The Youngstown State men's track and field team captured its fourth straight Horizon League Outdoor Championship following a strong all-around effort as the meet concluded on Sunday at the Covelli Sports Complex.

The Penguins finished with an impressive 252 points to outpace Milwaukee which collected 190 points. Finishing third was Oakland with 115 points while Detroit Mercy was fourth with 98 points.

On Sunday, the Guins added wins in the 110m hurdles (Luke Laubacher), 400m Hurdles (Harry Barton), high jump (Lonnie Harper) and triple jump (Jakari Lomax).

Lomax had an impressive win in the triple jump to start the day off on a good note for the Guins. On his first attempt, he put up an impressive leap of 15.26m and then passed on his next five attempts with the winning mark already established. The next closest finisher had a best leap of 14.19m. It was the third consecutive HL title in the event for Lomax.

In his Horizon League outdoor debut, Barton burst on the scene with a winning time of 51.58 seconds. Barton just started competing in the event a month ago and has run the race four times. He has lowered his time by nearly a second per race and his time now ranks him second in school history behind former All-American Collin Harden.

Harper claimed his first-ever Horizon League title in the high jump just prior to some heavy rain just after noon at the south end of the complex. Harper cleared 2.00m and then cleared 2.03m on his first efforts. He attempted 2.10m during the rainy portion of the meet.

Laubacher was a repeat champion in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.14 seconds. At the midpoint of the race he turned it up a notch and went on to win the race by 0.25 seconds.

On the track, YSU took second, third and fourth in the 1500m. Tyler Clark ran a time of 4:02.62, Riley Jackson was third at 4:03.69 and in fourth was Ty Coon at 4:03.84 as all three finished just behind Wright State's Ian Johnson.

Besides Harper, YSU had two more impressive performances taking second and fourth. Finishing second was Mason Stephens with a leap of 2.00m which he accomplished on his first attempt. Also clearing 2.00m, although on his third attempt, Nathan Leskovac earned a solid fourth-place finish.

In the 4x100m relay, the Penguins earned a third-place finish with a time of 41.45 as Laubacher, Dom Data, Barton and Ghee competed in the event.

In the 400m, Ryan Laird earned a fifth-place finish at 49.11 seconds. In the 100m dash, Data was fifth with a time of 10.84 seconds while Ghee was sixth at 10.87 seconds. In the 200m, Data picked up a third-place finish with a time of 21.35 second while Ghee was fifth at 21.83 seconds.

And in the 800m, William Hanchosky was fourth with a time of 1:55.81 while Trenton Shutters came in fifth at 1:56.13. In the 5,000m run, Keegan Barnette was fourth with a time of 14.43.70.

Alfreeda Goff Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year – Alex Hugh-Plott, Oakland
Co-Championship Outstanding Performer, Running – Nate Kaiser, IUPUI & Golden Cotton, Milwaukee
Co-Championship Outstanding Performer, Field – Austin Wallace, Milwaukee & Wyatt Lefker, Youngstown State
Freshman of the Year, Running – Harry Barton, Youngstown State
Freshman of the Year, Field – Blake Sifferlin, Youngstown State
Co-Coach of the Year – Andrew Basler, Milwaukee & Brian Gorby, Youngstown State
 
Team Scores
1. Youngstown State - 252
2. Milwaukee - 190
3. Oakland - 115
4. Detroit Mercy - 98
5. Purdue Fort Wayne - 81
6. IUPUI - 42
7. Wright State - 24
8. Northern Kentucky - 7