June 12, 2015
Day Three Results | Team Scores
EUGENE, Ore. -- Led by a pair of All-America finishes from Brannon Kidder (Lancaster, Ohio) and Steve Waithe (Parkville, Md.) Friday the Penn State men's track & field team tied for 10th place with 17 points on day three of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Historic Hayward Field. The Nittany Lion men recorded the highest finish in school history since they tied for eighth in 1966.
"It is a great feeling finishing in the top-10 as a team," head coach and director of Penn State cross country and track & field John Gondak said. "This meet is full of so many great competitors and scoring points is hard. It is a challenge. To be able to finish in the top-10 is great for Penn State, it is great for our men's program. I am really proud of our team this year."
The men's 800-meter run featured the 2015 indoor NCAA Champion in Edward Kemboi of Iowa State and the defending outdoor NCAA Champion in Brandon McBride of Mississippi State.
The men's 800-meter run final wasn't a typical race as the pace slowed on the opening lap leaving the runners bunched up. In Kidder's race on Wednesday, the first lap went out in 51 seconds compared to 55 seconds today.
"The pace was slow enough where I was able to recover from being in the front during the opening 200 compared to being the in the back of the pack where I usually am," Kidder said.
With a slow pace on the first lap, the race was up for grabs on the final lap. With 200 meters to go, Kidder was near the back of a closely contested pack. Despite being boxed on inside, Kidder made his move towards the outside putting himself in position for a chance at the NCAA title. Kidder, currently in fifth with 100 left in the race moved into lane three and passed three runners on the outside and almost catching Kemboi at the finish line.
In the end, Kidder finished second with his time of 1 minute, 49.36 seconds, a tenth of a second behind champion Kemboi (1:49.26). Down the final 200, Kidder posted the fastest split (24.63) to power himself into a second-place finish.
"It is a good feeling, but it leaves me hungry to take the next step," Kidder said.
"Second place, a tenth of a second away from winning a national championship in the 800 is a little bit hard to swallow," Gondak said. "He ran a great last 200 getting out of a box and put himself in great position to make a run down the homestretch to post a second place finish and help secure a 10th-place team finish for the Nittany Lion men."
Kidder has now recorded a pair of top-three finishes in the 800-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He is also the only Nittany Lion to achieve that feat. Alan Helffrich won back-to-back 880-yard titles for the Nittany Lions in 1922-23.
"I am glad I could compete well, it hurts a little bit to be so close," Kidder said. "That was a race I could have won, but during a slow race anything can happen."
"Brannon is just phenomenal competitor and as a freshman he was an integral part of our distance medley relay that was second at the NCAA Indoor Championships and then posted a third-place finish behind Casimir Loxsom," Gondak said. "Last year he posted a 12th-place finish in the 1,500-meter run and this year after running the mile indoors, he really opened up things outdoors in the 800-meter run with his NCAA-leading 1:45.58 at the Payton Jordan Invite.
During his time as a Nittany Lion, Kidder has the made the final of a race every year at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In 2013, his freshman year, Kidder finished third in the 800-meter run and last year, Kidder finished 12th in the 1,500-meter run.
Kidder also joins senior Darrell Hill (Philadelphia, Pa.) as they both posted runner-up finishes at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Waithe, a senior, transferred to the Nittany Lions two years ago from Shippensburg University. While competing for the Blue and White, Waithe has qualified for the NCAA Championship meets. Last year at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Waithe posted the second-highest finish in school history in the triple jump (fifth). Heading into the 2015 NCAA Championships, Waithe was seeded 17th in the men's triple jump.
"Steve has made the NCAA Championships three times in his career and he has scored all three times," Gondak said "I believe in all three times he was seeded outside the top-eight and that's what a true competitor is, somebody that comes here and doesn't worry about what other people have done, he just concentrates on what he can control and he earned All-America honors."
On his opening attempt, he cleared a wind-aided personal-best leap of 53 feet, 4.25 inches, which moved him into a qualifying spot. During his first attempt though, he injured himself, causing him to pass on his next attempt.
"I tweaked my knee a little bit on my first jump," Waithe said. "I am little upset about that, I knew I could jump further and probably post a top-five finish."
Heading into the final round of jumps in the opening round, Waithe's spot in the final was still in the air. With all the jumps complete, his mark held as the No. 8 performance and he advanced to the final.
In the final though, Waithe was unable to top his performance and he finished eighth and repeated as an All-American. Waithe scored one point giving the Nittany Lions 17 points and in the end they tied for 10th as a team. "He scored one point and his one point was a big point that kept us in the top-10 in the team standings," Gondak said.
Waithe closes out his Nittany Lion career as a three-time All-American. "It feels great to be an All-American," Waithe said. "I did it with a PR on my first job.
"There is a lot pride every time I put on the Penn State uniform," Waithe said. "I think that is why every time I have competed at the NCAA Championships I have walked away with a trophy. It is that grit that they teach us."
"I am always mentally in the right spot and I had rough season, but I put it together at the right time," Waithe said.
The Nittany Lions close out the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday with Elizabeth Chikotas (Hellertown, Pa.) and Tori Gerlach (Perkasie, Pa.) competing in 5,000-meter run at 4 p.m. (PDT)
For more on Nittany Lion track & field, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateTFXC.