Raleigh, N.C. – Youngstown State distance runners Hunter Christopher and McKinley Fielding set late-night school records as the Penguins had an impressive overall showing at the three-day Raleigh Relays hosted by NC State at the Paul Derr Track and Field Complex.
Christopher lowered his school record in the 5,000m by more than three seconds while Fielding crushed a long-standing school mark in the 10,000m by 17 seconds.
On Thursday, the men's distance runners had a personal-best bonanza in the 1500m and the 5000m events to get the Guins off on the right foot.
In the 1500m, Sage Vavro clocked a top time of 3:47.98 while Riley Jackson ran a 3:51.93. Both were career best performances for the duo.
The 5,000m saw a complete rewriting of the school record books.
Christopher ran a time of 13:47.10 to lower his all-time best by three seconds. He was an impressive 29th in a field of 213 athletes. Ryan Meadows posted a time of 13:53.64, a personal-best by seven seconds. Tobias Jones's personal-best effort of 14:14.44 ranked third all time while Blaze Fichter moved into the fourth in school history at 14:20.36. Thomas Caputo clocked a best time of 14:22.67 and now ranks eighth.
Fielding closed out a fruitful day on Friday evening running a time of 34:33.09 in the 10K to eclipse the school mark held since May 2014 by YSU Hall of Fame runner Samantha Hamilton (34:51.17).
Freshman Mariah Day had a strong outdoor debut with a time of 14.14 seconds in the 100m hurdles. That time already puts her sixth in school history. Also cracking the top 10 was Trenton Shutters who clocked a time of 48.09 seconds which was the fourth-fastest in school history.
Later in the meet, Shutters bolted to a time of 1:50.07 in the 800m narrowly missing the school mark of 1:49.57 set by Sean Peterson in 2021. He moves into second place all-time ahead of Kurt Michaelis' 1:50.42 set back in March 2022. Running in section eight, Shutters grabbed the overall lead of the race and held through section 11.
Also in the 800m, William Hanchosky clocked a personal-best time of 1:52.91.
Micah Mitchell had a career-best time of 14.14 seconds in the 110m hurdles. Daimere Stephens-Stewart had a YSU-best time of 10.58 seconds in the 100m. In the 400m hurdles, Michael Ballone recorded a time of 52.74 seconds to move into fourth place in school history in his outdoor debut.
Caleigh Richards clocked a time of 17:01.97 in the 5,000m which ranks fourth-fastest in program history. Melody Harloff clocked a personal-best time of 24.67 seconds in the 200m dash while Day was just behind at 24.68 seconds. In the men's 200m dash, Jake Mcentyre had the best YSU time of 21.59 seconds.
In the triple jump, Esther Solarin took second place with a leap of 12.70m while Nia Williams-Matthews returned to the outdoor roster with a best effort of 12.30m, which was good for sixth place. Lukas Lang took third in the men's pole vault invitational with a career-best mark of 5.05m. That mark moved him into fourth-best all-time at YSU in the event.
Coleson Kertesz had a lifetime-best of 49.06m in the discus and now ranks fourth in school history. He later added a career-best throw of 46.39m in the hammer. In the women's discus, Molly Radcliffe had a throw of 48.55m to finish a strong eighth place.
In Saturday's field events, Tye Hunt was sixth in the men's long jump with a leap of 7.21m. In the women's pole vault invitational, Melana Schumaker and Ainsley Hamsher each cleared 3.85m to finish in the top 10.
The Penguins return to action with a pair of meets later in the week. YSU will send athletes to the Slippery Rock Dave Labor Invitational and the Tennessee Invitational. Both events will be contested on Friday and Saturday.
