|
Third Year at Penn State John Gondak enters his third year as an assistant coach at Penn State, working with Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Beth Alford-Sullivan and the Nittany Lion cross country and distance runners. Gondak serves as a cross country assistant and the primary coach for the Nittany Lion middle distance athletes, including Mark Miller, who won top honors in the 800-meters at the 2008 Indoor Big Ten Championships and made an appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring. Off the track, Gondak takes care of many administrative responsibilities within the Nittany Lion program. Gondak led Miller to a record-setting season in 2008, which included a PR 1:47.83 for the 800 - the sixth-fastest mark in Penn State's impressive 800-meter history. Miller would follow up his Big Ten indoor win with a silver-medal finish at the outdoor conference championships. An outstanding recruiter, Gondak signed another outstanding distance contingent in 2008, including instate star Kara Millhouse and Footlocker Cross Country qualifiers Vince McNally and Caitlin Lane. Gondak also brought in international talent Ryan Foster of Australia - a former competitor at the IAAF World Junior Championships. In his first year with the Nittany Lions, Gondak wasted no time in signing one of the top distance classes in the country in 2007, including top-ranked prep miler Sam Borchers, who won the mile at both the Nike Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Borchers' 4:03.33 was the top time by a high schooler in 2007, as well as one of the best marks in prep history. Gondak also inked Coatesville High School twins Kyle and Owen Dawson, who were members of the winning team at 2006 Nike Cross Country Nationals, as well as the gold-medal DMR squad at the prestigious Penn Relays. Prior to Penn State, Gondak spent nearly eight seasons at the University of Kentucky before moving to Georgia Tech in 2006. As an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Wildcat middle distance/distance runners, Gondak recruited and coached athletes that garnered numerous collegiate accolades. During his time in Lexington, UK had athletes earn 25 All-America certificates in his event area, while 19 athletes earned All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors. In 2002, the UK Women's Cross Country team placed second at the SEC Championship (best finish in over 10 years). The UK men's team advanced to the 2003 NCAA Championship by finishing second in the Southeast Region. Some individual accomplishments of Gondak's Kentucky athletes include Hunter Spencer's third place finish in the mile at the 2002 NCAA Championship, Beth Heimann's sixth place finish at the 2004 NCAA Championship, Thomas Morgan winning the 2003 SEC and Southeast Regional Cross Country title, and Caity Phillips winning the 2004 Southeastern Conference 5000 meter Championship. At the 2004 Olympic Trials, UK had six athletes in events ranging from 800 meters to 5000 meters. Prior to working at Kentucky, Gondak, a native of Doylestown, Pa., was the cross country and assistant track and field coach at Toledo from 1996-98. While at Toledo, Gondak was responsible for directing all aspects of the middle distance and distance running programs. Gondak also coached at Georgia Tech during the 1995-96 season, where he worked with the Yellow Jacket's middle distance and distance runners. While at Tech, Gondak helped develop five ACC champions, three NCAA qualifiers, two track and field All-Americans, as well as a cross country All-American. Gondak started out as a walk-on athlete at Syracuse and quickly improved, qualifying for the IC4A Championships as a sophomore, junior and senior in the distance-medley relay and mile run. During his senior year, he was placed on scholarship and named captain of the cross country program. Gondak graduated summa cum laude as the valedictorian of the civil engineering program. He went on to earn his master's degree in civil engineering from Georgia Tech in 1996.
Outstanding Athletes Coached
Mark Miller
Caity Phillips (Kentucky)
Thomas Morgan (Kentucky)
Allison Grace (Kentucky)
Hunter Spencer (Kentucky)
Brooke Patterson (Kentucky)
David Freeman (Kentucky) Jean Balan (Kentucky) Beth Heimann (kentucky)
|
|
|||||||||||||
