Fort Wayne, Ind. - The Youngstown State women's track and field team needed every point it could muster on Sunday to catch Milwaukee and the Penguins did just that tracking down the Panthers to win their seventh consecutive Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse on the campus of Purdue Fort Wayne.

The Guins had 55 points as Sunday began before putting together a gritty performance to finish with 182. The Panthers scored 80 points on Saturday, but came up just short on Sunday finishing with 178 overall points.

Winning events for the Guins to help the comeback were Morgan Cole (mile and 3,000m), Jahniya Bowers (60m and 200m), Olivia Jones (high jump) and Nia Williams-Matthews (triple jump).

YSU faced an up-hill battle all day, but following the results of the triple jump and 3,000m, the Guins finally caught Milwaukee to lead 178-170. The Guins used a strong finish in the 4x400m relay by Liana Rodriguez, Aiamyia Dudley, Logan Franczkowski and Kyndia Matlock to clinch the trophy and set off a wild celebration.  

Jones started the day off on a successful note winning the high jump for the first time in her YSU career. One day after clearing a personal-best height of 1.71m, Jones kept the momentum going as the only competitor to eclipse the bar at 1.68m and earn a win for the Guins.

Cole won the first race of the day taking the mile with a time of 5:01.60 as the Guins went first, fourth and fifth in the event. Finishing fourth was Malena Cybak with a time of 5:07.10 while Carly Hall was fifth at 5:07.72.

Williams-Matthews claimed her second straight title in the triple jump with a winning mark of 12.37m while newcomer Esther Solarin stepped up big with a third-place effort of 11.96m.

Bowers won her second consecutive titles in both the 60m and 200m dashes. In the 60m, Bowers blazed a time of 7.28 seconds while in the 200m she clocked a time of 24.28 seconds.

The depth in the sprint events helped the Penguins make up some ground. Kyndia Matlock clocked a second-place finish in the 200m with a time of 24.65 seconds. In the 60m, Matlock was fourth with a time of 7.57 seconds and Cyncere Cunningham was seventh.

In the 60m hurdles, Madison Murry was the runner up with a time of 8.38 seconds. In the 800m run, Cybak finished third clocking a time of 2:18.19 while Hall was sixth at 2:19.59.

Cole won the final race of the day in the 3,000m as she finished off the triple crown of the mile, 3,000m and 5,000m all in first place. In the 3,000m she had a time of 10:01.08 while Ashleigh Rowley scored big points by placing fifth at 10:10.90.

In the shot put, Molly Radcliffe and Lauren Sheehan led the way. Radcliffe placed third with a best throw of 13.92m while Sheehan came in fourth with heave of 13.57m.

Award Winners:

Morgan Cole - Outstanding Runner of the Meet
Olivia Jones - co-Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet
Brian Gorby - co-Coach of the Year

FINAL TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
1) Youngstown State 182
2) Milwaukee 178
3) Oakland 99
4) Purdue Fort Wayne 77
5) Northern Kentucky 49
6) IUPUI 33
7) RMU 19
8) Detroit Mercy 15
9) Wright State 11
10) Cleveland State