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March 2, 2003
YSU Claims First Horizon League Championship in School
History
Milwaukee, Wis. --
The Youngstown State men's track and
field team captured the first
Horizon League Championship in
school history on Sunday afternoon
at the Klotsche Center on the campus
of UW-Milwaukee behind a complete
team attack and individual victories
from Eugene Harris and Kurt
Michaelis.
With the win, the Penguins claim their first league crown
since 1997 and bring home the first
Horizon League Championship in any
sport since YSU joined the league in
2001.
"This group shows
what heart can do for you," Head
Coach and Men's Coach of the Year
Brian Gorby said. "The seniors
who sacrificed the last four years
finally got a championship.
They weren't going to get denied."
Harris won both the 60-meter dash (7.02) and the 200 (22.29)
for the second consecutive year
while Michaelis earned a victory in
the mile (4:11.96).
"It feels really good to finally get the first championship
in the league," Harris said.
"We showed we can compete in the
league and hopefully more
championships will follow."
In the men's sprints and hurdles, Sherod Holmes finished just
.01 seconds behind Harris to place
second and finished fifth in the
200. Tyler Morton, Adam Lewis
and Alvin Shavers claimed the third
through fifth spots in the 60
hurdles.
Michaelis led the distance group with a victory in the mile,
a third-place finish in the 1,000
and a fourth-place finish in the
800. Nick Smith placed highly
in three events, finishing third in
the mile, fifth in the 800 and
eighth in the 1,000. Nick
Buzek added a third-place finish in
the 5,000.
"It's tough to explain how this feels," Michaelis said.
"We waited so long and for
everything to come together and for
it to happen my senior year is
unbelievable."
In the field, Nick Roberts finished third in the shot put and
fourth in the weight throw while
Jarrod Davis placed third in the
weight throw and fourth in the shot.
On the women's side,
Lissette Alamo broke the school
record in the long jump with a
distance of 19-3 1/4 to place second
while Delores Gaines broke her own
record in the weight throw with a
third-place heave of 54-7 1/2 to
lead the women to a fourth-place
finish.
Aaliyah Gillespie won the 60 hurdles with a league-record
time of 8.75 and turned in a
fifth-place finish in the 60 dash to
lead the sprints and hurdles.
Jeanna Cunningham added a
third-place finish in the 400 while
Leslie Johnson finished fifth.
Emily Schnitkey placed fifth in the mile, sixth in the 5,000
and seventh in the 3,000 to lead the
distance group while Lindsay Frontz
chipped in with a fifth place finish
in the 800.
In the field, Beth Hochstetler, Gaines and Marian Steele
claimed the third through fifth
spots in the shot put while Laura
Schatz placed third in the high jump
and seventh in the pole vault.
The men finished with 116 points to edge out Loyola (99) and
Detroit (91). Hosting UW-Green
Bay claimed the women's crown with
165 points. Detroit and Loyola
tied for second with 97 points while
YSU finished with 84.
The Penguins will continue their season when they travel to
South Bend, Ind. to compete in the
Alex Wilson Invitational on March 8. |
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