Arkansas Runners- McDonnell Era

Agreed.

wow, check out for a bit and feel like I missed a ton!

One thing that impressed my about Falcon when I was there, and even more so now that I am older, was how he would do anything for the team. Some of my details may not be exact, for feel free to correct/add on.

Lots of Hogs 'sacrificed' ( although we didn't consider it a sacrifice ) for the Team, but Joe did so much.

His true freshman year in cross, he was young, 17 or a young 18 and he probably should have red shirted. But, to have any chance of winning NCAA's ( which would be our first cross title ever) we needed him to run. He had no problem stepping up to the plate. He ran the meet, running right where John told him to be, around 40th. Now David Swain ( who was having a great senior season) was up in the top 10 with Paul Donovan ( who had missed a ton of training due to various things that fall). With about a mile to go, Donovan's lack of training caught up with him and he started to drop places. John told Joe he needed to start moving up. Like clockwork for every place Paul lost, Joe passed someone. they met at the finish line in 23rd and 24th or so. Joe went on to get 7 the next year, then 2nd then 1st. Think if he had redshirted, he might have had a 4 year NCAA total of around 11 points!! Espen Borge (30's) and Gary Taylor (50th or so ) rounded out our scorers.

The next time I remember Joe offering to do a very tough double so we could have a chance at winning NCAA's was his sophomore year outdoors in 1987. We had 5 guys qualified in the 1500m including Joe. Instead of running the 1500m he offered to double the 5K and 10K to get more points for the team. The meet was at LSU, hot as can be. I remember thinking, man, this guy has some balls, he is volunteering to do that tough distance double in the heat just to give us a chance to win. He won the 10K, made the final of the 5K, but the pace was fast in the 5K and he didn't win. Due to a bunch of us running like shit, we had no chance of winning the meet when the 5K started, but he ran it and he tried to win.

Next was indoors in 88. We had won indoor nationals 4 times in a row, and this would be 5. Our team was lean that year. Back then they only had the mile and 3K indoors, no 5K and they had heats in the mile and 3K. He offered to double. 4 races in two days on a leg draining 10 lap to the mile board track. Joe made both finals. He won the mile ( 2:00 then threw in a 56 third quarter to blow the race open, and cruised to a 3:58,..fast for a board track - side note Matt Taylor came through huge in that race and got 3rd, 6 big points we would need all of them!).

It came time for the 3K. Joe had to be tired. John told him our only chance of wining was for Joe to run. If he got fifth, we stood a slim chance, 4th, better, 3rd or better, looking good. Joe went out, hung in 6th until 1K to go, then summoning strength from I don't know where, he started moving up. Coming up to the bell, he pulled into second and down the backstraight he took the lead for the win. Absolutely amazing! The only double in college I could compare it to was Rupp's 3 races at College Station a few years ago, but I saw both and I think Joe's was more impressive. Our team scored 32 points that weekend for the win, Joe had 20.

If you think about it, in the olympic year of 88, Joe won NCAA cross leading up to it ( fall of 87), did that incredible double at NCAA indoors and then won NCAA outdoors as well. Pretty amazing year!

I agree with Cush in that if you had to race Joe, it was hard to criticize him. You couldn't help but look up to him and the things he did. Perhaps from the safety of the stands it was easier to be more analytical.

Chris Zinn;

I don't know if Zinn gets enough credit. He came in with Falcon out of Missouri and was highly touted in cross, having beaten Joe Falcon. Chris had an amazing 4 season at Arkansas. NCAA 16th his freshman year, I think 6 or 7th the next year(?), was sick for his junior year ( in the 30's) and 5 or so his senior year. He as over shadowed by Joe, but if Joe wasn't there, he would have been our #1 guy for 4 years in a row pretty much.

He was just one tough guy in cross country. Zinn would just hammer away, and you knew if he didn't win, he was giving it his all. At track time is was evident that Zinn didn't have a ton of talent for the oval, which made his cross country exploits all the more incredible.

plus he had a really cool car.

seeing falcon light up that 3k over junkermann, et al in '88 with 2 laps to go still sends chills down my spine. at a bit over a mile in, he seemed to be completely gassed from all the aforementioned heats/races. as consiglio mentioned, somehow with some unknown strength, he came alive. with a little over one lap to go, he was shaking his fist at the crowd to pump them up, and blitzed the final lap with the crowd going crazy. i mean, that arena in okc was ALIVE. most scintillating race i've ever seen. ended it all on the victory lap with a call to the hogs. soooie pig.

Matt,

Sorry the years have clouded my memory a bit. I do recall one non Razorback runner breaking up the sweep at the SMSU XC Invite back in the 80s. You did a great job representing on the home turf. You also threw down that 5k in around 14:30 at the Springfield Turkey Trot when you were 38! That was an impressive run.

I'm teaching and coaching in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama for the Shelby County School District. I make it home to Bolivar a few times each year. I do miss the rolling hills of southwest Missouri from time to time.

Dewayne

John,

I was talking about a completely different race. We did do some major sweeping of the top spots at the Southern Stampede in Joplin, MO. The race I'm talking about was the Southwest Missouri State University XC Invite in Springfield, MO. Back in the 80s the SMSU XC Invite was one of the larger XC meets in the midwest. It had a college and high school division. I ran in the HS division and would watch the Razorbacks tear up the college division. My senior year I saw Baker, Welsh, Hanley and that crew rip it up. I won the high school division that day with a 14:52 5k. It was that day that I verbally commited to Arkansas. WOW!! Those days seemed magical. I know I'm being nostalgic, but those were some great times!

Miner (Potsie)

Those are some fantastic stories Consiglio! Thanks for sharing. As I've mentioned previously Joe was my running hero in HS. It was an honor to actually get the opportunity to train with him some during my days at Arkansas. He was a class act and still is as far as I know. I believe he became a police officer in Bentonville, AR. Couldn't imagine being a criminal trying to outrun him!! Last I knew he had given up the badge to take a position with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Arkansas. Once again thanks for sharing Doug (or as I remember you, that tall skinny dude who could fly).

Dewayne Miner

I have to ask, with all the talent, I find it hard to imagine you guys actually dreading a workout, but if you had to choose on a biweekly basis, of the one workout you guys dreaded most, and the one that each and every one of you had to work together to get through, which one do you think it would be?

Taylor

Tough call on that one Taylor. I would say the two workouts I dreaded most were 5x1mile run in the 4:30s with a half mile brisk jog for recovery on the old Razorback Golf Course during XC season, and 16x400 in 60 seconds with a 45-60 second recovery during Track season. We definitely had to work together to get through those workouts, but of course we had to work together to get through most of the workouts. Looking back through my old training log I don't think I could have handled any of the insanely intense workouts we did on my own.

Dewayne, being around the Springfield area, I've always been a real fan of your running. All the way from your high school accomplishments (multiple state champs) to a Penn Relays win for the Hogs. I guess I was always curious why you ended up transferring out of Fayetteville your last year. Is it too personal to get you to say why you left?

Not Keith Iovine but Tom Moloney ran a 3:54 mile in 1986

Frank has more class than to post in this thread.

Just a fun fact.

NewlyImproved wrote:

Frank has more class than to post in this thread.

Just a fun fact.

I agree! Surprised people thought he was on here. But we will hear from Frank! I talked again in great length with Andrew Maloney last night who has been chosen to write the story of John and his years coaching the Razorbacks. He is doing a great job researching everything ( I am sure many of you old hogs have spoken to him as well) and I know we will get to hear from the great O'mara in this book. Should be a good read, 300 + pages! Only bad news is won't be out until next fall or winter.

On the topic of Frank, what a great guy. He was a senior when the hogs were recruiting me and he was one of the main reasons I went there. He won the NCAA 1500m that year and ran 3:52 mile that summer. My freshman year I figured out when he did his morning run and used to hide out and then "appear" so I could hopefully jog with him. He was always friendly and encouraged me and gave me advice.

Years later I told him that I used to hide and wait for him to run with him in the mornings and he laughed and said he knew what I was doing, ( but was nice enough not to bring it up! ) and actually thought it was in a small way respectful of me to do so.

One amazing race I saw him run was world indoors in Budapest in 89. Frank was the defending 3k champ, haveing led a 1 - 2 sweep at the 87 world indoors with fellow ex razorback Paul Donovan in Indianapolis.

But in Budapest, O'mara had to contend with the great Said Aouita. Aouita held the world record in the 15, 3k and 5k and had 1:43 800m speed. How could Frank win?

I talked to him day or so before the race and he said he was the defending champ and he wasn't going down without a fight. The pace was fairly slow but with 4 laps to go Frank, to quote Matt Taylor and Paul Thoma, "struck like a cobra". He ran the 4th to last lap in 26 point high. Blew the field wide open. Aouita covered but there was a gap. Frank next ran a 27 point lap. Aouita looked concerned and the gap stayed. Frank ran the next Lap in 27 point.

Coming up to the bell, Frank still had a small gap, but the sharks smelt blood. Aouita caught him, as did a few others and he didn't medal. Winning time if I remember was around 7:47.

Frank, didn't win or medal, and some might say he ran not very smart, but I was so impressed by his guts to try and take it to Aouita, who was the man back in that day. Basically he tried to run away from the best runner in the world!

Most of us would not even try.

Who is the ex-Arkansas runner posting as "portsea" who has claimed in multiple places that Aouita's drug use was known by many runners on the European circuit at that time? I'm just curious.

I am astounded anyone would say anything negative about the athletic performances of Joe Falcon. Yikes. No wonder this board can be ridiculous, rife with too many self-centered and narcissistic runners unwilling to recognize brilliance without making some kind of snarky comment.

Distance running stalled - absolutely stalled in this country for 15 years - we needed more Joe Falcon's.

I'm not sure most people on this thread would understand, but in short I became a follower of Jesus Christ and in faith I forsook all to follow Him. I know that will sound crazy, stupid, and foolish to most who might read this. Do I ever wonder what might have been had a stayed at Arkansas? Absolutely. Hind sight is 20/20 though and at the time I did what I believed to be the most wise thing a person could ever do, and that's following Jesus. Certainly it goes much deeper than that, but that's the short and simple answer to your question.

Thanks for the answer, Dewayne.

You're welcome brother. Keep the home fires burnin there in the heartland. I miss the rolling hills of SW Missouri along the edge of the Ozark Mts. I always seem to find God's peace there.

Hi everyone, I wanted to make a quick apology for anything that detracted from the spirit of the program. Just as Coach Mac would have said to me in the past "Kid, you have to keep your cool."

To my fellow alumni, and any fans out there. My apologies.

JS - Signing off.!