The Youngstown State men's and women's cross-country teams wrapped up regular season action at the Texas A&M Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, TX., Friday morning.

The men kicked things off with the 8K race, and the times ran and finishing individual placements were very impressive. Reigning Horizon League champion Hunter Christopher broke his own school record in the 8K by seven seconds as he put together a top-20 individual finish with his time of 23:10.6 being good enough for a 17^th-place finish out of 370 runners. Ryan Meadows was the next Penguin to cross the line as he clocked a time of 23:34.9, good enough for a 34^th-place finish. Tobias Jones and Thomas Caputo made it four Penguins in the top 50 as Jones finished 45^th with a time of 23:41.5, and Caputo's time, just three-tenths of a second slower than the time of Jones at 23:41.8, placed him 46^th overall. Blaze Fichter's 63^rd-place finish rounded out the Penguin men who scored points. Fichter ran a time of 23:50.4.

Owen Brady finished closely behind Fichter, as he finished 76^th with a time of 23:55.0. Connor Shingleton was the next Penguin to cross the finish line, as he placed 141^st, running a time of 24:28.6. Sage Vavro clocked a time of 24:40.1 to finish in 165^th place. Keegan Barnette and Beau Gorby each finished in just under 25 minutes, with Barnette finishing in 24:50.2, placing 190^th and Gorby finishing in 24:55.7, placing 208^th. Thomas Hunyadi finished in 229^th place with a time of 25:05.2, while Riley Jackson and Josh Jones finished with almost the exact same times, as Jackson placed 268^th with a time of 25:24.4, and Jones finished 269^th as he clocked a time of 25:24.8.

The men finished in fifth place overall as a team, finishing ahead of five schools ranked in the South-Central Region's top 15 (No. 4 Incarnate Word, No.5 TCU, No.7 Houston, No.11 Arkansas State, and No. 13 Oklahoma).

It was also a very memorable day for the women in the 6K race, as McKinley Fielding continued her exceptional season by setting a new program record in the 6K with a time of 20:40.6. She broke the previous school record of 20:41, which was set by Morgan Cole in 2023. She finished in 66^th place out of 394 runners. Freshman Caleigh Richards also rewrote the record book, as her time of 20:53.3 set a new program record for the fastest time ran by a freshman. Her time was good enough for a 91^st-place finish. Jenna Razavi was the next penguin to cross the line in 137^th place, as she ran a time of 21:26.3. Megan Stafford clocked a time of 22:42.1 as she finished 272^nd, and Molly Hopple rounded out the scoring for the women as she finished in 286^th place, running a time of 22:49.4.

Molly Yasnowski finished in 308^th place, clocking a time of 23:06.1 and Aiamyia Dudley clocked a time of 23:17.8 to finish 320th.

The women finished 30^th overall out of 41 as a team, totaling 745 points.

Up Next

All focus shifts to a conference title as the Penguins will embark to Green Bay, Wis. for the 2024 Horizon League Championships on Nov. 2 at Phoenix Alumni Cross Country Course.

The women's 6K championship race will kick things off at 11 a.m. CT (Noon ET), with the men's 8K race following at approximately 1 p.m. CT (Noon ET).

For live updates and results throughout the 2024 season, follow @YSUTrackFieldXC on X.