Morales's Horizon League Champions
Former Youngstown State standout high jumper Arnaldo Morales is in his fifth season as an assistant track and field coach for the Penguins. Morales spearheads the Penguins’ jumps program and assists with the multi-events.
In his first four years with the program, his return to the Mahoning Valley has paid huge dividends. YSU has sent men's and women's jumpers to the NCAA Outdoor Championships and has been represented on the men's side at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Tye Hunt capped off his YSU career by earning second-team All-America honors in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Hunt placed 10th, the second-highest finish at the meet in program history. At the NCAA East Regional, Hunt, Luke Laubacher, Nia Williams-Matthews and Esther Solarin all competed in the jumps.
At the outdoor Horizon League Championships, Connor Durig won the high jump while YSU had second-place finishers in the long jump and triple jump. For the women, Williams-Matthews claimed the triple jump title, and Emily Bee placed second in the heptathlon with a school-record performance.
At the Horizon League Indoor Championships, Laubacher won the long jump while YSU had runner-up finishers in the men's triple jump and high jump. Solarin swept the long jump and triple jump titles and was named the Outstanding Women's Field Performer.
During the 2024 campaign, the jumpers produced All-Americans during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. During the indoor season, Hunt placed ninth in the long jump at the NCAA Championships. During the outdoor season, Solarin finished 19th in the triple jump at the NCAA Championships. On the year, YSU set school records in the men's indoor triple jump and long jump, men's outdoor triple jump, women's indoor long jump and triple jump, and women's outdoor long jump and triple jump.
Additionally, Jakari Lomax, a nine-time Horizon League champion in the triple jump, competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials.
At the Horizon League Indoor Championships, Williams-Matthews won the triple jump, Hunt won the long jump, Lomax won the triple jump, and Bee won the pentathlon. At the Horizon League Outdoor Championships, Mason Stephens won the high jump, Lomax won the triple jump, and Solarin swept the long jump and triple jump.
During the 2023 campaign, YSU collected seven Horizon League championships and missed qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships by 1 centimeter.
At the 2023 Horizon League Outdoor Championships, YSU won three titles and finished second in four other events. The Guins swept the triple jump events with Lomax taking first place for the men, while Williams-Matthews earned the crown for the women. Lonnie Harper claimed his first career title in the high jump on the final day. Earning second-place finishes for the Penguins were Olivia Jones (women's heptathlon and high jump), Solarin (women's triple jump) and Stephens (men's high jump). In the men's long jump, the Guins placed third, fourth and fifth.
At the NCAA East Preliminary Round, Hunt finished a career-best 13th in the long jump and came up one spot shy of advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the year, Williams-Matthews broke the school record in the triple jump, a mark that had stood since 2009.
At the 2023 Horizon League Indoor Championships, the Guins won four individual events and added a runner-up performance. Jones had a memorable final Horizon League Indoor Championship, winning the high jump and pentathlon. Jones scored a school-record 3,730 points to win the pentathlon. Williams-Matthews won her first indoor championship in the triple jump, while Lomax won his fourth straight title in the event. In the men's high jump, Harper placed second. In the men's long jump, the Guins posted an impressive 3-4-5-6-7 finish. Lomax, Williams-Matthews and Hunt also set school records during the campaign.
At the 2022 Horizon League Indoor Championships, YSU won four titles and finished second in two other events. The Guins swept the triple jump events with Lomax taking first place for the men, while Williams-Matthews earned the crown for the women. In the long jump, Jessica Stever led a 1-2-3 finish for the women, while the men finished second through fourth and added a sixth-place performance. Terron Taylor won the high jump title as three Penguins placed in the top six. In the women's pentathlon, Bee finished second.
At the 2022 Horizon League Outdoor Championships, the men earned a pair of titles while Jones won the heptathlon for the women. For the men, Taylor completed the indoor-outdoor sweep in the high jump, while Lomax did the same in the triple jump. Hunt picked up his first career long jump title. In fact, Hunt led a 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the long jump, giving YSU 33 points in the event. Lomax was followed by teammate Daiquain Watson in the triple jump, while Williams-Matthews was the runner-up in the women's event. Jones won the heptathlon for the third consecutive year.
Morales, a native of Struthers, Ohio, spent the 2020-21 season at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kansas. In his lone season, the Beavers' indoor track and field program sent 16 athletes to the Indoor National Championships and produced five All-Americans.
Prior to Pratt, Morales was an assistant track and field coach at Austintown Fitch High School, where he specialized in the long jump and high jump. During his time at Fitch, Morales coached four regional qualifiers and one state qualifier in the high jump.
Morales had a decorated career at YSU from 2014-18. During the indoor season, he won Horizon League high jump titles in 2014 and 2017 while placing second in 2015 and 2016. At the Horizon League Outdoor Championships, he was a four-time high jump champion, winning titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018. During the 2016 season, he was named the Outstanding Field Performer after setting a conference record in the event.
Morales was a four-time NCAA First Round qualifier, posting his best finish in 2016 with a 25th-place finish. That same season, he broke the school high jump record, which had stood since 1989.
Morales earned his degree in exercise science from Youngstown State.
