The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field opened competition at the 2024 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships at the WATTS on a strong note on Saturday.
The men's team amassed 91 points and own a 65.5 point lead over Oakland and a 67.5 point advantage over Milwaukee entering tomorrow's final 12 events. The women's team scored 78 points and are ahead of Purdue Fort Wayne (48 points) and Milwaukee (44 points).
Earning event victories for the Penguins were Melana Schumaker (women's pole vault), Emily Bee (pentathlon), Dominic Perry (men's weight throw), Blake Sifferlin (men's pole vault), Hunter Christopher (men's 5,000m) and Tye Hunt (men's long jump).
It was Christopher's second consecutive 5,000m title while Perry picked earned his first weight throw title since 2021.
The day got off to an amazing start as the women's pole vaulters secured 33 points. Schumaker was first, Erin Bogard was second, Ainsley Hamsher was third, Kaitlyn Eger was fourth and Gabbi Selman was fifth. Schumaker, Bogard and Hamsher all cleared 4.02m in the event.
In the women's long jump, Micah Carey set a school record with an impressive leap of 6.13m. She was the runner up by just 0.03m. Placing third was Nia Williams-Matthews with a career-best leap of 5.90m and Esther Solarin came in fourth at 5.84m. Williams-Matthews tied her career-best finish at the HL Championships (third in 2022).
Emily Bee had a career-best 3,712 points to win the pentathlon. Her previous best total in the event was 3,583. Bee had been the runner up in 2022 and was third in 2021 in the event.
The women added a pair of third-place finishes to round out the day. In the weight throw, Lauren Sheehan finished with a throw of 17.05m and Morgan Cole clocked a personal-best time of 16:45.25 in the 5,000m.
The men's team won four of the five completed events and was second in the only other one – the DMR by an eyelash.
Sifferlin led a 1-2-3-4 finish in the pole vault with a Horizon League meet record 5.43m. Dorian Chaigneau finished second in the event for the second consecutive season with a clearance of 5.33m. Jack Vecellio had a career-best effort of 5.13m and Lukas Lang had a best mark of 4.73m.
Christopher posted a winning time of 14:08.97 to set a meet and WATTS record as he beat the Horizon League Athlete of the Year by nearly five seconds. Ryan Meadows took home a third-place finish with a time of 14:16.08.
Hunt picked up his first career Horizon League title with a leap of 7.69m to win by 0.09. Finishing third was Luke Laubacher with a career-best leap of 7.59m while Jakari Lomax was fourth at 7.29m and Daimere Stephens-Stewart was fifth at 7.20m. Laubacher's leap moved him into second place all-time in school history.
Perry saved his best weight throw toss of his career until the last attempt of his YSU career and ended up claiming his second title in the event. On his sixth attempt, he had a throw of 18.98m to win the event by an impressive 0.33m. Perry's previous career best throw was 18.61m which came on Feb. 19, 2022. He stood at 18.28m entering his last attempt.
YSU nearly made it a clean sweep of the day, but came up just short in a photo finish in the DMR. PFW clocked a time of 10:04.10 while the Guins were just behind at 10:04.24.
In running qualifying contests (Sunday Qualifiers):
Women's 60m hurdles – Emily Bee (8.68 seconds)
Men's 60m hurdles – Luke Laubacher (7.82 seconds), Micah Mitchell (8.36 seconds)
Men's 400m dash – Nate Lewins (49.34 seconds), Harry Barton (49.40 seconds)
Women's 400m dash – Melody Harloff (57.53 seconds)
Women's 60m dash – Cyncere Cunningham (7.57 seconds), Nia Grose (7.69 seconds)
Men's 60m dash – Tye Hunt (6.79 seconds), Daimere Stephens-Stewart (6.84), Christian Ford (6.92), Jalen Ghee (6.92)
Women's 800m – Malena Cybak (2:15.66)
Men's 800m – William Hanchosky (1:54.75), Sage Vavro (1:55.37), Tobias Jones (1:55.49)
Men's 200m – Luke Laubacher (21.55 seconds), Harry Barton (21.68), Daimere Stephens-Stewart (22.00), Nate Lewins (22.03), Christian Ford (22.07)
Team Scores:
Men:
- Youngstown State – 91
- Oakland – 25.5
- Milwaukee – 23.5
- IUPUI – 22
- Purdue Fort Wayne – 17
- Wright State – 8
- Northern Kentucky – 4
- Detroit Mercy – 3
- Cleveland State
- RMU
Women:
- Youngstown State – 78
- Purdue Fort Wayne – 48
- Milwaukee – 44
- Detroit Mercy – 15
- IUPUI – 12
- Wright State – 11
- Oakland – 10
- Northern Kentucky – 8
- Cleveland State – 6
- RMU – 2
The final day of action starts bright and early on Sunday with the high jump at 9:15 a.m. Running events get underway at 1 p.m.
