Penn State Sports Magazine
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J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2021 One of the great personal rivalries in track and field continued at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June 2021 when Penn State alum Joe Kovacs finished behind Ryan Crouser in the shot put at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Kovacs and Crouser had spent years battling for the top spot on podiums all over the world. Crouser won the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, while Kovacs earned the silver. At the World Cham- pionships three years later, they flipped positions, with Kovacs taking first place in Doha. And then in Eugene, they flipped back. Kovacs, a Nazareth, Pa., native and 2011 Penn State graduate, uncorked a throw of 73 feet, 3.5 inches, good for second place and a trip to Tokyo for the COVID-de- layed 2020 Summer Games. Crouser fin- ished first with a prodigious throw of 76- 8.25. In the process, the former Texas star smashed a world record that had stood for 31 years, but Kovacs was undaunted as he looked ahead to the next phase of their rivalry. "I'm happy that he did it," Kovacs said. "I had one like that in warmups and I wish I could have thrown it [in competition]. But it's good. Tune into the Olympic shot put." Those who did tune in saw another epic battle … and another 1-2 finish. Crouser was first and Kovacs second, just as they'd finished in the Rio de Janeiro Games four years earlier. What's more, New Zealand's Tom Walsh repeated as bronze medalist. It was the first time in Olympic history that three medalists in an individual event finished in the same order in consecutive Olympiads. 10 YEARS AGO, 2016 The Penn State men brought a quartet of athletes and posted three first-team All-America performances at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Brannon Kidder was fourth in the 1,500-meter race, Isaiah Harris was fourth in the 800, Brian Leap was sixth in the triple jump and David Lucas was 15th in the discus. Kidder, Harris and Leap all received first-team All-America laurels, while Lucas garnered a second-team nod. Harris, a freshman and future NCAA champion in the 800, finished his race in 1:45.76, the third-best time in PSU history. Coming off a 10th-place showing in the team standings in 2015, the Nittany Lions placed 17th in their return to Or- egon, a result that coach John Gondak called "fantastic" considering the size of the PSU contingent at Hayward Field. "We came with a small group — only four student-athletes on the men's side — but it was a potent group," Gondak said. "All four had the potential to earn [first-team] All-American honors, and we came away with three. And for the second year, we finished inside the top 20. I'm excited about the individual per- formances today and excited about see- ing where Penn State ended up as a team as well." 25 YEARS AGO, 2001 Hurdlers Brian Derby and Guy Rose both earned first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Champi- onships in — you guessed it — Eugene, Ore. Derby was fourth in the 400-me- ter intermediate hurdles with a time of 50.06 seconds, while Rose was 12th in the 110-meter race, finishing in 13.56 seconds. Together, they led a 39th-place finish by Penn State in the team stand- ings. On the women's side, Brianna Johnson finished eighth in the javelin. The Nit- tany Lions placed 67th as a team. — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History Penn State alum Joe Kovacs finished second in the shot put at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June 2021, earning a trip to Tokyo for the Olympic Games. PHOTO BY ADAM EBERHARDT/TRACKTOWN USA