By Keon Edington / The Jambar
With top-five finishes and history-making performances, the Youngstown State University track and field team traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, and Boston to partake in both the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational and the John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 30-31.
Later, the Penguins traveled to Ashland and Ann Arbor, Michigan, to compete in the Jud Logan Light Giver Invitational and the Michigan Invitational on Feb. 7.
Sophomore Brandon Hutchinson added his name to program heptathlon history with his performance at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational, hosted by the University of Louisville.
Hutchinson scored a total of 5,088 points and became only the second athlete in school history to garner over 5,000 points during the event — after YSU alumnus Tim Holzapfel.
Hutchinson finished second in the 60-meter hurdle with a time of 8.13 seconds while coming home fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.01 seconds. Hutchinson also completed the 1000-meter heptathlon with a time of 3:27.06.
In the field events, Hutchinson finished second, fifth, seventh and 14th. He had a high jump of 1.88 meters, a long jump of 7.25 meters, a pole vault of 4.47 meters and a heptathlon shotput open of 10.48 meters.
Following Hutchinson’s historic run, sophomore Noah Crozier placed 11th in the men’s high jump and junior Connor Durig came home in 16th with both athletes posting 2.03-meter jumps apiece.
Shifting to the John Thomas Terrier Classic, the women took the track first in the 5000 meter. Junior Lillian Katsaras finished with an overall time of 17:35.90 as sophomore Megan Stafford crossed the finish line at 17:41.88. Senior Molly Hopple crossed shortly after with 17:42.86.
The men then took the track for the 800 meter. Junior Trenton Shutters posted his personal-best time of 1:50.84, while junior Jacob Puhalla finished at a time of 1:58.08. In the 3000 meter, sophomore Josh Jones came home with a time of 8:30.06 and sophomore Noah Johnson finished at 8:30.49.
At the Jud Logan Light Giver Invitational on Feb. 6, freshman Karis McElhaney took home first place in the women’s 800 meter with a time of 2:15.80.
Katsaras placed fifth in the women’s mile with a time of 5:04.86, as Stafford followed right behind in sixth with a time of 5:05.66. Hopple ran a time of 10:08.87 to place fifth in the 3000 meter race.
Two male Penguins competed in the mile run. Senior William Hanchosky finished with a time of 4:19.99, and Jones clocked in a time of 4:20.83.
During the Michigan Invitational, Durig won the men’s 400 meter with a personal-record time of 48.71.
In the men’s triple jump, freshman Brayden Green earned another win placing first in the top-three sweep for YSU. Green’s jump of 14.39 was followed by a jump of 13.89 meters from sophomores Aaron Beredinelli and Emmanuel Asabare, respectively.
Junior Lukas Long placed fourth in the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 5.11 meters. Crozier and freshman Isiah Barker placed third and fourth in the men’s high jump, respectively, with an equal jump of 1.95 meters.
Junior Jaylynn King and senior Grace Sparks had back-to-back finishes in the women’s weight throw. King placed fifth with a throw of 17.63 meters, while Sparks placed sixth with a toss of 17.62 meters.
The YSU track and field team will return to action as they head to Boston on Feb. 13-14 for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational.