Hartman Race

Hi All,

This past Saturday the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosted the annual Ralph Hartman Tribute Race. It was a great event and fun was had by all! I saw the best conditions that I have ever seen for a Hartman Race and it really allowed everybody to showcase the improvements they made over the course of the season! I finished with a silver medal and am already looking forward to next season!

I am now back in Happy Valley after my Spring Break, so I've been very busy with work as I had to give a speech on Tuesday and a big test on Thursday. Now that the week is over, I can breathe a bit easier and look forward to the weekend.

Unfortunately, the Penn State Men's Basketball Team got robbed of an NCAA berth and wound up with a #2 seed in the NIT as our consolation prize. Some students are extremely disappointed, but I have chosen to move on and enjoy the fact that we have a postseason. Also, a huge plus to being in the NIT instead of the NCAA is the opportunity for home games.

Since we were the #2 seed, we played George Mason at home on Tuesday. George Mason was a #7 seed that gave us a run for our money! We almost lost and, as a matter of fact, trailed for the majority of the second half. With 4.8 seconds left and George Mason up by one, we fouled one of their players who made both of his free throws. Down by three, our star player, Taylor Battle, got the ball and ran down the court and released the ball with under a second left from beyond the arc. The ball went in and the game was sent into overtime! We wound up winning that game and moving on to the second round! It was a great game to be at!

The second game was held last night (Thursday) and was against Rhode Island, a #6 seed that we lost to earlier in the season. Many people blame our loss to Rhode Island as one of the many reasons that we did not get an NCAA berth. The game was marketed as "REVENGE" and it was revenge that we got! We never trailed in the game and won by 11 with a final score of 83-72. We thought it would be a bit closer as one of our captains did not play as he injured his shoulder. Our underclassmen stepped up and the game was a pleasure to watch! I had great seats for the game as I was in the first row of the student section at center court. I was literally right between the two TV announcers and was on TV for the pregame and halftime talks. It was so cool!

We play the winner of Florida and Miami (a game that is on ESPN U at 7:00 PM tonight). Ideally, we want Miami to win because Florida is the #1 seed which would mean we would have to travel. If Miami wins, we get one more home game this season. If we win our next game (whether it be home or away) we are in the final four and play at the Madison Square Garden!

As you can see, ski season may be over, but I am still extremely busy between schoolwork and sporting events! I am already looking forward to ski season next year, but am kind of excited for the warmer weather and baseball season.

I hope everyone had as great of a season as I did!

- Tracker
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"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." - Proverb