Jan. 11, 2007

Penguins Begin Quest to Reclaim Indoor Track Titles Saturday

    Youngstown -- The Youngstown State track and field teams will open their campaign to reclaim the Horizon League indoor titles Saturday at the Doug Raymond Invitational.
    The meet will be one of seven prior to the league championship on Feb. 24 and one of six held in northeast Ohio. YSU's women's squad will be looking to win its third title in the past four seasons while the men are hoping to build on their second-place finish in the league last season.
    A large part of Youngstown State's recent success stems from having several of the Horizon League's top sprinters and a solid group of distance runners.

Women's Sprints/Hurdles
    Four Penguins were in the finals of the women's 60m dash last season, and there were at least two YSU runners in the finals of every sprinting event. All but one of those sprinters return to join an impressive group of hurdlers.
    Sophomore Cortland, Ohio, native Katie Betts headlines the group of returners after being named the Horizon League Running Newcomer of the Year during both the indoor and outdoor seasons last year. At the indoor championship, she placed third in the 60m and 200m and anchored the second-place 4x400m relay. She'll be joined by two-event finalist Ashley Oliver, 400m runner-up Yandeh Joh, Darcelle Formby, Kari Kreutzfeld and Emily Wollet. Newcomer Alisha Anthony showed she could also make an immediate impact after being YSU's fastest 60m sprinter at the Golden Flash Gala in December.
    Another Cortland native in Jen Grayson will join Joh as the top returning threats in the hurdles. Grayson finished fourth in the 60m hurdles while Joh placed one spot back in fifth at the league championship. Both student-athletes will also compete in the pentathlon.

Men's Sprints/Hurdles
    The Penguins will be without their top two sprinters from a year ago, but they return four finalists and will again look to solid contributions from members of the YSU football team.
    Da'Michael Horne is the top returning sprinter with a sixth-place finish in the 400m at the league meet, and Clarence Howell, Scott Streiner and Justin Carolyne were all finalists in sprint events. Along with Horne, football players Dorian Chenault, Chris Goffer, T.J. Peterson, Antuan Rose and Tyler Morton are all on the roster. Jeremiah Wright, who finished fifth in the 60m at conference last season, suffered a knee injury during football season.
    Jason Greenamyer returns as the top hurdler after finished sixth in the conference last season.
    Local recruits Eric Baltputnis (Salem, Ohio) and Adam Kagarise (Canfield, Ohio) will also add depth to the sprints.
   
Women's Distance
    YSU struggled with depth in the distance events last year but will get a lift from solid recruits who already have collegiate experience from cross country season.
    Shantel Jackson is the top returning finisher with a fourth-place effort in the 800m at conference a year ago, and Genevieve Jerome finished seventh in the mile. Senior Marielle Glanz placed 11th in the 800m after battling through injuries.
    Dawn Goodwin, Lisa Lee, Jen Roman and Laura Yamsek are all coming off of solid campaigns in cross country. Lee was YSU's second finisher at the Horizon League Cross Country Championship in October, and Roman was the fifth scorer. Madelyn McGhee and Amy Moore were also key contributors  during cross country and will be counted on again in the distance events.

Men's Distance
    Senior Nick Kruse returns as the top distance runner while R.D. Goodright and J.D. Sheppard will look to lead the middle distance group.
    Kruse was the top YSU runner during cross country season and placed fourth in the mile at last year's indoor conference championship. He'll be joined by sophomore Dan Nemergut and freshmen Justin Dickman and Sean Finnerty. All three were solid contributors during cross country season, and Dickman was the top finisher in the first meet.
    Goodright was the Horizon League runner-up in the 1,000m last season as a sophomore and was part of YSU's 4x400m and distance medley relays. Sheppard and Harold Jones finished fifth and sixth in the 800m, and both joined Goodright in the distance medley relay.

    Youngstown State's field performers will be previewed tomorrow.