Herding Cats: A Lonely Endeavour

Randy Moore coined my Officer Status when I first asked him to come to our golf event. (He hasn't yet, but I'm ever hopeful!)  He said getting commitments from PSU Track Alums is like trying to herd cats, and he was right.  I've been at it ever since.  Hard to know if you're ever successful, but then again it's hard to know if you fail too.  I've got that going for me.

So anyway, Sign up for the event now, why don't you?  This year's 10th Annual Reunion will be the biggest yet, with the addition of support from the Varsity "S" Club and the Nittany Lion Club. 

"The Club" Has a New Member

And we don't mean "The Hair Club" either!  The Sub-4 Club grew by three on Saturday at the Penn State National Indoor Meet.  I am checking to see if there are any other Tasmanians in that particular club. Fact checking is not one of my strong points!  Why fact check when others will do it for you!  He is, in fact, Tasmania's very first.  Here's his home paper describing the achievement.

I watched the race with Larry Mangan, who wondered whether his indoor 1500 M record was still intact.  I didn't see any of the appropriate electronics at the mark, so I assume it is. Ryan Foster's race was remarkably well paced, which augers well for future improvement.  In another great performance, Luke Watson paced the first 880 yards in 1:58 or so, just two weeks after his marathon victory in Bermuda. Fine range, indeed.  (I'm still trying to figure out if he can golf or not, though.)

Cas Loxsom's 800 was also dazzling, although he just missed Ryan's record from last year. He then teamed up to set the PSU 4 X 400 record in the meet finale. I will soon have video of both the 800 and mile for everyone to view.

The picture was brought to us by Tim Backenstose, who had the pleasure of celebrating the achievement with them that evening.  We must thank his wife Holly Backenstose for getting Tim to the Track just in time to see the race.  The snow on the way up was a bit more than anyone predicted. Seven Mountains became Ten Mountains. Larry and Mark Hawkins even got to see the PSU Hoopsters defeat Wisconsin afterward (for their fourth straight upset in a row of a ranked team at home.)  All in all, a good day in Happy Valley.

Here's Flotrack's coverage of the big race!

Watch more Videos on Flotrack

Great Performances

PSU Track Alumni Golfers showed up in droves at the Penn State National Indoor Meet this weekend.  They were treated to some fine performances indeed!

Topped off by Ryan Foster's 3:58.49 effort in the mile, several records were set, and several automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships were achieved. I'll have some videos and photos soon.

Bob Snyder's son Chris ran a 4:14 mile.  Not his best, but a nice time in the early season. But the best performance of all came on Friday night, as Mark Hawkins stepped on the track for the first time in 30 years (?) to compete in the mile.  His 5:25 effort comes with respect and admiration from all the rest of us alums who realize just how good that really is.  There is more to come, I believe.  We never learn. He went out too hard....  (and I forgot to mention Kevin Fuller rocking the Alumni Singlet as the rabbit in the 800 M!)
Here's Mark's race in its entirety, brought to us by FloTrack!

Watch more Videos on Flotrack

Velveteen Playboys Rock the Millrose Games Tonight!

Paul Souza will become the first performer in thirty years to sing at the Millrose Games after having performed in the actual track event!  For extra credit, guess who the last one was? So be sure to check out the broadcast tonight and see PSU's record holder in the high jump hit the high notes.  I've seen the Velveteen Playboys myself. and recommend it highly.  That's Paul in the middle, with slightly less hair than any of us remember!  (Thanks to Elaine LaFramboise Pino for the links and the heads-up!)

Watch Out for Falling Banners!

I missed the banner drop for the Three NCAA XC Championship Teams from the 40's and 50's, but I'll be there for the banner drop for the "Triple Crown"  this weekend.  That's all 3 Big Ten Titles for the Women last year! (Along with 3 Coach of the Year Honors for Coach Sullivan!)

The Penn State National promises to be an exciting meet with many PSU Track Alumni Golfers in attendance.  I will bring you photos, videos and the best in journalistic standards next week.  (Yeah, right.  Like 4 blurry photos of someone sort of running and an interview with a turn-judge most likely!)  My "spidey-sense" does tell me something very exciting is going to happen this weekend.  And I did have exposure to radioactive materials while doing research in college.

Even Prefontaine Haters Smile at This One

Yesterday, on what would have been Steve Prefontaine's 60th birthday*, I read this great story.  The photo shown was taken just before his death and shows the trophy he helped snag for Oregon during the halftime of "The Civil War" football game between Oregon and Oregon State.  The story is worth the read!


*Elvis would be 76!

Crack Team of Intrepid Journalists Get Ever Closer to the Origin of the Cross Country (and Track) Team Cheer!

There it was, distinct as could be.  "Rusty boots!", emanating from a huddled mass of recent graduates at the start of the Penn State Open Cross Country Meet this past Fall. (They looked resplendent in their Alumni Singlets, may I add!)

I hadn't thought of it in years.  I remember the cryptic abbreviations for it in my initial correspondence from captains John Ziegler and Bruce Baden before I even matriculated.  I recall shouting it after victory in my first away XC Meet as a Freshman in Schenley Park in the mud of Pittsburgh in 1977, even before I turned 18.  And yet I never inquired as to  what it meant and where it came from! It wasn't my place.  Surely, someone would tell me sooner or later, right?  "And don't call me Shirley!"  They never did.

The cheer was still around the rest of my years there, but was definitely confined to the back seat, only occasionally coming out to tickle the vocal cords of a few of the most hardy among us.

When I heard snippets of it again, I couldn't believe it.  How had it survived, when most of our great 10-milers were gone (The Pine Barrens, The Deer Pens/Observatory, The Game Lands...) not to mention our great mountain runs? "I told you not to mention them"  The recent grads looked at me like I was nuts when I brought "The Cheer" up.  A prescient bunch they are!  But I vowed right then and there to get to the bottom of the whole mess.  Our Laureate passed me off to others...  Our Assistant Laureate knew no more than I...   The Keeper of the Golden Putter finally offered a glimmer of hope recently, and has some insights into the origins of it back in 1968 or so.  I hope to bring you more, but if anyone can contribute, drop me a line in the comments or by email!

Recruiting is an Inexact Science!

 

The day John Lucas finished 11th in the 1952 Olympic Trials in the 10,000 M was a momentous occasion.  Not making the team,  (with Group idol Horace Ashenfelter III !), made him devote his life to researching and documenting the Modern Olympic Games.  The love affair has continued ever since, leading to his attaining the highest honor given by the IOC, the Olympic Order Gold Medal.

Dr. Lucas has been a honored professor of Kinesiology, winning many Teacher of the Year Awards, as well as the Cross-Country and Track Coach from 1962-1968.  He was replaced by Coach Harry Groves after he decided to pursue his Olympics documentation more completely.  That year, a certain Freshman began his tenure at PSU, recruited by Dr. Lucas.  Coach Groves admits he wouldn't have bothered with the skinny kid from near Reading, with him being "way too slow". He was stuck with him anyway, and the rest is Olympic History....

Dr. Lucas is shown above showing Walt Chadwick, another Historian,  his extensive Olympic Chronicles, the largest in the world outside the Official IOC Archives.

Delaware Mens Track and Cross Country to End After 100 Years

It was announced recently that the 100th year of Delaware Mens Track and Field and Cross-Country would be its last.  I'm not sure whether it was primarily budgetary, Title IX or merely the whim of a bureaucrat, but it stinks all the same.  The list of schools this has happened to is getting quite large.

That is why we must organize and be proactive in our support of the entire Program.  A completely self-funded program has little risk of being scrapped, and the support makes the entire operation more successful anyway.  The happiness and pride one receives for the support is just icing on the cake!


A friend from Podiatry School ran for Delaware after transferring from PSU.  I also did a little biomechanics research with him at U of D while in school, and have a soft spot for Newark.  The team will continue as a Club Team, for what little solace that gives the athletes now.

I can't end the post on a downer like this, so I include this video, which was featured on America's Funniest Videos.  No disrespect to U of D is intended, as I try to bring the mirth as much as possible.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Penn State Track/XC Alumni Singlets

The recent alums sported these in the recent Penn State National Cross Country Race, and looked sharp doing it.

Any of us can get in on the ground floor and purchase one this upcoming Spring.  Dennis Pollow will place a new order for them and is opening up the store for all to enjoy!

If you are like me, and too stupid to somehow come up with a singlet as a keepsake before graduation (and you know who you are!), this will be a suitable replacement.  And legal too!

Contact Dennis at dpollow@gmail.com for information. Costs will be around $35.  I'll be ordering my '81 XL, and so should you.

Ten Questions: Elaine LaFramboise Pino

1. What song immediately brings back memories of Penn State?
Celebration, and Rapper’s Delight---sad, I know.

2. Who was the biggest team clown during your track years?
Seems like we laughed all the time but no one stands out as THE team clown.

3. What was your best PSU Track or XC performance?
Might not be my best, but definitely the most memorable, was my first Penn Relays. Since I grew up in Maine I had never been to the Relays (unlike all you lucky folk who went in high school). I was standing in the pens waiting for my leg of the race when I looked up into the stands-I’m sure I had a terrified/overwhelmed expression- right in front was Bill Cosby and he gave me an encouraging Let’s go Penn State! Always loved the Penn Relay's atmosphere and every year I hope to go down and watch (haven’t made it yet) Actual best was 2:11.2 for 800m.

4. What is your best Coach Groves memory?
Just that he was always there. When I went with my son to (finally) see the new Indoor facility a few years ago, we ran into Coach, who launched into some great stories which amused Andrew! (Go figure, Coach had stories....) Last Spring I went to a meet while picking kids the up for the semester, things seemed strangely awry without him trackside.

5. What was your favorite haunt/watering hole in State College back in the day.
Embarrassed to say Mr. C’s, complete with disco floor! I’ll redeem myself by saying I also frequented the Phyrst!

6. What was your least favorite workout?
Hickey Hill, Squirrel Hill, B*tch Hill, doesn’t matter what you call it, I hated it!
Another Squirrel Hill Hater!  There sure are a lot of those!

7. What have you done (professionally) since leaving PSU and what are you doing now and where?
I work as an RN in a Newborn Intensive Care Unit in NH.

8. Who from the team do you wish you could get in contact with?
I would love to see Sue Lindner, we always roomed together on trips but lost touch with her shortly after graduating.

9. What exercising do you currently do?
I run 3-4mi/day sometimes more, still feels wrong if I don’t get a run in. Finished (in a poor imitation of running) a ½ Marathon, which confirmed what I already knew-I am not a distance runner. Had/have a goal to run at least one marathon but after that experience not sure I’ll actually do it.
Just remember to start slow and taper off and you'll be fine!

10. What was your best non-running or track related story from a track or XC meet?
After Nationals in Pocatello, Idaho we drove up into the Tetons, Jackson Hole and to the gates of Yellowstone (the entrance was still closed for the winter). It was gorgeous and we had a blast. I would love to get back there someday.

Luke Watson Shows Great Range

Luke Watson had a great weekend in Paradise, (otherwise known as Bermuda) placing first in the Marathon in 2:22:49 and second in the One-Mile!

This even earned him the lead quote on LetsRun.com.  The PSU grad student and volunteer assistant coach ran for Notre Dame, something we never, ever hold against him!

Here's video of the mile finish: