The Youngstown State men's track and field team used big performances in the shot put, long jump and steeplechase to increase their lead at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships on Saturday at the Covelli Sports Complex.
YSU has 93 points after two days to lead second-place Milwaukee by 43 points. In third is Purdue Fort Wayne with 37 points.
In the steeplechase, YSU took the top two spots as Sage Vavro raced home with a meet record time of 8:51.26. Vavro's time ranks him 40th in the country and is even more impressive considering he hit the first barrier and rallied for the win.
In second place was Owen Brady who finished with a time of 9:01.27 while Connor Singleton was fifth at 9:09.73 and Keegan Barnette was sixth with a 9:22.54.
In the long jump, Luke Laubacher was second with a leap of 7.21m, Andrew Frank came in third with a leap of 7.13m and Aaron Berardinelli was fifth a 6.88m.
In the shot put, YSU was second, third, fourth and sixth in a big points haul. Placing second was Jaden Kirkwood with a throw of 16.05m, Coleson Kertesz was third with a 15.66m, Ryan Tetrick was fourth at 15.61m and Dominic Brown was sixth at 15.01m.
In the running events, the Guins advanced a strong group of runners to Sunday's finals.
In the 100m, Garrett Tiller, Jake Mcentyre, Joseph Owusu-Ansah and Damiere Stephens-Stewart will run on Sunday. In the 200m, Tiller, Laubacher, Mcentyre and Owusu-Ansah moved onto the finals. In the 400m, William Delbaugh advanced while Trenton Shutters made the 800m final.
In the 110m hurdles, Laubacher ran a blistering time of 13.50 seconds to move onto the finals. Micah Mitchell qualified second with a time of 14.11 seconds, Clancy Chrystal fourth at 14.44 seconds and Michael Ballone was sixth at 14.78 seconds.
On Sunday, the men open competition with the triple jump at 10 a.m. At noon, the running events and high jump get underway. The hammer throw and pole vault are set for 1 p.m.
Team Scores
1. Youngstown State – 93
2. Milwaukee – 50
3. Purdue Fort Wayne – 37Â
4. Northern Kentucky – 34
5. Oakland – 26
6. Detroit Mercy – 13
7. Wright State – 12
8. IU Indianapolis – 8
