May 9, 2008

Anthony, Romeo Lead Penguins to Horizon Sweep with Outdoor Title

    Youngstown -- Youngstown State's Alisha Anthony and Breanne Romeo were named the top newcomers, and the Penguins had a solid all-around effort to capture the Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field crown on campus Friday.
    Anthony won the triple jump with a school-record mark off 39-4 and finished second in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 18-11 1/4. Romeo was one-hundredth of a second from tying the Horizon League record in the 400m, turning in a first-place time of 55.36. The freshman from Boardman, Ohio, also finished sixth in the 200m and ran the first leg of YSU's champion 4x400m-relay.
    Head coach Brian Gorby was named the Women's Coach of the Year for the 15th time inhis career after leading the program to its seventh league title in the last five years.
    Bethany Anderson added a win in the hammer on Thursday, and both of YSU's women's relays were victorious. The Penguins defeated Milwaukee 194-178 while Valparaiso finished third in its first year in the league with 74 points.
    Freshman Jerrill Hall was named the Men's Field Newcomer of the Year after placing second in the high jump (6-6 3/4) and sixth in the long jump (22-1 3/4). The Penguins men's squad earned the runner-up finish for the second time in three years, coming 14 points shy of Milwaukee for the title.
    Both squads led after the first day of competition, but Milwaukee made a strong run for both titles on day two. The YSU actually held the lead longer than the women before Milwaukee rallied to outscore YSU 46-10 in the 200m and triple jump in the final hour. YSU and Milwaukee traded the lead throughout the afternoon in the women's competition before Anthony's big win in the triple jump and strong performances in the 400m hurdles and the 200m lifted the Penguins to a sweep of the indoor and outdoor titles for the first time since 2005.
    Harold Jones and Aaron Merrill joined Shayne York as individual champions for the men's squad. Jones held off teammate R.D. Goodright to win the 800m with a personal-best time of 1:52.76. Merrill led three Penguins in the top four in the shot put with a winning heave of 55-8 1/4.
    Joining Romeo on the winning 4x400m relay were Emily Wollet, Yandeh Joh and Kari Kreutzfeld. Anthony and Kreutzfeld teamed up with Katie Betts and Darcelle Formby to win the 4x100m relay.
    Earning second-team all-conference honors with runner-up finishes were Anthony in the 100m (12.37), Katy Wells in the 100m hurdles (14.89), Joh in the 400m hurdles (1:04.38), Jen Grayson in the high jump (5-3), Anthony in the long jump, Anderson in the shot put (43-7) and the discus (139-6) and Alexis Hall in the hammer (160-7).
    Second-place finishers for the men included Adam Kagarise in the 400m (47.89), Goodright in the 800m (1:53.08), Jake Lape in the steeplechasae (9:43.43), Hall in the high jump and Joe Lahmon in the hammer (187-10) and the javelin (168-10). Jones, Goodright, Kagarise and Mike Perri ran in the runner-up 4x400m relay.
    All six of YSU's individual champions and the two winning relays earned a berth to compete at the NCAA Mideast Regional on May 30-31 at the University of Arkansas.