Youngstown State University
Horizon League Championship
10/28/2026 11:00:00 AM | Cross Country
On Saturday the Youngstown State men's and women's cross country teams will make the short trip to Clinton, Pa., to defend their titles at the Horizon League Cross Country Championships at Youthtowne Cross Country Course.
Race Info:
Youthtowne Cross Country Course
150 Youthtowne Road Clinton, PA 15026
Admission: $10/vehicle
Women's Preview
The women's 6K will open the championships at 11 a.m. Cecelia Chase, Claire von Boetticher, McKinley Fielding, Maggie Hopple, Lillian Katsaras, Erica Kaulen, Linsey Plant, Caleigh Richards, Lauren Runion, Megan Stafford, Brady Sterbling and Julia Wheeler are set to compete on race day.
The women entered the 2026 season as favorites in the Under Armour #HLXC Preseason Poll for the first time in program history and will look to repeat as conference champions for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
The Penguins return six runners from last season's 12-woman championship roster. Fielding, Richards, Hopple, Stafford, Katsaras and Plant all return after competing in the 2025 championships.
Fielding is the reigning Women's Athlete of the Year after becoming the second woman in YSU history to win the conference individual title. At the championships, she set a school record in the 6K before breaking her own record this season at her final regular-season meet. Fielding will also look to become the first YSU woman to win back-to-back individual titles and the first Horizon League runner to accomplish the feat since Oakland's Maggie Schneider in 2018-19.
Richards was the Penguins' second-highest finisher last season, placing a career-best sixth at the championships. She earned first-team All-Horizon League honors and improved her career-best 6K time by 18.9 seconds this season.
Hopple and Stafford rounded out the Penguins' scoring efforts at last season's championships. Hopple competed in her first collegiate postseason race in 2025, while Stafford recorded a career-best 21st-place finish.
Chase will return to the conference championships for the first time since 2024, while von Boetticher, Kaulen, Sterbling and Wheeler will make their postseason debuts.
YSU History
The women won their first Horizon League team title since 2014 last season, bringing their championship total to three (2025, 2014 and 2013). Head Coach Brian Gorby was named Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
Outside of last season's title, the Penguins' next-highest finishes were runner ups in 2019 and 2011. Individually, YSU has had at least one runner earn first-team All-Horizon League honors every year since 2019.
Freshmen Kaulen and Wheeler will look to become the program's next Freshman of the Year honoree, following Richards' recognition in 2024. Robert Morris won the championship in 2024, following Oakland's title in 2023.
The Field
Oakland's Eliza Bush returns after being named Freshman of the Year and earning First Team All-Horizon League honors with a fourth-place finish overall at the 2025 championships. Bush was the top-finishing freshman in the field. Oakland was also the second choice in the preseason poll.
Purdue Fort Wayne was picked third in the preseason poll after finishing as runner-up in 2025. The Mastodons return fifth-years Riley Tate, who placed third and earned First Team honors, and Ava Genovese, who finished ninth and received Second Team honors.
Championship host Robert Morris returns Julia Dill and Samantha Hennen, who did not compete in 2025 but have led the team during the 2026 season. Both runners earned first-team honors at the 2024 championships, with Dill finishing third and Hennen placing fifth. Dill enters the championships after winning her last two races, while Hennen has recorded runner-up finishes in three of her four races.
Men's Preview
The men's 8K is set to begin at noon. Blake Baker, Owen Brady, Patrick Burgos, Brock Farris, Blaze Fichter, Josh Jones, MJ Pottinger, Caleb Prettyman, Owen Scott, Tyce Shaner, Connor Shingleton and Sage Vavro are set to compete in the championships.
The men entered the 2026 season as favorites in the Under Armour #HLXC Preseason Poll and return seven of the 12 runners who competed at the 2025 championships, including Brady, Burgos, Farris, Fichter, Jones, Shingleton and Vavro.
Burgos is the reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Year after leading the Penguins at the championships with a fourth-place finish. He was the highest-finishing freshman in the 108-man field and was also named to the All-Horizon League First Team.
Fichter returns for his final conference race. The fifth-year runner posted a career-best sixth-place finish at last year's championships and earned first-team honors. Vavro also returns for his final conference race. A second-team selection last year, he recorded his career-best 8K time at the 2025 championships.
Brady rounded out the team's scoring effort as the Penguins' fifth finisher.
Scott, Prettyman, Pottinger, Shaner and Baker will make their postseason debuts for the Penguins.
Jones, Shingleton, Scott, Prettyman, Pottinger, Shaner and Baker all recorded career-best 8K times in their final regular-season 8K race at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 16.
YSU History
The men have won four consecutive Horizon League team titles (2022-25), bringing their total to six all-time. They have also finished as runners-up four times, including in 2020 and 2021.
Individually, the Penguins have had at least one runner earn first-team All-Horizon League honors every year since 2018. The last time a Penguin finished as an individual champion or runner-up was in 2024, when Hunter Christopher won his second consecutive individual title.
Before Youngstown State's championship run began in 2022, IU Indy won three consecutive team titles from 2019-21.
The Field
At the 2025 Horizon League Championships, Oakland placed second, followed by IU Indy in third, Green Bay in fourth and Northern Kentucky rounding out the top five teams.
IU Indy, the second-place pick in the preseason poll, returns Luke Shappell, a second-team selection in 2025, and adds former Notre Dame runner Izaiah Steury. The Jaguars also welcomed Aidan Connors to this year's lineup. The freshman has been named the league's Freshman Runner of the Week twice this season.
Green Bay returns first-team selection and Male Athlete of the Year Noah Jahnke, along with second-team selection Mason Gates. Jahnke won the men's individual title at last year's championships, marking the first time a Green Bay male runner had claimed the individual title.
Detroit Mercy returns first-team selection Josh Otten and second-team selection Colin Murray. Otten placed third at last year's championships with a career-best 8K time.
Freshman Brody Karg has led Oakland, finishing as the Grizzlies' top runner in all four invitationals while posting a career-best 8K time in his most recent outing.
RMU returns its second-highest finisher from the 2025 championships, Jacob Bayes. Bayes also holds the Colonials' fastest 8K time of the season, running 24:51.3 at the John Handelman Classic.
