May 8, 2008

Anderson, York Earn Wins as Both Squads Lead Through First Day

    Youngstown -- Bethany Anderson set the meet record in the hammer, and Shayne York won the long jump to highlight day one for Youngstown State at the Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships on campus.
    Anderson won the hammer for the third straight year with a mark of 182-5, which surpassed Andrea Karpala's 2003 distance for the top ever thrown at the championship meet.
    York earned his first conference crown after finishing third a year ago. He leaped a personal-best 23-0 3/4 to edge Milwaukee's Josh Zill by five inches.
    Anderson added a second-place effort in the discus with a personal-best 139-6. Through six events - Thursday's five finals and the heptathlon completed last week - YSU's women lead Milwaukee 49-41. The Penguins' men lead by 20 points over Valparaiso, 51-31, and four-time defending champion Milwaukee is fourth with 26.
    Alisha Anthony and Alexis Hall also earned second-team all-conference honors for the women with their runner-up finishes. Anderson placed second in the long jump with a school-record leap of 18-11 1/4, and Alexis Hall placed second in the hammer (160-7).
    Along with Anderson and Hall, Danielle Curry finished fourth and Marissa Opper placed fifth to give the Penguins four out of the top five finishes in the hammer and 24 points.
    In Thursday finals for the men, Joe Lahmon finished second in the hammer with an NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying mark of 187-10, and freshman Jake Lape finished second in the steeplechase (9:43.43). The men's squad also finished third through fifth in the discus to earn 12 points.
    Harold Jones has the top preliminary time in the 800m (1:54.51), and J.D. Sheppard and R.D. Goodright won their heats to reach finals.
    The women's squad will have plenty of opportunities to score in the sprints on Friday. It has three finalists in the 100 hurdles, three in the 400m, three in the 100m and five in the 200m.
    Field events begin tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the javelin, and running events will start at 2 p.m. with the 4x100m relay.