Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams had a strong opening day winning six events at the 2025 Horizon League Indoor Championships at Purdue Fort Wayne's Lutheran Health Fieldhouse.
The men and women each won three events of the same discipline. Winning events on Saturday were Lukas Lang (men's pole vault), Melana Schumaker (women's pole vault), Luke Laubacher (men's long jump), Esther Solarin (women's long jump), McKinley Fielding (5000m) and Hunter Christopher (5,000m).
Christopher won his third consecutive 5,000m title becoming the first runner in league history to accomplish the feat while Schumaker became the first Penguin to win the pole vault in consecutive years. Laubaucher won the long jump for the first time while Solarin and Lukas all collected their first HL titles. In her conference meet debut, Fielding picked up the win in the 5,000m.
In the team standings, the YSU men have opened up a 50-point lead by scoring 83 points. In second is Milwaukee with 33 while PFW is third at 30.5 and Oakland is fourth. The Penguins are seeking their 10th straight title. The YSU women scored an impressive 76 points to open up the competition. In second is the Mastodons with 37 points while Milwaukee is third with 32 and Oakland fourth at 36.
Finals
Men's Pole Vault
Lukas Lang won his first Horizon League title in impressive fashion with a personal-best mark of 5.10m. Lang cleared heights of 4.60m, 4,70m, 4.80m, 4.90m and 5.00m on his first attempts. After missing on his first try at 5.10m, he was able to clear it.
Placing second was Ian Quarles in his first HL meet with a height of 4.70m.
Women's Pole Vault
It was a duel between Schumaker and Ainsley Hamsher for the title. Schumaker missed on her first attempt of the meet before clearing on her second try at 3.71m. She then cleared at 3.81m, 3.91m and 4.01m to take the victory. Hamsher needed three tries to get over 3.81m then cleared her first try at 3.91m and 4.01m. Both athletes missed at 4.11m.
Placing fifth was Gabbi Selman at 3.71m and Kaitlyn Eger was sixth at 3.56m.
Men's Long Jump
YSU had the first, third and fourth place finishers in the event. Laubacher claimed his first Horizon League title in the event with a leap of 7.56m. His opening leap of 7.23m would have won the crown as well. In third was Andrew Frank who had his best attempt of 7.12m on his final leap. In fourth was Brandon Hutchison who had a best effort of 6.99m.
Women's Long Jump
The Penguins netted big points in the event placing first, third and fourth. Esther Solarin won her first indoor title with a leap of 5.98m. Placing third was Nia Williams-Matthews with a leap of 5.87m while Daisha Decree was fourth at 5.83m.
Men's Weight Throw
Coleson Kertesz garnered a third-place finish in the event with a throw of 16.67m.
Women's Weight Throw
Grace Sparks saved her best for last uncorking a career-best toss of 17.03m to finish in second place. She had a best throw of 16.33m and was in sixth place prior to her final toss. Lauren Sheehan was fourth with a toss of 16.48m.
Women's 5000m
Fielding ran down RMU's Julia Dill in the final 150 meters to win her first Horizon League title. She clocked a time of 17:06.82 to win by nearly five seconds. Caleigh Richards was sixth in her HL debut with a time of 17:32.02.
Men's 5000m
YSU was dominate once again with Christopher leading the way. He won with a time of 14:26.77 while Ryan Meadows was second at 14:31.54, Tobias Jones was third 14:32.84 and Blaze Fichter was sixth at 14:34.65.
DMRs
The men came in third with a time of 10:07.85 while the women were eighth at 12:35.04.
Prelims
60m dash
Men's - YSU advanced Daimere Stephens-Stewart (6.80 seconds), Jake Mcentyre (6.93) and Micah Mitchell (7.01 seconds) to the final.
Women's - YSU advanced Mariah Day (7.63 seconds) and Elle Pearsall (7.65 seconds) to the final.
200m dash
Men's - Mcentyre was the top YSU performer with a time of 21.99 seconds, which was second fastest. Laubacher qualified sixth (22.14) and Stephens-Stewart was seventh (22.22 seconds).
Women's – Day ran a time of 25.23 seconds to move onto Sunday's finals.
400m
Men's – Michael Ballone clocked a time of 50.20 seconds to move onto Sunday's final.
Women's – Melody Harloff reached her second straight final in the event with the second-fastest qualifying time of 57.54 seconds.
800m
Men's – YSU had the two of the top four qualifiers in Trenton Shutters and William Hanchosky. Both won their heats to move onto the finals on Sunday. Shutters ran a time of 1:54.97 after taking control of his race from the start. Hanchosky surged to the front after getting through some early traffic to win his heat with a time of 1:57.12. Shutters was second in the 800m at Fort Wayne in 2023.
60m Hurdles
Men's – YSU had four of the top six qualifiers in the event. Laubacher, a two-time winner of the event, had the best time by far with a time of 7.76 seconds. Micah Mitchell had the second-best time of 7.93 seconds, fourth was Brandon Hutchinson at 8.21 seconds and Clancy Chyrstal
Women's – YSU will have three in the finals as Day, Madison Murry and Ava Littler all advanced. Day ran the second fastest time at 8.53 seconds while Murry clocked a 8.57 and Littler was fifth at 8.75 seconds.
Up Next
The second and final day of competition starts at 9 a.m. with the final three events of the heptathlon. The high jump begins at 10:15 a.m. with the triple jump and shot put getting underway at 11 a.m. Running events, all finals, start at 1 p.m.
