Youngstown State’s track and field squads are in Indianapolis this weekend for the Horizon League outdoor championships. Both the women’s and men’s teams will be looking to dethrone Milwaukee, which has dominated the men’s side and been a long-time rival for the YSU women.
YSU was third behind Milwaukee and UIC last year in the men’s standings.
YSU will bring some experience to the meet, with 11 seniors on the roster.
Adam Kagarise is one of those upperclassmen. He was third in the 400 meters last year.
Sophomore Michael Davis is the Penguins’ best chance for a win in the sprinting events. Davis has the best 100-meter dash (10.60 seconds) and second-best 200 time in the league.
Freshman Martin Solomon is a contender in the hurdles with the top time in the 400 and the second-best mark in the 110.
YSU’s top throwers are Bobby Grace and Jon Seaver, who have the league’s two best marks in the shot put.
Grace won the shot put at the league indoor meet in February, and he also ranks in the top five in the discuss and hammer throw. Cassano ranks third in the discus and Caleb Schwan is third in the hammer.
The women’s team will rely on a much younger group, with only a handful of seniors on the roster.
Sophomore Samantha Hamilton and seniors Alisha Anthony and Lyndsie Hall bring championship titles to the meet.
Hamilton won the steeplechase as a freshman in 2010, while Anthony won the triple jump in 2008 and 2009, and Hall won the javelin in 2009.
Freshman Ciara Jarrett is top-ranked in the 100 (11.68) and the 200 (24.87). Hamilton is second in the steeplechase, while sophomore Nichol Pachol is third in 400 hurdles.
In the high jump, freshman (and Horizon indoor champion) Katrina Rettburg has the conference’s top mark.
Anthony, who has never won an outdoor long jump title, has had the longest leap this year by .10 meters. She is ranked second in the triple jump.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Griffith, who was runner-up at last year’s outdoor meet, won the indoor event and has the longest toss of nearly a half-meter in the shot put. Griffith also has the top hammer throw in the conference.
In the other throwing events, Melanie Prelac has the top distance in the league and is coming off a second-place finish in 2010 in the javelin; while in the discus sophomore Alison Roth, who was second last year, has the top mark in the league this season. Teammate Kaicee Kubicina is second and Griffith is fourth.
