Rochester, Mich. - The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams had solid first days at the 2022 Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Elaine Leigh Track & Field Complex.

The women tallied 49 points on day one to build a lead of 31 points over second-place Robert Morris. The Colonials scored 18 points, Milwaukee had 17 and Oakland had 12 to round the top four.

The men scored 48 points in the three completed events to grab a 27-point lead over IUPUI. The Jaguars tallied 21 points thanks to three top-six placings in the 10K. Oakland scored 18 while Milwaukee had 14.

Saturday's finals include the heptathlon, decathlon, shot put, long jump, pole vault and steeplechase. All running prelims are set to begin at 3 p.m.

Men's Highlights

The Penguins swept the throwing events with impressive efforts by Noah Drudy (javelin) and Zach Gehm (discus).

In the javelin, the Guins took the top three spots on the podium. Drudy won with a event for the second straight year while marking the fourth consecutive championships that a Penguin took first. Drudy had a meet-winning and personal-best throw of 65.95 meters. His previous best toss in the event was 65.86m set back in 2019. Finishing in second place was Noah Weese with a throw of 60.73m. Placing third with a career-best effort was Weston McLain who had a toss of 58.75m

In the discus, Gehm took first putting a YSU athlete on top of the league for the first time since 2019. Gehm achieved his first HL discus title with a toss of 57.27m. Zach Gray placed third with a toss of 51.09m while Coleson Kertesz placed sixth a 46.44m toss.

In the 10,000m run, the Guins placed two runners in the top eight. Chase Easterling finished fifth with a time of 30:41.38 while Hunter Christopher was eighth clocking a time of 30:59.82.

In the 1500m prelims, Sean Peterson qualified first with a time of 4:02.08. Two of Peterson's teammates – Riley Jackson and Derek Basinger – advanced with the fifth and sixth best times. Jackson was fifth clocking a time of 4:02.78 while Basinger had the sixth-best time at 4:03.37. All three Guins qualified for Sunday's finals.

Women's Highlights

Taking the first running title of the meet was Morgan Cole who raced home with the victory in the 10,000-meter run. Cole took charge into the head wind on the back stretch with about 250 meters left in the race to clock a time of 35:41.11. Mackenzie Scott posted a fourth-place finish with a time of 36:44.58 while Karissa Sonneberger was sixth at 36:54.74. Cole is just the second YSU runner to win the event joining Samantha Hamilton who took first in 2014. Cole was fourth at the 2021 HL Championships.

Earning the first conference title for the women was Olivia Jones who took the javelin title. Jones won her second straight Horizon League championship with a through of 41.35m. The Penguins have now won five straight and seven of eight women's javelin crowns. Jones is the third YSU athlete to win multiple javelin titles joining Angela Lock (three) and Jessica Parham (four).

Placing second in the javelin was Cambrie Campbell with a throw of 40.10m.

In the discus, YSU had three of the top seven performers. Leading the way was Molly Radcliffe who placed third with a throw of 44.39m. In fourth place was Krista Perry with a personal-best toss of 43.69m and in seventh was Emily Wolf at 41.11m.