The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams maintained large leads with a solid all-around day at the 2022 Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Elaine Leigh Track & Field Complex.
The women added 64 points to their haul on Saturday and have boosted their total to 113 points. Milwaukee is in second with 68 while Oakland is third with 35.
The men increased their total to 125 points and have a sizable lead over second-place Milwaukee which has 76 points. Oakland sits in third place with 38 points.
On Saturday, YSU swept the pole vault titles while getting a big boost from the field events.
Thirteen event finals are set for Sunday as action starts at 10 a.m. with the women's hammer throw, men's triple jump and women's high jump. Running events start at noon with the 4x100m relays. All running events will be shown live on ESPN+.
Men's Highlights
The Penguins had three individual event winners on the day with
Wyatt Lefker winning the pole vault,
Tye Hunt winning the long jump and
Dominic Perry taking first in the shot put.
Hunt and has teammates produced a one through fifth place performance in the long jump. Hunt took first with a jump of 7.45m,
Jakari Lomax was second with a leap of 7.34m,
Samuel Challis was third with a 7.32m effort,
Daiquain Watson was fourth with a 7.27m performance and
Luke Laubacher was fifth with a 7.08m mark.
Perry led the way in the shot put with a toss of 17.13m while
Zach Gehm had a third-place effort of 15.43m. Finishing in seventh place was
Coleson Kertesz with a throw of 14.93m.
Leftker led a 1-2-4 showing in the pole vault by setting a school and Horizon League meet record clearing the bar at 5.25m.
Elijah Nelson placed second with a mark of 4.45m while
Jett Murphy tied two others for fourth as they cleared 4.25m.
In the lone running final of the day,
Ethan Sparks recorded a fifth-place finish in the 3000m steeplechase. Sparks recorded a time of 9:34.22 in the event.
In the running prelims:
Sean Peterson,
CJ Schumacher and
Evan Alten all reached the 800m finals, Laubacher advanced in the 110m and 400m hurdles,
Ryan Laird qualified in the 400m, Anthony Wood and
Christian Ford moved on in the 100m and the 200m events.
Women's Highlights
Erin Bogard (pole vault) and Olivia Jones (heptathlon) earned wins for the women during the second day of events.
Bogard set a school and Horizon League meet record by clearing a height of 4.05m. She led a 1, 2, 4, 5 finish for the Penguins. Placing second was Katlyn Griffie with a height of 3.85m. Finishing fourth was Sydney Walker at 3.55m and Emma Etzwiler was fifth with the same mark.
Jones led off the day by completing her third straight win in the heptathlon with 4,840 points. She won the event in 2019 and 2021 previously becoming just the third Horizon League athlete to win the event on three occasions.
In the shot put finals, YSU took the second and third spot as Molly Radcliffe was second with a throw of 14.37m and Lauren Sheehan was third with a toss of 14.19m.
In the long jump, Alexis Prater had a third-place performance with a lead of 5.80m. Prater was just .02 from second and .06 from the top jump. Finishing fifth was Jessica Stever with a leap of 5.70m.
In the running prelims: Madison Murry moved on in the 100m hurdles; Liana Rodriguez reached the finals in the 400m; Kyndia Matlock, Suerethia Henderson and Cyncere Cunningham will run in the 100m finals; Nicole Squatrito, Natalie Fleming and Aiamyia Dudley will all race in the 800m final; Teddi Kinsey qualified for the 400m hurdle finals and Henderson, Matlock, Murry, Cunningham will headline the 200m dash finals.
