The Youngstown State men's track and field team fell just short in a suspenseful back-and-forth battle with rival Milwaukee on Sunday that came down to the last event in final day at the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships at the WATTS.
Entering the final individual running event of the competition, the Penguins trailed the Panthers by 21 points. But the Guins picked up 22 points in the 3,000-meter run. Austin McLean took his second HL title of the meet with a time of 8:19.98. Coming in second was Eric Rupe with a time of 8:21.55 and fourth was Ryan Sullivan with a time of 8:24.13.
The YSU men took a 152-151 lead over the Panthers into the 4x400-meter relay. Milwaukee won the event while the Penguins were fifth. UWM claimed its second straight narrow victory over YSU by a 161-154 margin. Behind the top two teams were UIC which had 61 points, Valparaiso finished with 59, Oakland had 58 and Detroit with 34 points.
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The Youngstown State women's track and field team won the 2015 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championship finishing one point in front of Milwaukee as the meet concluded on a snowy Sunday afternoon at the WATTS.
Like the men, it came down to the last event for the women in a thrilling dual with the Panthers.
The relay tandem of Taylor McDonald, Megan Gunther, Nina Grambling and Jen Shiley posted a second-place finish with a time of 3:51.37 right behind Milwaukee. The Guins came into the final race leading the Panthers by three points. Oakland had a 3:56.69 in the first section of the race and if the Guins were to finish behind UWM, they needed to best Oakland's time to win the event.
Shiley crossed the finish line and the Guins celebrated their second consecutive title by a 131-130 score. Oakland was a strong third with 90 points, Detroit had 62, Wright State with 46, UIC and Valparaiso each finished with 34 points.
