Rochester, Mich. – India Bailey won the first Horizon League title of her career to highlight the performance of the Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams on Friday at the Elaine Leigh Track and Field Complex on the campus of Oakland University.
After three events, the YSU men lead the team standings after opening day one with 36 points. Purdue Fort Wayne scored 31 points and is second while Northern Kentucky is third at 21 points. The YSU women are tied with Robert Morris for the top spot with 27 points. Purdue Fort Wayne is third with 22 points.
Bailey won the javelin with a throw of 40.77m which came on her third attempt. Bailey's mark withstood a barrage of attempts and NKU's Jill Wilhelm threw the javelin a similar distance to Bailey's. The mark came in at 40.76m just shy of Bailey's result. Bailey ended on a strong note with a toss of 40.65m.
In the men's javelin, Brandon Hutchinson was second while Alan Austin came in third. Hutchinson had a best throw of 51.50m which came on his second attempt. Austin launched a 50.82m toss on his first throw of the competition.
Later in the day, Austin collected a third-place finish in the discus. His throw of 50.48m on his third attempt had him in second place for most of the competition before he dropped a spot late. JaMeire Robinson came in fourth with a throw of 49.00m.
In the women's discus, Lexus Solarz placed fifth with a best throw of 39.04m.
On the track, the women advanced McKinley Fielding and Maggie Hopple to Sunday's 1,500m finals. Fielding had the fastest time of the day with a 4:32.79 while Hopple had the fifth-best time of 4:39.15.
For the men, Blaze Fichter (3:56.59), Connor Shingleton (3:56.70), Sage Vavro (3:52.31) and Ethan Cope (3:54.95) all moved onto Sunday's final of the 1,500m.
In the men's 10,000m, Patrick Burgos finished third with a time of 30:48.63 while Caleb Prettyman placed sixth clocking a 31:05.97.
In the women's 10,000m, Caleigh Richards placed second with a time of 36:07.19 while Megan Stafford was fourth running a time of 36:37.37.
Day two of the Horizon League Championships begins on Saturday at 9 a.m. with the decathlon followed heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. The women's shot put and women's long jump are set to start at Noon. Running events are slated for 3 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN+.
Team Scores:
Women:
T1. RMU – 27
T1. Youngstown State – 27
3. Purdue Fort Wayne – 22
4. Milwaukee – 13
5. Northern Kentucky – 10
T6. Oakland – 6
T6. Wright State - 6
8. IU Indianapolis – 4
9. Detroit Mercy - 2
Men:
1. Youngstown State - 36
2. Purdue Fort Wayne – 31
3. Northern Kentucky – 21
4. Milwaukee – 11
5. Wright State – 8
T6. Detroit Mercy – 4
T6. Oakland – 4
8. IU Indianapolis – 2
