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for the 7rst time in 2021, and it enables U.S. athletes to compete and earn prize money without going overseas, enjoy a team format and interact with fans. Hill and another former Penn State track athlete, Casimir Loxsom, were among the competitors. Hill, who combined to 7nish fourth for the San Francisco Surge in a "shot put relay" with female thrower Brittany Smith, got the fans clapping in rhythm during the event and posed for dozens of photos a8erward. (His best individual throw was 68 feet, 4 1 ⁄2 inches.) Loxsom, who 7nished eighth in the 800 meters in a season-best 1 minute, 47.42 for the New York Empire, also jogged the half-lap event for kids that ended the meet, and he helped to form a tunnel for the 7nishers, as well. "Something like this, a team-scored competition, is awesome," Loxsom said. "This gets me excited to run again." Both former Nittany Lions also com- peted in the Tracktown Summer Series Championship in New York. And then they headed to opposite coasts. Loxsom, who had been training in Seattle with the Brooks Beasts track club, was dismissed from the team in the spring and has been running alone, with- out teammates and a sponsor. He com- peted in two more meets a8er the Sum- mer Series – both in Ireland – and then planned to return to Seattle, load up a U- Haul and move back to State College, where he'll 7nish his degree, serve as a volunteer coach for the track team and train with Isaiah Harris. A rising junior, Harris represented the United States at the world championships in London in August, 7nishing 17th overall in the 800- meter race with a time of 1:46.66. Loxsom switched his major from kine- siology to communication arts and sci- ences, and he was six credits short of his degree when he went to train in Seattle. A8er a rough few months, he said he was looking forward to returning to a "new- old environment" for a fresh start. "I've got to fall in love with the sport a little more again," he said. "My dad al- ways says that if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. And that's how track was. Right now, it's just kind of work." Having friends and teammates again at the track, Loxsom said, should be a big help: "I really liked the camaraderie and the team component, and being a part of something and then losing it make me re- member how that was. A really big thing for me in track and 7eld is the people and the camaraderie." Hill returned to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., where he trained with fellow former Nit- tany Lion Joe Kovacs for the world championships in London. They quali- fied by finishing second and fourth, re- spectively, at the U.S. outdoor nationals in June. Kovacs, the silver medalist at last year's Summer Olympics, 7nished second at the world championships with a throw of 71-0.75. Hill was 11th (68-2.50). ■ PSUtixman@gmail.com www.PSUtixman.com Get your PSU Football Tickets at go t ti cke t s? k c i t t t e k man@g .PSUtixm www. at ootba Get yo k c i t t o gm .PSUtixman.com all ur s t s e k MIDDLE MANAGER Loxsom, a former middle-distance standout at Penn State, is returning to his alma mater to complete work on his degree and serve as a volun- teer coach. Photo by Mark Selders/ Penn State Ath- letics

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