Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Youngstown State men's track and field team won its 10th consecutive Horizon League Indoor Championship with a dominant performance over the weekend at the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse on the campus of Purdue Fort Wayne.
The Penguins scored 227.5 points to outdistance Milwaukee (127), Oakland (104) and Fort Wayne (95).
Winning events on the final day of competition were Luke Laubacher (60m Hurdles) and Ryan Meadows (3,000m). Laubacher won his third straight 60m hurdles title while Meadows won his second straight 3,000m title.
YSU had another group garner a multitude of second-place performances: Brandon Hutchinson (heptathlon), Nathan Leskovac (high jump), Jaden Kirkwood (shot put), Aaron Berardinelli (triple jump), Micah Mitchell (60m hurdles), Trenton Shutters (800m) and Ryan Meadows (3,000m).
Award Winners
Men's Coach of The Year - Brian Gorby
Men's Championship Outstanding Performer/Field - Brandon Hutchinson, Luke Laubacher
Event-by-event breakdown:
Heptathlon
Hutchinson finished second with 4,594 points, the fifth most points in school history in the event. He scored a high of 905 points in the 60m Hurdles.
High Jump
YSU had jumpers finish second, fourth, fifth and sixth. Nathan Leskovac led the way as the runner up with a mark of 2.01m. Zachary Webb, Connor Durig and Mason Stephens all cleared 1.98m.
Triple Jump
The Guins had the second and third place finishers in a tight competition. Berardinelli was second in his Horizon League debut. He jumped a personal-best 13.87m on his third attempt. Emmanuel Asabere battled a hamstring injury to place third with a leap of 13.44m which came on his second attempt.
Shot Put
Freshman Jaden Kirkwood led a second and fourth place finish in the event. Kirkwood had a best throw of 16.07m on his first try. Placing fourth was Coleson Kertesz with a throw of 15.41m.
60m Hurdles
Laubacher led a 1-2-3-4 YSU finish with a time of 7.84 seconds to win his third straight title. Placing second was Mitchell with a time of 7.98 seconds, Brandon Hutchinson was third and Clancy Chrystal was fourth.
400m
In his Horizon League debut, Michael Ballone was third with a time of 49.52 seconds.
800m
Shutters earned his second career second-place finish in the event, but had heartbreak at the finish after leading from the races outset. He was nipped at the line after posting a time of 1:53.10, coming up short by 0.06 seconds. William Hanchocsky raced home to place third with a time of 1:53.55.
60m
Jake Mcentyre claimed a third-place finish in the event with a time of 6.87 seconds while Daimere Stephens-Stewart was fourth at 6.89 seconds.
200m
Daimere Stephens-Stewart took fourth place at 22.31 seconds.
3,000m
Meadows repeated in fine fashion cruising to his second straight title with a time of 8:28.37. Tobias Jones finished a strong third at 8:32.39.
