Go West, Young Men

August always seems to be the season of departures, with graduated high school seniors preparing for their entrance into college, college kids preparing to return to their campus lives, and the rest of us preparing to miss them while we make plans for the shock that comes with Labor Day and the return of Fall.

And then there are the recent and not-so-recent college grads, trying to figure out or about to take the next big step. Scott Cole and Jesse Chebot are getting ready to leave the East Coast, and settle for a while in Santa Cruz, CA to race bikes and live the dream. Dan Chebot is also heading to California, to work and surf, and come up with his next big business idea. I have no doubt that he's well on his way to becoming a mogul of something -- while continuing to run, we hope.

And long-time friend and NNHS booster Josh Seeherman is heading out to Berkeley to begin a Ph.D program at the University there. Although Josh describes himself as a track nerd, he has been a terrific historian of Newton North track and field, as well as Massachusetts running, Penn Relays lore, and various other things. And lest I forget, he has also kept himself in good shape, as his recent sub-2:00 800m attests. I will miss running into Josh at events here, but hope he will continue to read and contribute to this blog.

Josh sent along the following as a parting gift. I hope he doesn't mind that I share it:

"[Newton HS grad] Paul Gould's records (100 and 200) are from 1953, which means they're 56 years old this year. However, the record for "record longevity" is much longer. William Pesoscolido, the best high jumper in the state, long jumped 21'9" indoors at the Bowdoin Invitational in 1939 for a meet record. This was not broken until 2008, for a stretch of 69 years..." Josh goes on to point out that Jim Blackburn himself won the long jump up there.

Thanks for the tidbit, Josh, and good luck at Berkeley!