Hamilton, Griffith, Grace Are Victorious At HL Championships

Samantha Hamilton set a new school record with a victory in the 3,000m steeplechase while Kaitlyn Griffith and Bobby Grace also picked up event wins during day two of the Horizon League Championships.

Hamilton, who had a previous personal-best time of 10:55.55 in the steeplechase, dropped nearly twenty seconds from her time, finishing in 10:36.44. Emily Schnitkey held the previous YSU record of 10:44.44 set on April 28, 2005. Hamilton finished first out of eleven competitors, with Shelbi Burnett from Butler finishing just three seconds behind her. Hamilton also set the school record in the 5,000m run earlier this season.

With a mark of 55.95m, Griffith won the hammer throw. She finished first out of sixteen competitors. Megan Wesner placed sixth in the event with a mark of 47.02m.

Grace also won the hammer throw. His mark of 57.98m is a personal-best as he bested a field of fifteen competitors. Benjamin Goodnight's personal-best throw of 53.27m was also good for fourth place while Caleb Schwan (51.97m) and George Thomas (49.17m) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the pole vault, Johnny Copley placed third for the men's team with a height of 4.46m while Karlie Ligore took sixth on the women's side with a mark of 3.14m.

Kendall Homan finished third in the long jump with a jump of 5.58m; Dan Skiba finished fifth in the event with a jump of 6.67m.

In the 110m hurdles, Martin Solomon had the third-fastest preliminary time (14.82 seconds) and will run in Sunday's finals.

Ciara Jarrett and Michael Davis both qualified for the 100m and 200m sprints, and they both had the fastest qualifying times in each event.

Jarrett ran a season-best 11.82 seconds in the 100m to take the top spot and then ran the 200m in 24.71 seconds for the fastest time.

Davis also ran a season-best 10.63 seconds in the 100m for the fastest qualifying time and then finished the 200m in 21.80 seconds.

Alexis Washington qualified for the 100m finals with a time of 12.18 seconds, and she had the second-fastest preliminary time in the 200m, sprinting the distance in 25.74 seconds.

Derek Dowdell and Tarelle Irwin will advance to the 100m finals after preliminary times of 10.98 seconds and 11.02 seconds, respectively. Irwin will run in the 200m finals as well, qualifying with the third-fastest time of 22.18 seconds.

In the 400m, Alteeka Vanwright had the fourth-fastest preliminary time and will advance to Sunday's finals; she finished in a personal-best 57.39 seconds. Sharmaine Burke will also advance after running a personal-best time of 58.97 seconds.

After seven events scored, the women's team is currently in second place with 48 points. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has 56.50 points for first place while the University of Illinois-Chicago is in third with 35 points.

On the men's side, the Guins are currently in fourth place with 30 points. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee leads with 59 points while Butler and UIC are in second and third place with 36 and 31 points, respectively.

All event finals will take place on Sunday, the last day of competition.