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

 

Fast Times At Idaho High

 

Not Michael Slagowski.

Ken Cooper found this gem just thrust onto You Tube about the Boise Turkey Trot this past Thanksgiving.

We haven't yet had the debut of Michael Slagowski in a Nittany Lion uniform, but this glimpse of him as the victor of the 5K will suffice for now.  I hope to meet him next week at the Penn State National!



This video also points out the usefulness of drone footage in spreading the word of the best sport in the world.  Too bad the powers-that-be in charge of PSU XC meets have seen to ban them completely despite responsible and law-abiding pilots and a thorough misunderstanding of the rules and laws.  I hope to one day return to see a PSU home XC meet, but will need a written invitation for my lawyer.

How Could This Blogger Link The Inauguration, Saturday Night Live And Penn State Track?

Blog Readership is down as everyone turns their gaze toward the replacement for the Ringling Bros. Circus in Washington DC. So that meant I have some time to think, which is always a bad, bad thing.  Well, my cerebral wanderings took me all over the place, but coalesced around a report I saw on the news this morning.

Sam Moore (of the great R&B/Soul group Sam and Dave) was telling of the scorn he has received for daring to perform for inaugural concerts.  He related he is "getting more attention now than when he was famous"!

Sam and Dave performed one of the greatest hits of all time with "Soul Man".

Most of us know about Soul Man because of the hijinks of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd first performed on SNL in 1978.



But I also remember one of my favorite Track trips while at PSU in 1979.  This was the same meet that John Zeigler missed the bus and had to hitchhike to Pittsburgh just in time for the 10,000M race we were in!

Later that night, some field eventers (jumpers I think) took me out to a bar near campus right near one of my favorite hot dog places (the Dirty O).  There was a "special" that night on $1 beers, which were given in clear 12 oz plastic cups. Maybe it was 2 for $1 even!  Everyone had a high stack of the used cups next to them and were having a definitely overall wonderful time.

But then, things were just getting started.  And they were about to get waaaay better too.

In filed a man wearing a hat, dark sunglasses and a black suit.  He had a briefcase chained to his wrist.  Soon another black-suited gentleman with hat and glasses entered.  In an elaborate display, they opened the briefcase to reveal a single harmonica.  A few more people entered and stood or took seats on a cramped stage.  The horns, guitars, drums and who knows what else just kept coming, until abruptly they all started in on the music.  It was wonderful, and the clear cups of yellow nectar kept coming!

They played the entire album of the Blues Brothers, and it was joyous to the extreme.  They were mostly members of the Pitt Band, but there were a few older people amongst them.  They were having just as much fun as the stacked-cup rabble surrounding them.

Eventually, the yellow concoction caught up with me and I didn't remember how it ended or who I was rooming with or anything.  If anyone remembers this event, please chime in!

It's Not The Kind Of Social Where You Have To Worry About Your Pinky Finger

Penn State Track and Field will be having an Alumni Social at our usual haunt, Lettermans, after the Sykes and Sabock Challenge Cup on February 4 at 6:30PM.  You will get a chance to meet the current coaching staff and former coaches as well!

There will be light food and an open bar, which fits in well with the Track Alumni Lifestyle!

Be sure to RSVP to Owen Dawson by January 30th. (Ofd5000@psu.edu)

Artist's Conception.

My Choices Of Performance Of The Meet Nittany Lion Challenge

I watched a fair amount of the meet via Flo Track Pro, but of course I missed these two performances.  I would relish any arguments on this.

• Bryce Williams, 51' 8.25" in the Triple Jump, a year after an ACL injury.
• Danae Rivers, 1:29.06 School Record in the 600M.

The eagerly anticipated 1000M race was a very good one, but Isaiah Harris just couldn't get past the eventual winner Joseph White of Georgetown in 2:22.14 (to 2:21.96).  A note of impending goodness for PSU was Dom Perretta in third with 2:23.06!  PSU is 800U

Former Lion Robby Creese won the Mile in 4:06.29 and doubled back to place 5th in the 1000M in 2:25.08!  Robby probably already knows that he needs an Alumni Singlet for races like these, but if not, someone get him one!

Danae Rivers.

Dom Perretta, a generically shirted Robby Creese and Jordan Makins.

The 1K Seems To Be The Event To Watch Today

The Nittany Lion Challenge is today and figures to highlight the loaded middle distance corps of the Lions.  Despite the absence of Michael Slagowski today (he will debut at the Penn State National), there are enough others to watch with earnest.

At the top of the list is the 1000M, where Isaiah Harris seems to be eager to attack the Collegiate Record of Brannon Kidder.  If he performs well, PSU could have 4 of the top 5 runners ever in the event!

• Brannon Kidder
• Robby Creese
• Ryan Foster

 Event Preview from From Flo Track Pro:

Men's 1000m

When: ​2:50 PM ET
Who: Isaiah Harris (Penn State), Joe White (Georgetown), Robby Creese (unattached)
Why: This is the race of the meet. According to ​Track & Field News​, three of the top five collegians ever in the 1000m are Penn State men--Kidder, Creese, and Ryan Foster​. Harris's 1:45.76 800m PR is faster than Creese or Foster ever ran outdoors, and right there with Kidder's 1:45.58. White has run 1:46 for the 800m and 2:23 in the 1000m, so he's a contender, though maybe not for the collegiate record.

Harris finishing fourth in the NCAA and sixth at the Olympic Trials in the 800m was one of the most underrated stories of 2016. In 2017, with Clayton Murphy, Donavan Brazier, Brandon McBride, and Shaq Walker all having turned pro, Harris can be one of the biggest mid-d stars in the collegiate system. A collegiate record would be a great way to remind everyone. Kidder's 2:18.26 is the standard to beat.

The Throwback Machine Brings Us Some Goodness From 2010!

Wow!

Ryan Foster started the Indoor Track seaon in great form with a School Record, Australian National Record and World Leading time in the 1000M on Saturday. His 2:19.60 time obliterated the old record. I can't wait for the upcoming 4 X 800 races this year! There were also impressive performances from Shavon Greaves and Fawn Dorr.

The National Record by Ryan allows me to segue to the introduction of our "Hall of Honor" for the Coach Harry Groves Golf Tournament. It will be sort of like the Baseball Hall of Fame except for the voters, steroids, fame and millions of dollars! Final qualifications are not yet complete, but preliminary entries might include:

1. Those who appear on The Cup more than once, (so even shlubs like me have a prayer).
2. Any Olympian, All-American, National Champion or National Record Holder that participates* in one of our events.

Fine tuning of these criteria can certainly be done. Let me know by comment or email. Comments on the blog are now moderated to avoid the recent introduction of ads for "male enhancement", Nigerian Bank scams and ads for Ugg Boots. The process is painless and necessary, unfortunately. Maybe now that we are in the top 150,000 most read blogs, it's a price we must pay! (I'm making fun of myself, for those of you who don't know. My blog is still worth $0.00, a value I hope to maintain.)

And those of you that have been patiently waiting for your t-shirts and wrist bands can rest assured they are on their way Monday. Sorry for the delay.

*participation is loosely defined and subject to bribery!

Two Lost Days And Indoor Season Finally Arrives

The Disney Marathon Weekend is over and the Dopey Challengers both finished their 4th in a row, minus the cancelled Half-Marathon on Saturday.

My contribution to the whole thing was the drive home, again in 15 hours 34 minutes or so just like last year.  And it gets harder every year.  Going to work this AM will be my Marathon!  I have literally lost 2 whole days. Where did they go?

But my weariness also points out that it must be time for INDOOR SEASON!  The first meet is this weekend at the Nittany Lion Challenge.  I will be attending the Penn State National in 3 weeks.

Also attending the Penn State National and entering the 600M will be Cas Loxsom!

Mother Nature Throws a Monkey Wrench At Those Trapped Like A Rat

You never know what can happen with Mother Nature.  Sometimes she throws things you never counted on.  Today's payload was a nasty storm including lightning which necessitated the cancellation of the Disney Half-Marathon.  And I am quite aware that it is worse just about everywhere else.  My 2 mile run was in a blustery 55 degrees.

Honestly, you would think the world ended if you only had the Disney Universe of rabid fans to go by.  Hundreds of upset runners took to the resorts to stage their own 1/2 marathons, running willy nilly throughout the grounds to cheers from the non-runners. Even those prepared to run in silly costumes donned them anyway even though no Disney Characters were there to pose for selfies with them.  The Dopey Challengers were resigned to running 35.5 miles instead of 48.6.

Monumental traffic jams ensued when they announced refunds and the medals were available at the Wide World of Sports Complex.  I really pity the poor volunteer workers there who had to handle the thousands of disgruntled runners blaming them for the acts of a mom otherwise revered by the politically correct crowd.

The only hard part for me is the 16 hour drive home when the Dopey Challengers are done!

This mom of two toddlers wasn't throwing anything but good cheer.  Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Coach Groves Tips His New Hat To All Of Us

Still trapped like a rat in Orlando while the Dopey Challengers continue their quest.  Two races down, two to go!

And Coach Groves was sent a new winter cap by our very own Distinguished Alumnus Bob Hillman from Harvard's Medical School just in time for the cold weather everyone is experiencing now. Except for me!!!!!

The Performance Of The Year 2016 (and Was It My Fault?)

The results of the Performance of the Year Finals went like all of us suspected.  But what a year it was, after all!

Joe Kovacs became the first ever two time winner of the Performance of the Year, as the Olympics dominated the voting.  Joe also won last year for his Shot Put World Championship.  A silver medal in the Olympics is certainly worthy of at least 86% of voters attention.  And two PSU teammates (Joe Kovacs and  Darrell Hill) making the same Olympic team in the same event is worth way more than 42% of voters in my book.

It is also very rare to have an athlete named as Athlete of the Year at the Penn Relays Carnival (Brannon Kidder).  But this year it garnered only 33% of voter's minds!  And there may be only one Penn State Track Alumnus who has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail with his daughter (Blog Muse Rob and Phoebe Whiteside) but that only nabbed 19% of voters.

And I did make it to the Land of the Rat after repairs to the brake lines in one of the two Dopey Challenge team vehicles.  I got here just in time to take a 3 mile run and then watch the beginning of the Rose Bowl before everyone was ready to go to Disney Springs for dinner.  In other words, I watched the first few minutes of the game and saw the Nittany Lions go down 13-0.

Thankfully, the ship was righted as soon as I left and paid no attention to the game while walking to a very, very crowded Disney Springs.  I wistfully remember the days just a few years ago when the then named Downtown Disney was always practically barren.  PSU 49 - USC 22 while I abstained from the game as promised.

But I didn't know that today's games take nearly 5 hours and I made it back to the room in time for the start of the 4th quarter.  Needless to say, USC 17 - PSU 0.  I'm not making that up.  I missed every single Penn State point, but saw complete and total dominance by USC sandwiched around an otherwise a barn burner.

Disney in the AM

Trapped Like a Rat, Again

Looks like I really am trapped this AM.  With a car "in the shop" for repairs, I am stuck in Savannah waiting to leave for Orlando and the land of the rat himself.  Meanwhile, the last hours of the Performance of the Year poll tick by...   (Still a chance to chime in.)

Both conceited Big Ten behemoths folded like cheap suits in the bowl season.  University of Michigan defenders celebrated a sack like drunken New Year's revelers and forgot to pick up the fumble, insuring the one point loss!  And THE Ohio State University forgot to send THE offense to Tempe all-together.  The defense that showed up wasn't the first team either...

Somehow, both will still be smugger than everyone else anyway.  I promise to not watch the Rose Bowl, as that ensures good play by the Lions every time. You can thank me later.

And will the car be fixed in time or not?  The balance of good and evil is unknown!

Eight AM in the Garden of Good and Evil.