Track and Field Programs Host Horizon League Meet This Weekend

by YSU

Thursday, Feb 21, 2013 12:42 pm

The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams will be hoping for a strong performance at the Horizon League Track and Field Championship which takes place Saturday and Sunday at the WATTS.

Events on Saturday are set to start at 2:30 p.m. In the field, the men's and women's pole vault, men's and women's long jump and weight throw are scheduled for Saturday. On the track, the finals for the 5,000-meter run and DMR as well as the prelims for the 60-meter hurdles, 400-meter dash, 60-meter dash, 800-meter run and 200-meter dash will be held.

On Sunday, finals for all of Saturday's qualifying events will be held, in addition to the shot put, triple jump, mile run, 3,000-meter run and 4x400-meter relay finals. The high jump begins Sunday's action at 9 a.m. with the triple jump and shot put set to begin at 11 a.m. All running finals are set to start at 1 p.m.

The pentahlon and heptathlon begin on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The final three events of the heptathlon are set for Sunday at  9 a.m.

Admission is $10 each day for adults while students are $5 and children 5-and-under are free. Horizon League institution students are free with a valid ID.

The women have historically placed in the top two at the indoor meet. Last year, the Penguins were runner up to Milwaukee. The Panthers won with 137 points while the Penguins came in second with 111.

YSU has won three indoor titles with the last coming in 2008. Milwaukee has won the last four HL meets and six of the past seven. Overall the Panthers have won seven league titles, all since 2000. YSU has been the runner-up on six occasions since joining the league.

Ciara Jarrett will be looking for her third consecutive title in the 200-meter dash. In 2012 she won with a time of 24.68 seconds. In 2011 she posted a time of 24.75 seconds to take the title. She is bidding to become the first HL runner since Milwaukee's Nicole Frey (2001-03) to win three consecutive 200's.

In the 60-meter dash she was second as a sophomore (7.69 seconds) and as a freshman ( ).

The last runner to win both the 60 and 200 in the same HL meet was Milwaukee's Kelsey Conrad in 2009. YSU's Danielle Bolt picked up wins in both events in 2005.

Katrina Rettburg is the two-time defending high jump champion. Rettburg won with a leap of 1.70 meters as a sophomore in 2012 and 1.64 meters in 2011. The Penguins have won the last five high jump events at the indoor meet.

This year the Guins have set a new school mark in the 4x400-meter relay set at the WATTS on Feb. 2 (3:48.88).

The YSU men last hoisted the championship trophy in 2003, which was the school's first-ever Horizon League crown. Since that time Milwaukee has won nine consecutive indoor meets. The Penguins were second in four straight meets (2006-09), but have not finished better than third each of the past three meets.

For the men, John Seaver will look to defend his shot put title. Seaver won the 2012 title with a toss of 17.62 meters as the Penguins took four of the top five placings in the event. Three different YSU throws have won the event the past three meets.

George Thomas placed second in the weight throw in 2012 with a toss of 17.57 meters.

Dorian Davis will be in the hunt for the long and triple jump titles. In 2012 at the league meet, he jumped a new personal-best 7.14m in the long jump competition to place second.

Michael Davis will be trying to keep the title as the Horizon League's fastest man. Davis won the Horizon League Championship in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.87 seconds. It marked the third consecutive year that the winner ran under 6.9 seconds.

In the 200-meter dash, Davis placed second (21.76 seconds) while Tarelle Irwin was third (21.85 seconds).

Live scoring and video of the meet will be available on both days. Coverage on the Horizon League Network on Saturday starts at 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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