Seven Penguins Win Titles; Three Earn Honors at HL Championships

by YSU

Monday, Feb 25, 2013 1:51 pm

The Youngstown State men's and women's track and field teams combined for seven event winners and had three specialty award recipients at the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships which concluded on Sunday at the WATTS.

Winning events on Sunday were Katria Rettburg (high jump), Ciara Jarrett (200-meter dash), Jennifer Neider (shot put), John Seaver (shot put), Michael Davis (60-meter dash), Tarelle Irwin (200-meter dash) and Jay Jakovina (high jump).

Earning awards for their all-around performances were Jarrett, the Most Outstanding Female Runner, Neider, the Top Field Women's Newcomer and Jakovina, the Top Field Men's Newcomer.

Rettburg and Jakovina started the day off on the right note for the Penguins. Rettburg won the women's high jump with a leap of 1.67 meters. YSU's Leanna Hartsough was second with a leap of 1.61 meters. It was the third consecutive HL title for Rettburg who is just the third high jumper in conference history to win three consecutive indoor crowns in the event.

Jakovina had an impressive showing clearing 2.06 meters on his first attempt. UWM's Nick Hughes passed at that height and neither jumper could clear 2.09 so Jakovina walked away with the title having cleared five consecutive heights on his first attempt.

The men's shot put crew dominated the event taking three of the top four places. Seaver defended his shot put crown with a heave of 56-4.75 feet. Eric Vendemia was second at 50-10.75 feet and George Thomas was fourth (47-9.75).

Following the men's solid performance were the women. Neider, a freshman, wins with a throw of 14.18 meters while senior Alison Roth finished second with a heave of 13.89 meters.

In the women's sprint events, Jarrett won the 200-meter dash and was second in the 60-meter dash. Jarrett stumbled at the start of the 60m, but regrouped and was able to finish second with a time of 7.67 seconds. In the 200m, Jarrett breezed to her third straight title in the event in a time of 24.55 seconds. She is just the third runner in HL history to win three straight 200-meter dash crowns.

Additionally for the women in the sprints, Nina Grambling finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.86 seconds and Alexis Washington was fourth clocking in at 7.74 seconds.

Davis and Irwin both won events and had a top-three finish in their other event. Davis won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.86 seconds while Irwin was third at 6.91 seconds. In the 200m, Irwin was on top finishing at 21.64 seconds. In a tight bunch, Davis was second at 21.68 seconds.

Other running highlights for the Penguins was a fourth-place finish by Anna Pompeo in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:12.40; a fifth-place finish by Clay Febus in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.32 seconds and Nicole Pachol was fifth in the 400m with a time of 56.55 seconds.

To wrap up the meet, the YSU women took second in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:48.24. Also, Kendall Homan was third in the pentathlon with 3,153 points.

In the team race, Loyola won its first ever titles on both the men's and the women's side. The Ramblers snapped Milwaukee's nine-year run on the men's side and the Panthers' four-year title run on the women's side.

The YSU women and men both placed third. The women scored 112 points and were just 7.5 points behind Milwaukee for second. The men had 78 points.

No comments posted...