Youngstown State University
Horizon League Championship
10/31/2026 4:25:00 PM | Cross Country
Clinton, Pa. - The Youngstown State men's cross country team extended its championship streak as the Penguins captured their fifth-straight Horizon League title this afternoon at Youthtowne Cross Country Course in Clinton, Pa.
The victory brings the men's all-time championship total to seven. The team scored 32 points.
The women placed second with 33 team points, just one point shy of champions Robert Morris. It marks the third time in program history the women have finished as runners-up and the first time since 2019.
Erica Kaulen and Owen Scott swept the #HLXC Freshman of the Year awards, marking the first time in program history that both a men's and women's runner have won the honor in the same season. It also marks the first time the men have had back-to-back Freshman of the Year award winners.
Patrick Burgos led the men with a career-best third-place finish at the championships, posting an 8K time of 24:07.6. Josh Jones finished fifth, improving by 23 places from his championship race last season. He posted an 8K time of 24:31.62.
Owen Brady, Owen Scott and Sage Vavro ran as a pack and finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
In his final conference race, Brady recorded a career-best seventh-place finish at the championships with a time of 24:35.6. In his first conference race, Scott was the top-finishing freshman out of the 103-man field, posting a time of 24:36.64.
Vavro matched his best conference finish from his freshman year. The now fifth-year posted a time of 24:41.18 to round out the Penguins' scoring effort.
Blaze Fichter placed 11th with a time of 24:46.34, while Caleb Prettyman, competing in his first conference race as a Penguin, posted a 15th-place finish with a time of 24:54.08.
Brock Farris finished 22nd and Connor Shingleton placed 26th to round out the top 50. In their conference debuts, MJ Pottinger placed 51st, Tyce Shaner finished 68th and Blake Baker rounded out the lineup in 73rd.
Burgos, Jones and Brady were all named to the All-Horizon League First Team. Burgos earned his second First Team honor, while Brady and Jones received their first career honors.
Scott and Fichter were named to the All-Horizon League Second Team. Fichter closed out his conference career with his second Second Team recognition and fourth overall honor from the league. This marks Scott's first conference honor.
IU Indy finished as the runner-up with 55 points, while Robert Morris placed third with 113 points. IU Indy's Izaiah Steury won the individual title with an 8K time of 23:44.70.
The women were led by McKinley Fielding, who placed second with a 6K time of 20:28.65. Caleigh Richards was the next Penguin finisher, recording a career-best conference finish in fourth place with a time of 20:54.4.
Erica Kaulen placed sixth with a time of 20:57.57. She was the highest-finishing freshman in the 120-woman field.
Maggie Hopple and Megan Stafford posted back-to-back finishes in 10th and 11th, respectively. Both recorded career-best finishes in the conference race.
Fielding, Richards and Kaulen were named to the All-Horizon League First Team. Fielding closes out her conference career with her third First Team recognition. Richards earns her second First Team recognition, while Kaulen receives her first league honor in her first conference race.
Stafford and Hopple earned All-Horizon League Second Team recognition for the first time in their careers.
Robert Morris won the team title with 32 points, while 101 points separated the Penguins from third-place Oakland. The Colonials' Julia Dill won the individual title with a 6K time of 20:19.98.
Up next, the Penguins will travel to East Lansing, Mich., for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship.
Award Winners
- Men's All-League First Team
- Izaiah Steury, IU Indianapolis
- Noah Jahnke, Green Bay
- Patrick Burgos, Youngstown State
- Luke Shappell, IU Indianapolis
- Joshua Jones, Youngstown State
- Mason Gates, Green Bay
- Owen Brady, Youngstown State
- Women's All-League First Team
- Julia Dill, RMU
- McKinley Fielding, Youngstown State
- Samantha Hennen, RMU
- Calaigh Richards, Youngstown State
- Amelie Ojeda, Northern Illinois
- Erica Kaulen, Youngstown State
- Kaylee Foringer, RMU
- Men's All-League Second Team
- Owen Scott, Youngstown State
- Sage Vavro, Youngstown State
- Colin Murray, Detroit Mercy
- Blaze Fichter, Youngstown State
- Josh Otten, Detroit Mercy
- Joey LaPatra, IU Indianapolis
- Christopher Russelburg, Detroit Mercy
- Women's All-League Second Team
- Sara Jury, RMU
- Eliza Bush, Oakland
- Maggie Hopple, Youngstown State
- Megan Stafford, Youngstown State
- Sarah Maggio, Northern Illinois
- Alyssa Croco, RMU
- Grace Biddle, Northern Kentucky
