Rochester, Mich. – The Youngstown State men's track and field team will take a big lead into the final day of the Horizon League Track and Field Championships, while the women's track and field team is in fourth place after a long Saturday at the Elaine Leigh Track and Field Complex on the campus of Oakland University.

The men have 94 points after seven events while Purdue Fort Wayne is second with 48 and Milwaukee is third with 36. On the women's side, Milwaukee is in first with 52 points while Robert Morris is second with 46 and Purdue Fort is third with 44. YSU sits fourth with 39 points.

Men's Saturday Recap

Jaden Kirkwood claimed his first Horizon League outdoor title by winning the shot put with a throw of 16.35m. He took the lead in the competition with a toss of 16.21m on his first attempt. Dominic Brown came in third with a throw of 15.95m, while Alan Austin was fourth with a throw of 15.20m.

Sage Vavro defended his Horizon League title in the steeplechase by winning with a time of 8:54.55. Connor Shingleton raced home to finish second with a time of 9:07.36.

Brandon Hutchinson came in second in the decathlon by scoring a career-best 6,194 points. That total ranks as the second most in school history.

In the long jump, Aaron Berardinelli was third with a leap of 7.04m.

In the 100m prelims, Cadeon Trotter advanced with a time of 10.81 seconds. In the 200m prelims, Trotter (22.11 seconds), Shamir Rose (22.21 seconds) and Logan Butcher (22.34 seconds) moved on. In the 400m, Rose (50.49 seconds) and Butcher (48.36 seconds) will race on Sunday. Trenton Shutters advanced in the 800m with a time of 1:56.07.

Youngstown State had a strong showing in the hurdles prelims. In the 110m prelims, Micah Mitchell had the best time of 14.09 seconds, while Clancy Chrystal had the fourth fastest time at 14.45 seconds and Michael Ballone was third at 14.54 seconds. In the 400m hurdles, Mitchell had the best time at 52.58 seconds, Ballone was third at 55.85 seconds and Clancy was fifth at 56.35 seconds.

Women's Saturday Recap

The Penguins had a solid showing during the preliminary rounds.

In the 100m, Ava Reeves qualified with the fifth-fastest time of 12.06 seconds. In the 200m, Tori Atkins and Melody Harloff advanced to tomorrow's finals. Atkins ran a time of 24.57 seconds, which was the second fastest result. Harloff clocked a time of 25.23 seconds. In the 400m, Atkins had the top time of the qualifying rounds with a time of 55.33 seconds, while Harloff had a time of 56.97 seconds. Karis McElhaney had a time of 2:14.32 to move on in the 800m.

In the shot put, Maggie Goodlin was fifth with a toss of 13.42m while Olivia Mason was sixth with a throw of 13.10m. Jenna Razavi placed sixth in the steeplechase while Daisha Decree was seventh in the long jump.

The pole vault gets underway tomorrow at 9 a.m., followed by the women's hammer throw, women's high jump and men's triple jump all start at 10 o'clock. Running events will get underway at noon.

Team Scores:

Women:

1. Milwaukee – 52
2. RMU – 46
3. Purdue Fort Wayne – 44
4. Youngstown State – 39
5. Oakland – 29
6. Wright State - 15
7. Cleveland State - 14
8. Detroit Mercy - 13
9. Northern Kentucky - 11
10. IU Indy - 10

Men:

1. Youngstown State – 94
2. Purdue Fort Wayne – 48
3. Milwaukee – 36 
4. Northern Kentucky – 28
5. Detroit Mercy – 23
6. Wright State – 20
7. Oakland – 28
8. IU Indianapolis – 6