The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams put together a strong, final regular-season showing at the Kent State Tune Up Saturday, earning three event victories in addition to five individuals setting 2021 indoor personal-bests.
Elsewhere and among some of the nation's fastest, senior Sean Peterson posted a 1:51.00 and picked up a sixth-place finish in the Camel City Elite 800m section of the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
Kent State Tune Up
Setting the tone for YSU early, senior Joe Pfeffer posted a 17.15m mark in the weight throw, edging his previous best of 16.66m set early this season. His throw earned him a team-best fourth-place finish in the event.
Three Penguins finished inside the top-10 in the men's shot put with sophomore Zach Gray (16.11m) and freshman Mitch Cook (13.96) notched new personal-bests. Gray led the charge with a third-place finish, junior Zach Gehm (15.36) finished sixth and Cook finished tenth.
Junior Hailey Puckett earned the final top-five finish of the field events bubble for YSU, posting a personal-best in the high jump (1.57m). Her previous record was 1.56m, set at the 2019 Horizon League Championships.
On the track, freshman Teddi Kinsey clocked a personal-best 8.97 (prev. 9.15) to win the 60m hurdles for YSU. She improved her second-place preliminary time of 9.05s to earn the victory.
Freshman Logan Franczkowski achieved the Penguins' best finish in the women's 200m, posting a 25.68 and solidifying the first of her two second-place finishes of the meet. She was also part of the second-place women's 1600m relay team comprised of teammates' Mara Wilson, Alicia Lonsinger and Lauren Swan. Not done, Franczkowski also qualified for the women's 60m final, clocking a 7.99 and finishing sixth overall.
Senior Glen Knowles Jr. was the highest finisher (fifth) for the Guins in the men's 400m, clocking a 50.95.
YSU recorded two top-five times in the men's mile, led by sophomore Chase Stewart (4:26.81) and his third-place finish. Junior Mikel Lagaras finished fourth (4:27.92).
The Penguins recorded the top-three times in the women's 3000m as senior Ashleigh Rowley took the top spot, finishing the race with a time of 18:30.37. Junior Mackenzie Scott took second (18:34.59) and senior Maggie Sebest took third (18:57.60).
The men followed suit, posting the top-four times in men's 5000m, with freshman Hunter Christopher taking the gold and posting a time of 15:30.20 in his first race appearance of the 2021 season. Following closely behind, senior Tyler Polman took the silver (15:14.55), junior Matthew Mangus earned the bronze (16:10.29) and sophomore Luke Baun earned the fourth-place finish with a time of 16:27.93.
Up Next
The Penguins will look to defend their league titles next weekend as they travel Fort Wayne, Indiana to compete in the Horizon League Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday, Feb. 26 through Monday, March 1 at the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse. Action is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday with an 11 a.m. start on Sunday. Monday's action is set to commence at Noon. The meet will be streamed on ESPN3.
