The Youngstown State women's track and field team goes for their ninth Horizon League Indoor title in 10 seasons when the 2026 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships get underway on Saturday at the WATTS.

The two-day conference meet starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday. with the pentathlon. The pole vault competitions begin first-day field events at Noon, with action on the track getting started at 4 p.m.

Sunday field events will commence with the high jump competition at 9:15 a.m., leading up to the running events beginning just after 1 p.m. with mile.

The Penguins rose to the top of the podium last year in Fort Wayne, Ind., to win their eighth title in the past nine years. YSU scored 152 points to outdistance host Purdue Fort Wayne (135), Milwaukee (123) and Oakland (79)

Last time at WATTS in 2024, YSU was second behind Milwaukee, which snapped a run of seven consecutive titles by the Penguins. The Panthers outscored YSU 171-146.5 to take the title that year.

Overall, Youngstown State has won a Horizon League best 13 team titles dating back to 2004. YSU has been first or second in every meet since 2013.

YSU returns just two event winners from last year in McKinley Fielding and Melana Schumaker. Both won first day titles last year with Schumaker winning the pole vault early in the day before Fielding won the 5,000m in the evening. Of the 32 YSU athletes competing, 15 will be making their HL Indoor Championships debuts.

Penguins Competing

60m – Anais Martinez, Elle Pearsall, Ava Reeves
200m – Tori Atkins, Melody Harloff, Anais Martinez, Elle Pearsall, Ava Reeves
400m – Tori Atkins, Melody Harloff, Laylah Hayes
800m – Carly Hall, Karis McElhaney
Mile – McKinley Fielding, Carly Hall, Maggie Hopple
3,000m – McKinley Fielding, Maggie Hopple, Lillian Katsaras, Jenna Razavi, Caleigh Richards, Megan Stafford
5,000m – McKinley Fielding, Molly Hopple, Lillian Katsaras, Jenna Razavi, Caleigh Richards
60m Hurdles – Ava Littler, Lea Parham
DMR – Maggie Hopple (1,600m), Megan Stafford (1,200m), Carly Hall (800m), Laylah Hayes (400m), Molly Hopple (ALT), Karis McElhaney (ALT)
4x400m – Tori Atkins, Mia Dionisio, Melody Harloff, Mylee Harmon, Laylah Hayes, Anais Martinez, Karis McElhaney

Weight Throw – India Bailey, Jaylynn King, Olivia Mason, Grace Sparks
Shot Put – Maggie Goodlin, Jaylynn King, Olivia Mason
Pole Vault – Jaden Brambley, Kaitlyn Eger, Ainsley Hamsher, Marissa Ratliff, Melana Schumaker, Gabbi Selman
High Jump – Mia Dionisio, Kalli Knoble
Long Jump – Mylee Harmon, Sara Roe, Ava Reeves
Triple Jump – Kalli Knoble, Sara Roe
Pentathlon – Mylee Harmon

Preview:

60m – Ava Reeves enters her first Horizon League Championship ranked second in the 60m dash. The race will be highly competitive with the top five being separated by just 0.05 seconds. The top 10 are grouped together by 0.10 seconds. Anais Martinez makes her HL debut while Elle Pearsall was third at last year's meet. YSU has won nine of the past 11 titles in the race.

200m – Melody Harloff and Reeves are both ranked in top eight entering the league meet. Harloff sits in fifth place while Reeves is eighth. The top nine runners are all between 24.11 and 24.90 seconds. The Guins have won 12 of the last 15 200m events at the HL meet. 

400m – Harloff and newcomer Tori Atkins lead the way in the 400m. Harloff has the fourth fastest time in the HL while Atkins has the sixth. Harloff was sixth in 2024 and seventh in 2025 in the event. YSU last won the event in 2015.

800m – The Guins will be represented by newcomer Karis McElhaney and veteran Carly Hall in the race. McElhaney has the fourth-fastest time this year in the conference. Hall was sixth in the 800m in 2023 and competed in the race last year. YSU has won the race twice before (2019 and 2022).

Mile – Fielding has a sizeable lead in the race entering the league championships. She has the top time in the conference by eight seconds. Last year in Fort Wayne, Fielding placed second and led until the final 200m after setting the pace. Hall and newcomer Maggie Hopple will also compete. YSU has won two of the past four mile races.

3000m – The Penguins have three of the top six runners and four of the top nine. Fielding is third while Caleigh Richards is fourth while Robert Morris holds down the top two spots. Last year, Richards placed fourth in her HL debut while Fielding capped off a busy two days with a seventh-place finish. Jenna Razavi will run in the event for the third time. YSU has a total of six entries in the race. Morgan Cole is the only YSU runner to win the event.

5000m – Fielding, Richards and Razavi are all in the top seven in the league. Fielding sits in second while Richards is fourth, but six of the top seven times all came in early December. Fielding raced home with the title last year on the first day of competition. She joined Cole and Samantha Hamilton as the only Guins to win the race at the league championships.

60m Hurdles – Lea Parham ranks second in the conference entering the meet. Ava Littler will enter the meet the eighth best time. Littler posted a sixth-place finish in the event in 2025. Parham just missed the finals last year, placing ninth. YSU last won the event in 2021.

Triple Jump – Kalli Knoble and Sara Roe will compete in the event at the HL Championships for the first time. YSU has won the last four titles.

Long Jump – The Guins are led by newcomer Mylee Harmon who ranks third entering the league competition. Sara Roe and Reeves make their HL jumping debuts. YSU has won the event five times since 2014.

High Jump – Kalli Knoble and Mia Dionisio rank in the top seven of the conference. Knoble is is fifth while Dionisio ranks right behind. Nine athletes have cleared 1.62m this year. Olivia Jones won the event in 2023 at Fort Wayne.

Pole Vault – YSU will be well represented in the event once again with six entrants. The Penguins have the top three in the conference and have five of the top eight. Ainsley Hamsher is first, defending champion Melana Schumaker is second and Kaitlyn Eger sits third. Marissa Ratliff will be making her Horizon League debut. Hamsher was runner up, Gabbi Selman was fifth and Kaitlyn Eger was sixth last year. 

Shot Put – YSU has two of the top 10 in the event with Olivia Mason eighth and newcomer Maggie Goodlin ninth. Mason finished sixth last year in her HL debut. YSU last won the event in 2020, which was the most recent in a string of 10 straight titles.

Weight Throw – Newcomer Jaylynn King has the best mark in the conference. She finished sixth last year while competing for Cleveland State. Grace Sparks, who was second last year, is currently third in the league rankings. Olivia Mason was ninth in her HL debut in 2025. India Bailey had a 12^th-place finish a year ago. YSU last won the event in 2019.

Pentathlon – Harmon will compete in the event in her HL debut. She is ranked fourth and is one of just four athletes to eclipse 3,000 points so far this year.

DMR – YSU ranks fourth in the conference but has yet to win the event at the HL Championships.

4x400m – The Penguins enter the meet with the fourth-fastest time which came at the YSU Last Chance Invitational. The Guins last won the event in 2018.

For news and updates throughout the 2026 Horizon League Indoor Championships, follow @YSUTrackFieldXC on X and Instagram.