........PSAC.......

I agree that the 800 will certainly be exciting. Alex Smith of Cal has definitely shown considerable improvement and Eli Weeks is looking strong for Kutztown. I think the 5000m will also be an exciting one with 11 people sub-15 once the list gets updated. Last year there were probably only 5 or so by this point. Should be a great championship to watch as always.

I loved seeing all the strong PSAC performances at Penn this year. I'm wondering historically if the conference has ever had this type of quality depth on the men's and women's distance side of things.

I look at some of the times being put down and I know over the past decade this has to be the stronest group of distance athletes the conference has seen (as a group). I don't know a ton about the 70's, 80's and 90's in the PSAC yet but I think those decades might be hard pressed to match the depth that the conference is seeing currently. I do know that last year at outdoor NCAA's most coaches were thinking that it was the largest contigent ever sent by the PSAC.

The women's distance side is absolutely crazy with how fast they are running. I think last year almost half the field at NCAA's was PSAC runners in the women's 5k. I don't think that will happen again but now there are 4 women in the conference below 17 minutes and Dell hasn't even run that race.

I would love to hear from those with some historical perspective because I'm not sure if what I'm guessing at is correct. Either way this conference championship should be fun to watch again and it looks like the conference will be well represented at NCAA's.

05 was a pretty good year on the guys side. With 11 guys sub 14:45, 5-6 guys sub 30:40 and 3 guys sub 3:52. I don't remember as much about the women's depth and I know the 800 wasn't that strong with front runners. but that was a very good year as well. I am guessing some of the people on this board will recall the early 90s better than me. I know the psac went 1-2 at cross in 91 or 92, so there must have been some depth in the early 90s as well.

Hoovis!,

my thoughts? My thought is that you sound like a creeper...you know a little too much about this stuff.

Just an avid track fan, my friend. I know a number of former PSAC runners much more knowledgable than I -- Platt (who posts here from time to time), Shaf (the Legend), and Matt Hurst (Ship alum) come to mind. But, compared to the average Joe on these boards, I'm fairly knowledgable aobout the sport.

hoovie wrote:

Hoovis!,

my thoughts? My thought is that you sound like a creeper...you know a little too much about this stuff.

I'll try and recollect and/or compile some best times from the early 90's. But in the mean time, I jotted down a few notes about the 1990 outdoor PSAC Champs. I think these are "pretty representative" of a typical field and what they ran at PSAC's in the early 90's. There were some really great runners back then (e.g., Uriel Rivera, Chris Rauber, etc.) and some really good ones (the entire Ship & Boro teams and a number of good guys from IUP as well as some individuals from other schools such as Dan "Mountain Man" Pszeniczny (Millersville) and Eric Laughlin (Rock), and even guys like Kevin Stover (Millersville).

800 meters

• Fairly strong field through top 6 – Andy Van Sciver from Millersville (there’s a name you don’t hear mentioned on these boards) won in 1:51.?. Hunsberger (Ship), Brett Middleton (Ship) and Joey G (IUP) were all under/at 1:53.

1500 meters

• The one and only Uriel Rivera won the 1500 in 3:55. I say one and only because he was both a unique personality and a unique talent on the track (heard he once stole a piano at Track Nats???)

• Overall, this race wasn’t that fast. Matt McDonald (Ship) was 4th in 4:01. Not particularly fast…but, for those of you who know Matt-man…it’s pretty friggin’ incredible that he ran 4:01. Dude is a total mileage hog…I view him as way more of an ultra-runner than a miler.

5000 meters

• Perhaps the best PSAC race I’ve ever seen.

• As we all know, 5K’s at PSAC’s aren’t always that fast…but, this one was solid.

• Randy Lowe (Ship) – 1st in 14:40.5. Uriel just 2 tenths back. Kevin Stover 3rd in 14:46.

10,000 meters

• I think the meet order used to be different back then. I believe the 10k was after the 5k, but perhaps somebody like Platt can shed some light on this. Don’t recall.

• Uriel won his second event of the meet. Times weren’t fast, but a pretty tight group (Uriel was low 32’s). Shaf, Shaf, Shaf (the IUP Legend) second…and Chris Mono-nucleosis Monheim (Ship) third. I believe Howie Miller (IUP) was 4th…and I think Joe Hegge (Ship) was either 5th or 6th.

What really strikes me about the 90's (and this is likely true of the 70's, 80's, and 00's as well) were some of the "lesser known" runners from different teams that placed well at PSAC. Travis Anderson (aka, Trav-man) from Ship who was fifth in a pretty stacked 10K in 1992. Scott Mellinger (Ship) who was third in the 10K in 1993. Josh Lauer and/or Matt Barry from IUP. Seth Kuchar from Strous.

It seemed like year-after-year the PSAC was strong. Boro & Ship were very good and very deep every year, adn each team had a couple of top guys. So, while 2010 is a fairly strong/deep PSAC year...it seems pretty much on par with the depth/experience i rember from teh PSAC in teh 90's.

Well thanks for that, Hoovis, you're one of the few people who legitimize this thread between all the name calling and trolling that happens here. I'd come back and read stories of PSAC past any day as long as someone had something to reminisce about.

esu ran 3:10 and lock haven 3:11 and sru ladies 3:44 in the 4x4 at lhu sat. then the entire field got dq'd because the starter started the race in the wrong spot. how is this possible? how can a trained official not know where to start a race?

Is it possible that not one runner or coach noticed the lines or zones were wrong? Should the athletes especailly Loch HAven runners know the start line and zones of their home track.. Oh boy!

3:10 and 3:11!!!! smoking fast .. too bad didnt count

the conference is going to be a great meet this year

several coaches said something to the official, she refused to move runners at the start of the men's race saying that it didn't matter. then immediately after the race both the men's and women's fields were dq'd.

It's pretty insane how much deeper the conference is this year in all of the distance events. Check out last year's performance list as opposed to this years. For example, my current 800m qualifying time has me sitting 17th right now and last year, I would have been 8th going into PSACs. Also, 5 guys in the 800 under 154? Rector, Jewel, Smith, Weeks, Garcia.. with Jamieson and Fez sitting right above? I dont think the 800 field has been this deep in a LONG time

Give your top 3 for men's and women's 800.

What's next on list for Josh Neyhart after his 3:48 1500 this weekend, USA Championships?

Top 3 in each:

Men's:

1. Kevin Jewel, SRU

2. Phil Rector, SRU

3. Eli Weeks, Kutztown

Women's

1. Mary Dell, Ship

2. Amanda Radabaugh, Ship

3. Clare McSweeney, Cal U

I look for the winning times to be fast, 1:50.7 for the guys and 2:09.4 for the women

i'm thinking a ROCK sweep in the men's 800.

800m Predictions wrote:

Top 3 in each:

Men's:

1. Kevin Jewel, SRU

2. Phil Rector, SRU

3. Eli Weeks, Kutztown

Women's

1. Mary Dell, Ship

2. Amanda Radabaugh, Ship

3. Clare McSweeney, Cal U

I look for the winning times to be fast, 1:50.7 for the guys and 2:09.4 for the women

Men's - winning time 1:52

1. Kevin Jewel, SRU

2. Alex Smith, Cal

3. Victor Garcia, Man

Women's - winning time 2:07

1. Maddie Outman, IUP

2. Clare McSweeney, Cal

3. Amanda Radabaugh, Ship

I'm convinced Maddie Outman could win whatever she wanted to individually, except maybe HJ. That 800 was at the the end of a heptathlon. Crazy talent there.

What Else wrote:

I'm convinced Maddie Outman could win whatever she wanted to individually, except maybe HJ. That 800 was at the the end of a heptathlon. Crazy talent there.

I agree that Outman could win the 100 -800, both hurdles, LJ and heptathlon but the rumor is that she is "only" going to do the 100 HH, 800, and LJ at PSAC's skipping the heptathlon.