Donn Craig
Cross Country/Track and Field
1996-97
Like his female counterpart for this year’s award, he hails from nearby Boardman High School and starred scholastically in both cross country and track and field for the Spartans. He earned eight total letters in high school, four in each sport. Donn led the Spartans to the OHSAA (Ohio High School Athletic Association) state tournament his final three years. As a senior, he earned All-State laurels. His time of 16:04 for the 5K was the fastest in Spartan cross country history.
On the cinders, he was the Steel Valley Conference champion in both 1991 and 1992 in the two-mile, copping the District title in that event in both 1990 and 1991. He was an All-Steel Valley Conference selection in both cross country and track and field three times, winning the league’s cross country title in 1990.
His success scholastically is topped only by his success collegiately. For the past four years he has helped Head Coach Brian Gorby’s Penguin cross country and track and field teams climb the ladder of success in the Mid-Continent Conference, gaining national recognition along the way.
During his four-year stay on the Penguin campus, he earned four letters in cross country, and was a member of both the indoor and outdoor track and field teams. He was instrumental in bringing back to Youngstown no less than five Mid-Continent Conference titles; three in cross country (1994, 1995 and 1996) and the indoor and outdoor track and field title this year, running a personal best 25:57 during the championships.
The captain of the cross country team, and both the indoor and outdoor track and field teams the past two seasons, he was a Mid-Continent Conference cross country selection in both 1994 and 1995.
In 1996, he was named to the all league team as he ran a 15:00 in the 5K during the outdoor championships that same year. Donn was named to the all league team as well. At this year’s outdoor championships, he won the 5,000 meter leading YSU to a sweep of the first five places in that event, along with teammates Bob Bond, Chris Emory, Matt Folk and Mark Brady. YSU dominated this year’s event and easily outdistanced runner-up Troy State by 142.50 total points (271.50 to 129.00).
The top runner in both 1996 and 1997 in the 10,000 meter run in the Mid-Continent Conference, he placed ninth overall at the National Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University, and was 20th at the prestigious Penn Relays a season ago. Quiet in nature, he lets his efforts on the field of play do his talking for him.
Academically, the sound is so loud that his teammates and opponents stand up and take notice. A Secondary Education/English major, he earned a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average and is scheduled to earn his degree upon completion of the current spring quarter.
