The Youngstown State women's track and field team owns a 15-point lead after the second day of competition at the 2023 Horizon League Track and Field Championships which are being held in Youngstown.
The Penguins won two events on Saturday – the pole vault and hammer throw – and had second-place performances in the shot put and heptathlon to key the effort. YSU has scored 115 points so far at the Championship while Milwaukee is second with 100 points and Purdue Fort Wayne is third at 50.
Thrower Molly Radcliffe and the pole vaulters were the big point producers for YSU during a busy day.
Radcliffe capped off her day with her first career Horizon League Championship in the Hammer Throw. Radcliffe won with a toss of 50.76m becoming the first Penguin since 2019 to capture the top podium position. In the shot put, Radcliffe opened the day with a third-place finish behind teammate Lauren Sheehan. Sheehan was second in the event with a throw of 14.39m while Radcliffe was third at 14.11m.
In the pole vault, YSU finished first, third and had two athletes tie for fourth place. Winning the event for the third time in her career was senior Erin Bogard. Bogard cleared 3.93m on her second attempt to claim the victory. Finishing third and fourth with efforts of 3.73m were Melana Schumaker. Gabbi Selman and Emma Etzwiler.
Senior Olivia Jones garnered a second-place performance in the heptathlon. Jones scored 4,797 points to finish behind PFW's Dylan Kirkwood who finished with 4,965 points.
Senior sprinter Jahniya Bowers had a record-breaking day in perfect conditions. In the 100m she posted a meet-record time of 11.48 seconds and cruised to the final with the fastest qualifying time. In the 200m, she ran a race of 23.69 seconds which also established a new Horizon League meet best. In the 100m she will be joined by Kyndia Matlock and Cyncere Cunningham. Matlock also advanced in the 200m dash.
Also qualifying for the finals tomorrow were Liana Rodriguez in the 400m, Emily Bee in the 400m hurdles and Malena Cybak in the 800m.
Esther Solarin finished third in the long jump with a leap of 5.76m.
The first two events of Sunday are the high jump and the triple jump which are set for 9 a.m. Running events have been moved up to 10 a.m. from noon because of the threat of inclement weather early in the afternoon.
Women's Team Scores
1. Youngstown State - 115
2. Milwaukee - 100
3. Purdue Fort Wayne - 50
4. Oakland - 29
5. IUPUI - 16
6. Wright State - 14
7. Detroit Mercy - 10
8. RMU - 9
9. Cleveland State - 5
10. Northern Kentucky - 3
