The Youngstown State men's and women's cross country programs will open their 2024 season at the Tommy Evans Invitational at the Silver Creek Park Cross Country Course in Norton, Ohio on Friday. This will be the first time that the Penguins will have runners competing in the event since 2019.
The women's 5K race is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m., followed by the men's 6K race at approximately 6:45 P.M.
Men's Preview
10 men will compete for the Penguins in the men's 6K race: Keegan Barnette, Beau Gorby, Zac Haley, William Hanchosky, Thomas Hunyadi, Riley Jackson, Joshua Jones, Tobias Jones, Connor Shingleton, and Sage Vavro.
Haley and Jones will make their Penguin debuts at the invite as redshirt freshmen. Vavro is looking to build off a fantastic freshman campaign in 2023 where he was named Horizon League Freshman of the Year, as well as Second-Team All-League. Tobias Jones and Shingleton are coming off top-60 finishes at the 2023 Horizon League Championships as part of a Penguins' squad that claimed their second-consecutive conference title.
The Penguins were named Horizon League preseason favorites with seven of ten first-place votes and were also ranked ninth in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region preseason poll to start the season.
11 men's teams will compete at the invitational: Akron, Bowling Green, Butler, Kent State, Kent State-Trumbull, Mount Union, Oakland, Ohio, Ohio State, Toledo, and Youngstown State.
Women's Preview
12 women will compete for the Penguins in the women's 5K race: Cecilia Chase, Kenzy Beckett, Aiamyia Dudley, McKinley Fielding, Molly Hopple, Caylee Mackey, Linsey Plant, Jenna Razavi, Caleigh Richards, Lauren Runion, Megan Stafford, Molly Yasnowski
This invitational will mark the first race for Chase, Fielding, Plant, Razavi, Richards, Runion, Stafford, and Yasnowski. Chase, Plant, Razavi, Richards, and Runion join the Penguins as true freshmen, Yasnowski debuts as a sophomore, Fielding joins YSU as a sophomore transfer after beginning her career at the University of Toledo. Razavi will make her Penguin cross-country debut as a junior transfer from Ohio University, after competing for YSU during the 2024 outdoor track and field season. Dudley returns for her fifth year after placing 45th at the 2023 Horizon League Championships.
The women were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League preseason poll with 82 points.
12 women's teams will compete in the invitational: Akron, Bowling Green, Butler, Cleveland State, Kent State, Kent State-Trumbull, Mount Union, Oakland, Ohio, Ohio State, Toledo, and Youngstown State.
For live updates and results throughout the 2024 season, follow @YSUTrackFieldXC on X.
