Men pulled away, while the ladies just crushed the competition. I was worried that men lost Jakovina, but Morales comes through!
The Youngstown State men's track and field team had an impressive showing over two days as the Penguins won their second consecutive Horizon League Indoor Championship with the meet concluded on Sunday at the WATTS.
The Penguins finished with 188 points while Oakland finished second with 157 points and Milwaukee was third with 108 points.
Chad Zallow had a banner day on Sunday winning the 60m dash, the 60m hurdles and the 200m dash. Ryan Booth won the shot put, Arnaldo Morales captured his first career high jump title while freshman Tim Holzapfel set a school-record in a winning the hepthathlon.
Morales started the day on a high note for the Penguins winning his first career indoor high jump title. Morales cleared the bar on his second attempt at 2.08m to claim his first crown after placing second the previous two years.
Holzapfel finished off the heptathlon with a school-record performance scoring 5,276 points. He eclipsed the previous mark by 455 points. He scored 937 points in the 60m hurdles and had 796 in the 1,000m run.
Zallow, who has turned heads all year, won the 60m hurdles in Horizon League Championship and WATTS record time of 7.61 seconds. It marks the fourth time this year that Zallow has clocked a time of 7.61 seconds.
About a half hour later, Zallow sizzled again with a time of 6.77 seconds to win the 60m dash. The time was a Horizon League Championship record and marked the second straight year he won both the 60m dash and the 60m hurdles.
Zallow's next race was the 200m dash and it was the closest race of them all. In the first heat, Oakland's Nicholas Girodat posted a time of 21.51 seconds. Zallow just nipped him at the line in the second heat running a 21.50.
Booth defended his Horizon League shot put title with a career-best throw of 18.40m. Booth had three throws of longer than 18 meters while his fifth throw being the winning mark. He won by 1.34m.
Earning awards for their performances during the meet included: Zallow (Outstanding Performer - Running Events), Brendon Lucas (Freshman Running Performer), Holzafpel (Freshman Field Events), Morales (Outstanding Performer - Field Events) and Brian Gorby (Coach of the Year). Zallow was also named the Alfreeda Goff Male Track Athlete of the Year.
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The Youngstown State women's track and field team used a complete effort to win their third Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championship in the past four years as the meet concluded on Sunday at the WATTS.
YSU accumulated 183 points while Milwaukee was second with 140 and Oakland was third with 138.
Winning titles on Sunday for the Penguins were Abby Jones (high jump), Jaynee Corbett (shot put), Taylor Thompkins (60m), Amber Eles (60m hurldes) and Taylor McDonald (200m).
Jones started the day off with an impressive effort in the high jump. She cleared 1.69m on her first attempt which gave her the title after teammate Chenera Lacey failed to advance. Jones then cleared 1.72m on her third attempt to set a new career high. She was just 0.01 meter shy of the school and Horizon League Championships record.
Corbett captured her second straight Horizon League Indoor Track and Field shot put title with a season-best throw of 14.91m. Corbett won the title by 0.90 meters on Sunday. After fouling on her first attempt she had five straight throws of more than 14 meters.
Eles had a memorable day running a school-record time of 8.64 seconds in the 60m hurdles. It was her first Horizon League title and a sweet moment for Eles who fell early in last year's 60m hurdle final race.
In the 60m dash, the Penguins went first and second with Taylor Thompkins winning the race in a time of 7.62 seconds while Jaliyah Elliott was second with a time of 7.65 seconds. It was the third straight win in the event for the Penguins.
In the 200m dash, another Taylor, Taylor McDonald giving the Penguins seven straight titles in the event. McDonald had a time of 24.90 seconds to win the race while Elliott was second at 25.10 seconds. Placing fourth was Thompkins with a time of 25.14 seconds and Keishawnna Burts was fifth at 25.39.
Earning league accolades were Elliott (Outstanding Freshman Runner), Chandler Killins (Outstanding Field Freshman), Corbett (Outstanding Performer - Field Events) and Brian Gorby was named the Coach of the Year. Corbett was also named the Alfreeda Goff Athlete of the Year for her performance throughout the season.
Other Top Performances
Killins third place in the triple jump (11.55m).
McDonald fourth place in the 60m hurdles (8.82 seconds).
Burts was second in the 400m dash (56.23 seconds).
