The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams swept the Horizon League Indoor Championships this past weekend at the WATTS. The men's squad captured their fifth consecutive title and the women's team won their fourth straight and ninth overall.
Men's Notes
The Penguins scored their second highest point total in program history with 214 and won by 60 points
YSU took first in nine of the 17 events (60m, 60m hurdles, 200m, 800m, Mile, triple jump, pole vault, shot put, weight throw)
Sean Peterson won the 800m for the third consecutive year. He became just the second runner in league history to be a three-time champion in the event, joining Milwaukee's Cory Peterson ('96-'98). Peterson also took home the title in the mile becoming the first Penguin since Austin McLean in 2015 to win the event.
Freshman Dakari Carter won the 60m dash, marking the sixth straight year and eight out the last nine years that a Penguin has won the event. The Bedford Heights, Ohio native was also first in the 200m dash, extending YSU's win streak in the event to four.
Collin Harden scored 19 points across three events. The senior won his first 60m hurdles title and helped push the Penguins' win streak in the event to five straight years. Harden also finished as the runner-up in the 400m and was eighth place in the 200m.
Freshman Jakari Lomax won the triple jump title and become the first Penguin in school history to win the event at the league meet.
Seniors Brandon Orlando and Dom Westbay took the top two spots in the shot put. Orlando captured the first shot put title for the Penguins since 2017 and the ninth title all-time.
Sophomore Wyatt Lefker helped extend the Penguins' winning streak in the pole vault to three straight years.
Graduate transfer Ben Gutzky and sophomore Zach Gehm took the top two spots in the weight throw. Getzky became the first Penguin to capture a title in the event since Connor Neu in 2016.
Junior Daiquain Watson broke his own school record in the long jump with a mark of 7.49m on his way to a second place finish in the event.
YSU scored 25 points in the shot put, 24 in the pole vault, 21 in the 60m dash, 20 in the weight throw, 19 in the 200m and 18 in the long jump.
The Penguins had three of the top four finishers in the shot put, pole vault and 60m.
Brian Gorby was named the Coach of the Year for the fifth straight year and seventh time overall
Dakari Carter was named the Freshman of the Year on the track
Women's Notes
The Penguins fell to as far as third in the team standings on Day Two, but the sprinters helped us ultimately score 183 points to beat Oakland by 33.
The sprinters accounted for a third of the team's points with 67 accumulated across the 60m, 200m and 400m.
Senior Jaliyah Elliott won the 60m dash for the third consecutive year and became just the fourth sprinter in league history to be a three-time champion in the event. Elliott also extended YSU's win streak in the 60m to six straight years.
Less than 24 hours after breaking her own school record in the 200m, Elliott did it again on her way to a first place in the event with a time of 23.66 seconds. Elliott's victory in the 200m also pushed the Penguins win streak to 10 consecutive years.
Sophomore Olivia Jones won the pentathlon for the second straight year and she broke her own school record by scoring 3681 points.
Freshman Alivia Bentley took first the shot put marking the 10th consecutive year and 15 out the last 16 years that a Penguin has won the event.
The Penguins had the top four finishers in the 60m and 200m dashes
YSU had runner-up finishes in the long jump, triple jump, mile and 800m
Elliott was named the Alfreeda Goff Indoor Track & Field Female Athlete of the Year
Jahniya Bowers was honored as the Freshman of the Year on the track
Alivia Bentley was named the Field Freshman of the Year
Brian Gorby recieved Coach of the Year for the fourth straight year and the eighth time overall
