Youngstown State men’s track and field team goes for fourth straight Horizon League outdoor title
The Youngstown State men’s track and field program eyes their fourth straight outdoor league title as they play host to the Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning on Friday at the Covelli Sports Complex and the YSU Throws Complex.
The Penguins play host to the league meet as the three-time defending champions after winning titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022. Last May at Oakland, the men’s program scored the 252 points, the second-highest point total in school history while winning an impressive 11 events – 100m, 110m hurdles, 800m, 1500m, discus, high jump, javelin, long jump, triple jump, pole vault and shot put. The Guins outscored second-place Milwaukee by 81 points. The men’s team enters conference weekend owning six league titles all coming since 2014.
This marks the fifth championship event hosted at YSU since 2014. The Guins have won the most recent four outdoor events held in Youngstown.
The three-day meet will commence on Friday at noon, getting underway with the first events of the decathlon along with the discus. The heptathlon begins at 12:30 p.m. while the javelin is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. Running events will begin at 7:20 p.m. with preliminary races of the 1500m run.
Action will resume Saturday at 9 a.m. with the final five events of the decathlon while the final three events of the heptathlon start at 9:30 a.m. Field events will begin at noon with the shot put and long jump. Saturday’s running events will feature preliminary heats beginning at 4 p.m., beginning with the 100m hurdles.
On Sunday, the triple jump and high jump open up the final day at 9 a.m. Running events are set to get underway with the finals of the 4x100m relay at Noon.
The Penguins return seven event winners from last year’s squad in Noah Drudy (javelin), Luke Laubacher (110m hurdles), Wyatt Lefker (pole vault), Jakari Lomax (triple jump), Dominic Perry (shot put), Zach Gehm (discus) and Tye Hunt (long jump).
Event breakdown
100m – Both Dom Data and Jalen Ghee will be making their Horizon League debuts. Data enters the meet with a top time of 10.75 seconds while Ghee is close behind at 10.76 seconds. Hunt was fifth in 100m in 2021 but did not run in the event last year.
200m – Again it will be Data’s and Ghee’s first appearance at the Horizon League Championships. Data ranks second in the league with a best time of 21.26 seconds.
400m – Nate Lewins and Ryan Laird both rank in the top six in the league in the event entering the league championships. Lewins has come on strong this spring and in his first year at YSU ranks third in the event (48.83 seconds). Laird has the sixth-fastest time entering the meet. At last year’s HL meet, he was sixth in the event with a time of 49.34 seconds and ran on the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
110m Hurdles – Luke Laubacher looks to defend his title in the event. Laubacher won his Horizon League debut last year in the event with a time of 14.37 seconds ahead of MKE’s Dane Nelson. Laubacher and Nelson rank 1-2 in the Horizon League entering the conference meet.
400m Hurdles – Freshman Harry Barton has come on strong throughout the spring and leads the Horizon League with a best time of 52.65 seconds which he ran on April 20 in Virginia. Barton jumped up to third on the YSU all-time list with his performance.
800m – The Guins will be well represented in the event with Trenton Shutters, Ty Coon, William Hanchosky, Riley Jackson and Mikel Lagaras all entered. Shutters lead the way as he makes his HL outdoor debut ranking third in the conference with a best time of 1:53.72. Only Lagaras returns from YSU’s lineup last year.
1500m – Tyler Clark, Coon and Jackson are set to run. Coon and Clark ran third and fourth in the event while Jackson ranks seventh. Coon and Clark both rank in the top seven in school history in the event. Jackson finished fourth at the 2022 league meet.
Steeplechase – Keegan Barnette and Chase Stewart will run in the event which caps off Saturday night. Barnette has the fastest time in the league by 13 seconds at 9:11. YSU’s top finish in the event last year was fifth.
5,000m – Ryan Meadows has the best time in the event by more than 20 seconds heading into Sunday’s competition. Coon, Clark, Barnette and Thomas Caputo will join Meadows in the final individual race of the meet.
10,000m – In Primetime on Friday, Meadows, and Caputo will be in action in the 10,000m run. Only one Penguin has run the race this spring. YSU had two top-eight finishes at last year’s meet.
Discus – Zach Gehm looks to repeat as the winner following an HL-record throw last year of 57.27m. He eclipsed his school record with a throw of 58.69m at the Jesse Owens Classic. Gehm will be joined by Zach Gray, Ryan Henry, Coleson Kertesz and Dante Mediati. Henry enters the league meet ranked second while Gray has the fourth-best throw and Mediati sits fifth.
Hammer Throw – Gehm, Austin Clay, Kertesz, Gray and Henry will throw the hammer. Gehm ranks third in the league with a best mark of 53.98m while Clay is seventh. Gehm finished second at last year’s meet.
Shot Put – Dominic Perry looks to become the fourth Penguin and fifth HL athlete to win three titles in a career. Perry won last year with a toss of 17.13m. This year, Perry has increased his career-best mark to 18.46m. Joining Perry in the shot are Gehm, Gray, Henry and Mediati. Henry is second in the league at 17.79m, Gray is fourth and Gehm is fifth.
Javelin – Noah Drudy goes for his third consecutive title in the javelin. He won last year’s with a throw of 65.95m and he has the second best mark in the league at 60.24m. His teammate, Weston McLain uncorked a school-record throw of 66.99m earlier this year. McLain was third at the 2022 HL Outdoor meet.
Pole Vault – Senior Wyatt Lefker is looking to become the first-ever Horizon League vaulter to win four straight titles. Lefker claimed his third consecutive meet win with a record of 5.25m last year. He ranks first in the league with a school-record clearance of 5.51m this year. Dorian Chaigneau makes his HL outdoor debut ranked second in the conference at 5.40m while freshman Blake Sifferlin is third at 5.06m.
Triple Jump – Jakari Lomax is looking to stand on top of the podium for the third straight time, which will be a Horizon League first in the event. Lomax can become the third three-time winner in the event, but none have won it in succession. He won last year with a then-school record mark of 15.49m. He has a top mark of 15.73m this year.
Long Jump – Tye Hunt goes for a repeat in the long jump after posting a winning mark of 7.45m last May at Oakland. He leads the HL this year with a best effort of 7.62m. Andrew Frank is in the HL lineup for the second straight year and ranks third in the conference with a personal-best effort of 7.21m. Lomax took second place for the Guins last year and will once again take part in the event. Laubacher will also be in the YSU lineup.
High Jump – Terron Taylor returns to defend his title in a deep event for the Guins. Taylor won last year with a leap of 2.07m. This year, Lonnie Harper has a team-leading and personal-best mark of 2.05m. Taylor and Mason Stephens rank in the top five in the event at 2.00m while Nathan Leskovac is right behind at 1.98m.
YSU athletes competing
Keegan Barnette (Steeplechase, 5,000m), Harry Barton (400m Hurdles, 4x100m, 4x400m), Thomas Caputo (10,000m, 5,000m) Dorian Chaigneau (pole vault), Tyler Clark (1500m, 5,000m), Austin Clay (Hammer throw), Ty Coon (1500m, 800m, 5,000m), Dom Data (100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m), Noah Drudy (javelin), Andrew Frank (long jump), Lawrence Gawell (pole vault), Zach Gehm (discus, shot put, hammer throw), Jalen Ghee (100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m), Zach Gray (discus, hammer throw, shot put), William Hanchosky (800m) Lonnie Harper (high jump), Ryan Henry (shot put, discus, hammer throw), Tye Hunt (long jump, 100m, 4x100m), Riley Jackson (1500m, 800m), Coleson Kertesz (shot put, discus, hammer throw), Mikel Lagaras (1500m, 800m), Ryan Laird (400m, 4x400m), Luke Laubacher (110m Hurdles, long jump), Wyatt Lefker (pole vault), Nathan Leskovac (high jump), Nate Lewins (400m, 4x400m), Jakari Lomax (triple jump, long jump), Weston McLain (javelin), Ryan Meadows (10,000m, 5,000m), Dante Mediati (hammer throw, shot put, discus), Dominic Perry (shot put), Trenton Shutters (800m, 4x400m), Blake Sifferlin (pole vault), Mason Stephens (high jump), Chase Stewart (Steeplechase) and Terron Taylor (high jump).
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