The Youngstown State men's and women's cross-country programs will kick off their 2025 campaigns this Saturday in Fort Wayne, Ind., at the Mastodon Alumni Open, hosted by Purdue Fort Wayne.

Men's Preview

The Penguins men will kick things off with a 5K race at 10 a.m.

13 men will compete for the Penguins: Owen Brady, Patrick Burgos, Ethan Cope, Brock Farris, Blaze Fichter, Beau Gorby, Zac Haley, Thomas Hunyadi, Noah Johnson, Josh Jones, Connor Shingleton, Trenton Shutters, and Sage Vavro.

Women's Preview

The Penguins women will take the course after the men, with their 5K race beginning at approximately 10:30 a.m.

10 women will compete for the Penguins: Kenzy Beckett, Carly Hall, Molly Hopple, Breanna Joki, Lillian Katsaras, Linsey Plant, Jenna Razavi, Caleigh Richards, Lauren Runion, and Megan Stafford.

Getting Familiar with the Terrain

The season-opening races will be a great way for the Penguins to get familiar with the Mastodon Cross Country Course, as this will be the same course that will host the Horizon League Championships on Nov. 1.

Going for Four

The Penguins men head into the 2025 season as three-time defending Horizon League champions, the longest streak of consecutive championships in program history. Another conference title this season would mark only the third time in conference history, dating back to 1979, that a program has won at least four consecutive cross-country titles. The men will be led by returners Tobias Jones and Blaze Fichter, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively, at last season's Horizon League Championships.

Fielding and Richards Look to Build off Strong 2024 Seasons

The Penguins women return their top two performers from a season ago, and two of the top runners in the Horizon League, with McKinley Fielding and Caleigh Richards leading the charge in 2025. Fielding finished runner-up at the Horizon League Championships last season, clocking a 6K time of 21:09. Richards placed eighth with a time of 21:46.3, while also taking home Horizon League Cross Country Women's Freshman of the Year honors, becoming the first Penguin female since Morgan Cole in 2019 to receive that honor.

High Expectations in 2025

Both the YSU men and women were regarded highly by league coaches during the voting of the 2025 Under Armour #HLXC preseason polls. The men were picked as the preseason favorite, receiving nine of the possible 10 first-place votes, while the women were slated second, receiving two first-place votes.

Up Next

The Penguins will return home for the first of back-to-back home tournaments at the Gorby Family Championship Cross Country Course inside the Mill Creek Metroparks on Sept. 20. The women's race will begin at 10 a.m. with the men's race following shortly after.

For live updates and results throughout the 2025 season, follow @YSUTrackFieldXC on X.