The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams had a strong opening day winning five events and posting five runner-up performances at the 2026 Horizon League Indoor Championships at the WATTS in Youngstown.
The women won three events while the men earned a pair of top podium efforts. Winning events on Saturday for the men were Lukas Lang (pole vault) and Isaiah Barker (long jump) while taking first place for the women were Ainsley Hamsher (pole vault), Jaylynn King (weight throw) and McKinley Fielding (5,000m).
Lang won the pole vault for the second consecutive year while Fielding won her second consecutive 5,000m race. Hamsher, King and Barker all earned their first Horizon League indoor titles.
In the team standings, the YSU men have opened up a 66-point lead by scoring 91 points. In second is Purdue with 25 while Northern Kentucky is third at 20. The Guins accumulated at least 17 points in each of the individual event finals on Saturday putting their 11th straight title within reach.
The YSU women scored an impressive 86 points to open a 33-point advantage in the competition. In second is Milwaukee with 53 points while Oakland is third. YSU had 30 points in the pole vault, 23 in the 5,000m and 19 in the weight throw.
Finals
Men's Pole Vault
Lukas Lang won his second Horizon League title clearing a height of 5.05m. Lang cleared heights of 4.75m, 4.85m, 4.95m and 5.05m on his first attempts. He tried to finish the meet off at 5.21m. Placing second was Jak Rovan in his first HL meet with a height of 4.75m.
Women's Pole Vault
Hamsher had been on a mission to collect her first-ever indoor title after finishing second in 2025 and third in 2024. Hamsher cleared on her first attempt of the competition at 3.77m and after an early miss at 3.92m, had three straight successful clears at 3.92m, 4.02m and 4.12m. She broke the meet record on her third attempt at 4.22m. She gave 4.32m a go, but came up short.
Kaitlyn Eger had a career-best 4.02m to finish runner up while Marissa Ratliff had a personal best of 3.92m to place fourth. Melana Schumaker was fifth while Gabbi Selman was sixth.
Men's Long Jump
YSU had the top five finishers in the event. In his HL debut, Barker's jump of 7.29m on his first attempt was the winning mark. Brandon Hutchinson finished second at 7.12m, Aaron Berardinelli was third at 7.06m, Brayden Green was fourth at 7.01m while Emmanuel Asabere was fifth at 7.00m. All of those five marks were set during Flight competition.
Women's Long Jump
Freshman Ava Reeves and Mylee Harmon placed sixth and seventh in their Horizon League debuts. Reeves had a leap of 5.50m while Harmon was busy competing in the pentathlon at the same time of the long jump but was able to finish fifth with a leap of 5.30m.
Men's Weight Throw
The Penguins finished second, third and fourth in a much-improved performance in the event. Dominic Brown uncorked a throw of 17.59m and had the lead until the final throw of the competition. Ryan Tetrick had a mark of 17.39m while Jamiere Robinson was fourth at 16.95m.
Women's Weight Throw
King became the first Penguin since Nicolette Kreatsoulas in 2019 to win the event and defeated defending champion Ali Sparks of PFW in the process. King's toss of 18.81m on her third attempt won the title. Grace Sparks finished fourth at 16.22m while Olivia Mason placed fifth at 16.12m.
Women's 5000m
In an almost identical race to the 2025 Championship, Fielding used a push in the final 300 meter to seize the victory with a time of 16:36.34 over RMU's Julia Dill. Last year in Fort Wayne, Fielding ran down Dill in the final 150 meters to win her first Horizon League title. Her time this year was 30 seconds faster and she won by more than nine seconds. Jenna Razavi placed third with a time of 17:02.89 while Caleigh Richards was fourth at 17:13.53.
Men's 5000m
YSU had the second place, third place and sixth place runners in the 5K. In his Horizon League indoor debut, Patrick Burgos was second at 14:18.67. Senior Blaze Fichter sped home to finish third at 14:24.32 while Owen Brady ran a 14:29.48.
DMRs
The men and women both placed fifth in the event. The men had a time of 10:12.42 while the women clocked a time of 12:08.21.
Prelims Breakdown
60m dash
Men's - YSU advanced Caedeon Trotter (6.87 seconds), Jake Mcentyre (6.96) and Joesph Owusu-Ansah (6.97) to the finals. Trotter had the top time while Owusu-Ansah crossed the finish line after slowing at the finish with a lower-body injury.
Women's - YSU advanced Ava Reeves (7.65 seconds) and Anais Martinez (7.72 seconds) to the finals. It will be their first appearance in the 60m finals.
200m dash
Men's – Four of the top six qualifiers for the finals are Penguins. Trotter (21.59 seconds), Jake Mcentyre (21.72), Shamir Rose (21.92) and Teziah Howard (22.04) all advanced. Only Mcentyre has run in the 200m final.
Women's – Melody Harloff (24.70 seconds) and Tori Atkins (24.75) had the fifth and sixth best finishes to reach tomorrow's final.
400m
Men's – Rose and Howard are finals qualifiers after the prelims. Rose clocked a time of 49.00 seconds while Howard was at 49.15 seconds. Howard ran his way into the final from the fifth and final prelim heat.
Women's – Atkins and Harloff give the Penguins two runners in the finals. Atkins ran the top qualifying time of 55.62 seconds from the sixth heat. Harloff will be competing in her third straight 400m indoor final after clocking a time of 56.20 seconds.
800m
Men's – Trenton Shutters advanced to his third career 800m final clocking the second quickest time of 1:53.77. On his previous two races in Fort Wayne, Shutters was second last year and 2023. Shutters used a methodical pace to win his heat.
Women – Newcomer Karis McElhaney gives the Penguins a finalist in the event after missing out last year. McElhaney qualified sixth with a time of 2:17.87 and was second in the second heat.
60m Hurdles
Men's – YSU had four of the top seven qualifiers in the event. Micah Mitchell had the second-fastest time of 7.93 seconds, Brandon Hutchinson was third at 8.07, Clancy Chrystal was fourth at 8.14 and Garrett Laubacher was seventh at 8.31.
Women's – YSU sent two to the finals as Lea Parham (8.45 seconds) and Ava Littler (8.74 seconds) both advanced. Parham moves onto her first career HL final while Littler was in the final last year. Parham's time was a personal-best and moved her into third all-time at YSU.
Up Next
The second and final day of competition starts at 9 a.m. with the final three events of the heptathlon. The high jump begins at 9:15 a.m. with the triple jump and shot put getting underway at 11 a.m. Running events, all finals, start at 1 p.m.
Team Scores:
Men:
1. Youngstown State – 91
2. Purdue Fort Wayne – 25
3. Northern Kentucky – 20
T-4. Milwaukee – 15
T-4. Oakland – 15
6. IU Indianapolis – 12
7. Detroit Mercy – 11
8. Wright State – 5
Women:
1. Youngstown State – 86
2. Milwaukee – 53
3. Oakland – 23
T-4. Purdue Fort Wayne – 21
T-4 RMU – 21
6. Northern Kentucky – 17
7. Detroit Mercy – 6
8. Cleveland State – 5
T-9. Wright State – 1
T-9. IU Indianapolis – 1
