Penguin Men Claim Outdoor Title in Dominant Fashion
5/11/2025 7:38:00 PM | Track and Field
The Youngstown State men's track and field team used a dominant performance to claim their sixth consecutive Horizon League Outdoor Championship and third straight track and field/cross country triple crown on Sunday at the Covelli Sports Complex.
The Penguins finished the meet with 281 total points to outdistance second-place Milwaukee which had 140 overall points. In third place was Purdue Fort Wayne with 132 while Oakland was fourth with 91.
Winning events on the final day were Luke Laubacher (110m hurdles), Connor Durig (high jump), Trenton Shutters (800m), Lukas Lang (pole vault) and Owen Brady (5,000m).
YSU started the day on the track with a win in the 4x100m relay. The quartet of Joseph Owusu-Ansah, Laubacher, Jake Mcentyre and Garrett Tiller took won the relay with a time of 40.80 seconds.
The Penguins finished first, second, third and seventh in the 110m hurdles. Laubacher set a meet record with a time of 13.48 seconds to take first while Clancy Chrystal was second with a time of 14.46 seconds and Michael Ballone was third at 14.47 seconds.
Laubacher became just the 14th overall athlete and first in the Horizon League to win the 110m hurdles in four straight meets.
In the 100m dash, the Guins were third, fourth, seventh and eighth. Taking third place was Tiller with a time of 10.46 seconds while Mcentyre was fourth at 10.49 seconds.
In the 200m, Mcentyre ran an impressive time of 20.93 seconds to finish second. That time was the second-fastest in school history and quickest since 2000. Finishing third was Tiller while Laubacher added a fourth-place time in his last home race.
Shutters led from start to finish in his typical fashion in the 800m. He clocked an impressive time of 1:50.08, just .01 off his career best. He is the fourth Penguin to win the 800m race at the outdoor meet.
Brady used a huge kick in the final 200m to become the first YSU runner since 2014 to win the 5,000m. Brady clocked a time of 14:32.79 to take the top spot while Tobias Jones was fourth and Thomas Caputo was fifth.
YSU added a second, third and fourth-place effort in the 400m Hurdles. Placing second was Ballone with a time of 52.70 seconds, in third was Micah Mitchell at 52.76 seconds and in fourth was Chrystal at 54.17 seconds.
The high jump saw Penguins finish first, third, fifth and sixth. Leading the way was Durig who won his first HL outdoor title as the only athlete to clear 2.05m. In third was Zachary Webb at 2.02m while Noah Crozier and Mason Stephens were sixth at 1.97m.
Lang won the pole vault with a best effort of 4.91m while Ian Quarles was fifth and Harrison Spalding was sixth. It was Lang's first-ever win in the outdoor event.
In the final event of the meet, the Penguins finished second in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:14.21 finishing just 0.16 seconds behind Fort Wayne in a fabulous finish to the meet.
For his all-around performance at the league meet, Ballone was named the Outstanding Field Freshman of the Meet. Head Coach Brian Gorby was named the League's Coach of the Year.
In the triple jump, Aaron Berardinelli was second with a best leap of 13.73m. In the hammer throw, Ryan Tetrick was the top finisher placing sixth with a throw of 47.05m. William Delbaugh added a sixth-place finish in the 400m.
Final Team Scores:
1. Youngstown State – 281
2. Milwaukee – 141
3. Purdue Fort Wayne – 132
4. Oakland – 91
5. Northern Kentucky – 59
6. IU Indianapolis – 41
7. Detroit Mercy – 38
8. Wright State – 31
