The Youngstown State men's and women's cross-country programs are set to travel to Green Bay, Wis. for the 2024 Horizon League Championships.
The meet will be held at the Phoenix Alumni Cross Country Course at Shorewood. The women's 6K championship race is set to begin at 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT), and the men's 8K championship race is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT).
Championship Preview
The men's team is looking for their third consecutive Horizon League championship after impressive victories in 2022 and 2023. The Penguins had four runners place in the top ten a year ago, with Hunter Christopher placing first, Ryan Meadows right behind him in second, Thomas Caputo finishing eighth, and Sage Vavro finishing ninth. Blaze Fichter finished 11th to round out the five scorers for the men, and all five are back this season to compete in Green Bay.
Coming into the conference meet, the Penguins currently hold the six-fastest times in the 8K. Hunter Christopher leads the pack with a time of 23:10.6, Ryan Meadows is second-fastest with a time of 23:34.9, Tobias Jones currently holds the third-fastest time at 23:41.5, Thomas Caputo has the fourth-fastest time at 23:41.8, Blaze Fichter's time of 23:50.4 is the fifth-fastest, and Owen Brady currently holds the sixth-fastest 8K time in the Horizon League with a time of 23:55.0.
If the Penguins come out victorious with their third-straight title, it would extend the longest consecutive title streak in program history and would make them the first team to three-peat since IUPUI's men did so from 2019-2021. A championship this weekend would also be the program's fifth overall (2016, 2018, 2022, 2023).
The 12 men who will be competing for the Penguins in the 8K race are Keegan Barnette, Owen Brady, Thomas Caputo, Hunter Christopher, Blaze Fichter, Beau Gorby, Thomas Hunyadi, Riley Jackson, Tobias Jones, Ryan Meadows, Connor Shingleton, and Sage Vavro.
The women's team is looking to build off a fifth-place finish at last year's Horizon League Championships. Morgan Cole was the top finisher for the Penguins a year ago, finishing in second place. The highest-returning finisher from last season's race that will be competing this weekend will be Aiamyia Dudley, who finished 45th
The Penguin women currently hold three of the top ten fastest 6K times so far this season in the Horizon League. McKinley Fielding currently holds the second-quickest time at 20:40.6. Her time is just over one second off the pace of the fastest time in the league. Caleigh Richards holds the third-fastest time at 20:53.6. Jenna Razavi's time of 21:26.3 is currently the seventh-fastest time in the league this season heading into this weekend.
The Penguin women have won two Horizon League Cross Country team championships, with those titles coming in back-to-back years (2013, 2014).
The 10Â women who will be competing for the Penguins in the 6K race are Aiamyia Dudley, McKinley Fielding, Molly Hopple, Jenna Razavi, Caleigh Richards, Megan Stafford, Molly Yasnowski, Cecilia Chase, Kenzy Beckett, and Caylee Mackey.
Last Time Out
The Penguins men's and women's programs are coming off very memorable performances at the Texas A&M Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 18.
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 17th-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 34th-place finish. Tobias Jones and Thomas Caputo made it four Penguins in the top 50 as Jones finished 45th 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 46th overall. Blaze Fichter's 63rd-place finish rounded out the Penguin men who scored points. Fichter ran a time of 23:50.4.
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 66th 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 91st-place finish. Jenna Razavi was the next penguin to cross the line in 137th place, as she ran a time of 21:26.3. Megan Stafford clocked a time of 22:42.1 as she finished 272nd, and Molly Hopple rounded out the scoring for the women as she finished in 286th place, running a time of 22:49.4.
The women finished 30th overall out of 41 as a team, totaling 745 points.
Up Next
After the completion of the conference championships, the focus will shift to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships, which are set to be hosted at Silver Creek Park Cross Country Course in nearby Norton, Ohio on Nov. 15.
For live updates and results throughout the 2024 season, follow @YSUTrackFieldXC on X.
