The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams opened the year on a high note at the 2024 YSU Icebreaker presented by Southwoods Health at the WATTS on Friday.
Winning events for YSU were Madison Murry (60m hurdles), Luke Laubacher (60m hurdles), Brooklyn McIntyre (shot put), Emmanuel Asabere (long jump), while Noah Crozier and Zachary Webb tied for the high jump victory and there was a three-way tie in the women's pole vault between Melana Schumaker, Ainsley Hamsher and Kaitlyn Eger.
The highlights of the night on the track for the Guins came from Murry and Laubacher. Murry clocked a school-record time of 8.36 seconds in the prelims while Laubacher finished with a career-best time of 7.72 seconds.
In the finals, Murry won with a time of 8.39 seconds while freshman Ava Littler was second (8.50 seconds) and Mariah Day was fourth (8.62). Laubacher won his race clocking a time of 7.77 seconds while Micah Mitchell took third at 7.97 seconds and Brandon Hutchinson was fourth (8.08).
Other running finishers in the top three included Trenton Shutters who was third in the 800m with a time of 1:56.98, Melody Harloff in the 200m (25.09), Daimere Stephens-Stewart in the 200m (21.64).
All three Penguins - Schumaker, Eger and Hamsher - cleared a height of 3.90m to share the top spot on the podium.
In the high jump, both Webb and Crozier cleared 2.05m to share the win. In the long jump, YSU was first, third and fourth. Asabere won the event on his final leap of 7.45m in his Penguins debut. Finishing third was Laubacher at 7.27m. He only did his first attempt before moving on to prep for the 60m hurdles. Daimere Stevens-Stewart was fourth at 7.06m. He took only his first three attempts before moving onto other events.
In the long jump, Emily Bee was second with a leap of 5.82m while Daisha Decree was third right behind at 5.80m.
Ryan Tetrick finished second in the ELITE Men's Weight Throw with a toss of 16.33m. In the ELITE Women's Weight Throw, Krista Perry placed second with a best toss of 16.06m.
In the women's shot put, YSU went 1-2-3. Winning the event was McIntyre with a throw of 12.76m while Olivia Mason was second at 12.41m and Grace Bundy was third (11.11m). In the men's shot put, Jaden Kirkwood placed third with a strong throw of 16.11m in his collegiate debut.
Other Notable Finishes:
GVSU Holiday Open
               Allendale, Mich. – Youngstown State's Tobias Jones placed fifth in the 5,000m to lead the Penguins who competed at the GVSU Holiday Open.
               Jones posted a time of 14:19.93 to earn a top-five finish. Owen Brady came in 11th with a time of 14:27.95 while Thomas Caputo was 12th at 14:28.15. Jenna Razavi clocked a time of 17:29.80 in the women's 5,000m. All four results were personal-best times for the Guins.
Up Next
The Penguins have three runners in action on Saturday. At the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener hosted by Boston University, Ryan Meadows, Hunter Christopher and McKinley Fielding will all run in the 5,000m.
