RALEIGH, North Carolina – Highlighted by Sean Peterson setting a new school record in the men's 1500-meter run, the Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams posted a strong showing on the first day of action from the three-day North Carolina State Raleigh Relays.
Among the many notable performances from Thursday's action, Peterson, in the third-to-last event of the day, set a new YSU program record in the men's 1500-meter run, posting a time of 3:46.46. The previous record (3:47.03) was held by former All-American and Penguin-standout Kurt Michaelis and was set in 2004. Peterson's mark also sets a new personal-best by over three seconds.
Over to the starting blocks, senior Collin Harden clocked the second-fastest 110-meter hurdles time in program history, running a 13.96. The top record is held by former-Penguin and six-time All-American Chad Zallow with a time of 13.37.
Field Highlights
The Penguins wasted no time posting strong efforts as freshman Noah Weese (56.96m) and sophomore Noah Drudy (56.41m) went 16, 17 in the men's javelin throw – the first event of the day. Being the season debut, Weese set a personal-best mark in the event.
Fresh off a Horizon League indoor title, freshman Erin Bogard cleared an outdoor-best 3.75m in the women's pole vault to secure a fifth-place finish. YSU tallied two more top-10 finishes in the event as Katlyn Griffie and Emma Etzwiler cleared the 3.45m bar.
In the men's pole vault, Wyatt Lefker picked up where he left off during the indoor season, posting a second-place finish in the event after clearing 14.84m – a mark just shy of his personal best at 15.01m.
Olivia Jones set a new personal-best mark in the women's javelin throw after posting a 41.96m, eclipsing her previous record of 38.43 meters set at the 2019 Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Jones went on to finish tenth in the event. Just behind, fellow-Penguin Cambrie Campbell finished with the twelfth-best throw of 37.99m.
Continuing to show out in the men's shot put, sophomore Dominic Perry notched another top-10 finish for YSU when he recorded a 16.33m throw to finish tenth in the event.
Running Highlights
YSU qualified two runners for Saturday's final heat of the women's 100-meter dash through automatic qualifiers. Senior Jaliyah Elliott, in her return to the track, represented the Penguins' fastest mark on the day with a time of 11.72 – the eighth-fastest time overall. Right behind, freshman Jahniya Bowers ran an 11.77, owning the tenth-fastest time of the day. Both athletes won their individual heats.
On the men's side, Tobias Hayes (10.81) and Christian Ford (10.82) went 13, 14 in the 100-meter dash prelims.
Behind Peterson, Ty Coon posted a 3:57.57 1500-meter run (4:14 mile equivalent) that eclipsed his previous person best by seven seconds (4:21 mile).
Three first-year Penguins posted top-four times in first-of-six sections of the men's 5000-meter run while crushing old personal bests. Ryan Meadows led YSU finishers with a time of 14:35.74 – a 16-second improvement from his previous best mark. Behind Meadows, Hunter Christopher ran a 14:36.67 (28-second improvement from his previous best mark) and Chase Easterling ran a 14:38.57 (21-second improvement from his previous best mark.)
Other Notable Day One Performances
- Freshman Lauren Sheehan posted a 12.69m shot put, finished 16th.
- Freshman Brock Grundy posted a 15.09m shot put, finished 17th.
- Freshman Kyndia Matlock clocked an 11.93 preliminary 100-meter dash, finished 18th.
- Junior Kaitlyn Merwin posted an 11.81m shot put, finished 19th.
- Freshman Emily Wolf posted an 11.80m shot put, finished 20th.
- Freshman Emily Bee clocked a 14.63 preliminary 100-meter hurdles, finished with the 20th-best time.
The Penguins will return for day two of the North Carolina State Raleigh Relays Friday, March 26, at the Paul Derr Track & Field Facility. Field events scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with running events set to commence at 3:30 p.m.
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