson High School. Running the 1500 he came in 14th running 3:54.93. Also in the race was someone with a lot of post collegiate experience, Owen Dawson was 8th in 3:47.92

Meanwhile the shot put at the Prefontaine Classic was a smashing success.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Result
1	HOFFA Reese	USA	21.64
2	KOVACS Joe	USA	21.46
3	CANTWELL Christian	USA	21.38
4	ROBERTS Kurt	USA	20.71
5	MAJEWSKI Tomasz	POL	20.59
6	WALSH Tom	NZL	20.51
7	LAURO Germán Luján	ARG	20.09
8	PRÁŠIL Ladislav	CZE	18.92

More Submitted (and Stolen!) Photos of Alums As We Await the Final Day of the 2014 NCAA Prelims

Cas Loxsom and Sam Borchers (2010? NCAA 800M)

Ricky Garcia (circa 1981)

Greg Fredericks (second row) Cemetery Hill, Van Cortlandt Park (1971)  Thanks to George Brose for the photo!

Ricky Garcia (inside) and Ted Lyon (third ) high school race 1977.

Kyle and Owen Dawson with our new author Nick Scarpello

Prefontaine Classic

Pre and Fredericks at the 1971 NCAA 3 mile

The most the prestigious track meet in the United States is this weekend, The Prefontaine Classic. While every event field is loaded with top international athletes, two events will feature Penn State Track Alumni.

Lucky for us the meet will be on the television/internet. Tonight a live stream will be provided by USATF.tv beginning at 10:15 PM ET. Saturday will be on NBC Sports Network starting at 3:30 PM ET before switching over to regular NBC at 4:30 PM ET.

Men's Shot Put           

Athlete	DATE OF BIRTH	Nation	PB	SB
CANTWELL Christian	30.09.1980	USA	22.54	21.85
HOFFA Reese	08.10.1977	USA	22.43	20.96
KOVACS Joe	28.06.1989	USA	21.52	21.52
LAURO Germán Luján	02.04.1984	ARG	21.26	20.70
MAJEWSKI Tomasz	30.08.1981	POL	21.95	20.93
PRÁŠIL Ladislav	17.05.1990	CZE	21.47	20.56
STORL David	27.07.1990	GER	21.86	21.09
WALSH Tom	01.03.1992	NZL	21.16	21.16
WHITING Ryan	24.11.1986	USA	22.28	21.31

Women's 3,000m Steeplechase

Athlete	DATE OF BIRTH	Nation	PB	SB
ARISTARKHOVA Natalya	31.10.1989	RUS	9:30.64
ASSEFA Sofia	14.11.1987	ETH	9:09.00	9:25.76
AYALEW Hiwot	06.03.1990	ETH	9:09.61	9:27.25
CHEEVER Jamie	28.02.1987	USA	9:29.13	9:55.83
CHEMOS Milcah	24.02.1986	KEN	9:07.14	9:38.21
CHEPKURUI Lidya	23.08.1984	KEN	9:12.55	9:38.82
CHEROTICH Fancy	10.08.1990	KEN	9:28.04	9:41.22
COBURN Emma	19.10.1990	USA	9:19.80	9:19.80
DIRO NEDA Etenesh	10.05.1991	ETH	9:14.07	9:36.45
FRANEK Bridget	08.11.1987	USA	9:29.53	9:56.72
GHRIBI Habiba	09.04.1984	TUN	9:08.37
HIGGINSON Ashley	17.03.1989	USA	9:34.49	9:35.72
KIRUI Purity	13.08.1991	KEN	9:19.42	9:25.68
KRAUSE Gesa Felicitas	03.08.1992	GER	9:23.52
MCCOLGAN Eilish	25.11.1990	GBR	9:35.82

Unfit Mother

Daymakers and baby duck savers Thank You @StateCollegePD Public Works @LooksDowntown @OnwardState #rescuetime pic.twitter.com/4NtzUOSPrX
— Looks Hair Design (@LooksDowntown) May 28, 2014

Post by Jackie Weaver.
 

Not the first time this has happened. During a run my junior or senior year a duck family was saved when Owen Dawson and Cody Edling stopped to heroically rescue ducklings that fell into the sewer near the IST Building.

More Wristbands, Both Near and Far

It seems that bon vivant Phil Passen finally made it back from Israel, but not before sending one more pic from one of its more stable and secure borders (with Jordan).

Welcome back, Phil.

And we noted before that potential Group Physicist Ron Moore took his wrist band on a 50 mile tour in the woods.  Here's proof as he "sprints" toward the finish!

It's there, zoom in.

You go, Ron!

In Good Position

The NCAA East Regional Preliminaries begin tomorrow in muggy Jacksonville, FL. The one and only chance to qualify for the Big Dance two weeks from now.

The Nittany Lions are in a good spot to qualify multiple athletes and hopefully improve in the standings. Heading into this weekend the USTFCCCA has the men are ranked 17th and the women 16th. Accepted entries for the men and women with Penn State well represented.

One woman in good position, competing in the 10,000 meters, for post graduation life is Emily Giannotti. Emily has been named Penn State's Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipient, awarding athletic and academic excellence. The award goes with the Ernest B. McCoy Memorial Award she received earlier this year.

Meet Central for the East Regional meet with schedule of events and live results.

A Little Physics-Related Post As We Wait For The NCAA Prelims

And we'll get to the rest of the Golf Outing Results as soon as I have enough time to do it properly.

"He begins doing calculus problems in his head as soon as he awakens. He did calculus while driving in his car, while sitting in his living room, and while lying in his bed at night."

-Mary Louise Bell, in her divorce complaint against Richard Feynman.

Richard Feynman was self taught in calculus and had his own way of doing it. I'm not sure if he ever properly described his methods or taught anyone else his ways, although others have.  I would have struggled to get a "C" in it regardless.

“That book [Advanced Calculus, by Woods] also showed how to differentiate parameters under the integral sign – it’s a certain operation. It turns out that’s not taught very much in the universities; they don’t emphasize it. But I caught on how to use that method, and I used that one damn tool again and again. So because I was self-taught using that book, I had peculiar methods of doing integrals.”

Read more: http://www.physicsforums.com

“That book [Advanced Calculus, by Woods] also showed how to differentiate parameters under the integral sign – it’s a certain operation. It turns out that’s not taught very much in the universities; they don’t emphasize it. But I caught on how to use that method, and I used that one damn tool again and again. So because I was self-taught using that book, I had peculiar methods of doing integrals.”

Read more: http://www.physicsforums.com

“That book [Advanced Calculus, by Woods] also showed how to differentiate parameters under the integral sign – it’s a certain operation. It turns out that’s not taught very much in the universities; they don’t emphasize it. But I caught on how to use that method, and I used that one damn tool again and again. So because I was self-taught using that book, I had peculiar methods of doing integrals.”

Read more: http://www.physicsforums.com