Feb. 29, 2008

Penguins Embark on Horizon League Title Quests This Weekend at Kent State

    Youngstown -- Youngstown State will attempt to sweep the men’s and women’s conference titles for the first time since 1997 when it hosts the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at the Kent State Field House.
    The women’s squad will be looking to win its fifth conference title since 2004 while the men will try to capture its first since the 2003 indoor season.
    Both squads certainly have the pedigree to make a title run with 13 upperclassmen on the women’s squad and 12 on the men’s squad. This year’s rosters are deeper and more well-rounded than previous years, which means both teams have a good shot to take home the first-place trophy.
    "Our team depth is one of the main keys to our success," head coach Brian Gorby said. "That will really help us with it being a two-day meet. Our group is going to be extremely strong. We have that Youngstown mentality that we're a tough group."
    "We've also got some really quality people in some events and a great group of seniors. Our kids embrace the opportunity to compete for a championship and keep our tradition going."
    There is also a definite local flavor on this year’s track and field team with 15 members of the women’s team and 17 members of the men’s team hailing from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. With such a large local contingent on the squads, Gorby hopes that area fans will show their support.
    "Based on projections we could win or lose by about 15 points, so it's going to be huge to get the fans out to support us."
    The women’s squad also has the benefit of seven former conference champions on its roster. Senior thrower Bethany Anderson is a 10-time conference champion, Yandeh Joh has won five titles and Katie Betts and Kari Kreutzfeld have won three apiece. Darcelle Formby, Jennifer Roman and Alisha Anthony have also been conference champions once. At the 2007 indoor league meet, Anderson won the shot put and weight throw, Anthony won the long jump, Joh won the 60-meter hurdles and Kreutzfeld won the 400-meter dash.
    The men’s squad has two members who have won individual conference crowns during the outdoor season, but no current Penguin has been to the top of the podium during the indoor circuit. Both individual wins came in 2006 with Martin Vieth winning the high jump and Aaron Merrill winning the shot put as freshmen.
    The women's team has a student-athlete seeded third or better in 10 different events, including holding the top seed in four events. Joh is the top seed in two events, holding the top incoming point total in the pentathlon and the fastest time in the hurdles. Anderson is the top-ranked weight thrower, and freshman Breanne Romeo holds the fastest time in the 400-meter dash.
    The men have a top-three seed in eight different events, and a Penguin is the top seed in two events. R.D. Goodright and Harold Jones are the top two seeds in the 800-meter run, and Merrill and John Pallini hold the top two spots in the shot put. YSU's distance medley relay also has the best seed time by 19 seconds.
     The heptathlon and pentathlon start at 9 a.m. both days, but the bulk of the events begin in the afternoon. On Saturday, field events start at 3:30 p.m. and preliminary running events begin at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, field events start at noon and finals of the running events start at 1 p.m.

Scouting The Competition
    Milwaukee has become YSU’s biggest rival in track and field, and like many championships recently, this weekend’s title quest will likely be a battle between the Penguins and Panthers. Dating back to 2003, the two schools teams have combined to win 19 out of 20 possible conference crowns (counting men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor). In the cross country season and distance events, Butler has emerged as the Horizon League’s top program. The Bulldogs’ men’s and women’s teams won the league titles at the championship meet on Oct. 27. In fact, they have swept the meet every year since 2002, and but Butler men have won 10 straight titles.

KSU Field House Has Become Second Home
    Even though the Kent State Field House is more than 40 miles from the Youngstown State campus, it has become a sort of “home away from home” for the Penguins. They competed in three meets at Kent State earlier this year, including this past weekend. They also travel to the facility to practice several nights a week. YSU hosted the indoor conference championship at Kent State in 2006. Both teams finished second, and two individuals earned special honors for their performances. One of those was Betts, who was named the Running Newcomer of the Year.

A Winning Tradition
    The track and field program has enjoyed tremendous success under Coach Gorby since 1994. The Penguins have captured 14 conference championships since winning the 1994 Mid-Continent Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship. Six of those wins have been Horizon League titles since YSU joined the league after the 2001 season. In track and field teams have won 10 titles since the 1996 Mid-Con women’s indoor championship.