Feb. 27, 2009

Penguins Set to Compete at Horizon League Championships This Weekend at DePauw

    Youngstown -- The Youngstown State track and field squad will attempt to sweep the men’s and women’s conference titles for the first time since 1997 when they travel to Greencastle, Ind., to take part in the Horizon League Championships on Saturday and Sunday at DePauw University.
    The women’s squad will look to defend their indoor title from a year ago and win their seventh conference title since 2004. While the men will try to capture its first since the 2003 indoor season as they have finished conference runners-up at five of the last six championship meets.

    "Team health at championship time is always a big key to success," Head Coach Brian Gorby said. "The men keep creeping closer to 100 percent everyday, while the women are at about 80 percent."
    The women's squad has a strong core as it  features 18 upperclassmen as well as returning eight underclassmen from a year ago. Among the members of the squad there are nine individual conference champions.

    At the 2008 indoor Championships, Alisha Anthony claimed first in the long jump and Jen Grayson was victorious in the high jump.  In addition, Breanne Romeo (track) and Danielle Curry (field) were named Newcomers of the Year.

    Curry was the lone freshman at the meet to win an individual title as she was victorious in the shot put with a distance of 44-4 and added a fifth-place finish in the weigh throw. Romeo placed second in the 400m, seventh in the 200m, and was the anchor for the squad's 4x400m team that finished in second by .01 seconds.

    The men feature a veteran squad that returns 27 athletes from a year ago. The Guins will look to overcome Milwaukee, who they finished second to a year ago.

    "We have great respect for Milwaukee and understand that they will bring it like a championship team until the end," Gorby said. " We have to be able to match their intensity and resiliency."

    Currently, Aaron Merrill is the only Penguin on the men's roster to have an individual conference crown to his name. Merrill's crown came last season at the Indoor Championship where he took first in the shot put by breaking the school and meet records with a distance of 57-3 3/4.

    The men's roster does however return solid performers from a year ago at the indoor conference championship.

    Eric Baltputnis placed third in the 200m, Adam Kagarise finished fourth in the 400m, Harold Jones was third in the 800m, Shayne York was third in the long jump and John Pallini finished second in the shot put.
    In January, freshman distance runner Kip Tisia joined the program and made an immediate impact setting school marks in the 3,000, 5,000 and DMR tandem.

    "With the school records going down in every event, that reinforces that this is the most talented team in our 20 year history to represent YSU going into the Horizon League Championships," explains Gorby.
     The heptathlon and pentathlon start at 9 a.m. both days, with the majority starting after 2:30 p.m. On Sunday field events start at 11 a.m. and preliminary running events begin at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, field events start at 11 a.m. and finals of the running events start at noon.

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 23 out of 24 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. Up until this year the Bulldogs have swept the meet every year since 2002. The Bulldogs’ men’s squad claimed another cross championship in 2008 and now have won 11 straight titles. The Butler women were overtaken at the 2008 league meet by Loyola, who claimed their fifth title, but it's first since it joined the league in 2001.

A Winning Tradition
    The track and field program has enjoyed tremendous success under Coach Gorby since 1994. The Penguins have captured 16 conference championships since winning the 1994 Mid-Continent Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship. Eight of those wins have been Horizon League titles since YSU joined the league after the 2001 season.