Four win Horizon track & field events

Special to The Vindicator

Lisle, Ill.

Four Youngstown State track and field athletes picked up individual titles as the Penguin women placed second and the men were third at the Horizon League outdoor track and field championships which concluded on Sunday.

The women had their two-year title run snapped by Milwaukee. The Panthers outdistanced the Penguins by a score of 217-120.

Three individuals picked up titles for YSU — Danielle Curry (shot put), Samantha Hamilton (steeplechase) and Jen Grayson (high jump) . In the shot put, Curry, a junior, won with a toss of 14.17 meters. Just a freshman, Hamilton won the steeplechase (11 minutes, 7.72 seconds). Grayson, a senior, won the high jump (1.63 meters) in her final event.

On the men’s side, thrower Aaron Merrill picked up an individual crown in the shot put (17.42 meters) and finished second in the hammer throw (53.75).

YSU placed third with 96 points to finish behind Milwaukee (174) and UIC (107).

SOFTBALL

Valparaiso, Ind.

Freshman Vicky Rumph tied a school mark with four hits and YSU collected 14 as a team, but squandered a five-run lead, losing 9-8 to Valparaiso in eight innings on Sunday.

The Penguins (14-34, 6-15 HL) owned an 8-4 lead with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Crusaders (32-16, 12-6) got three straight singles and a three-run homer to tie the score at 8-8.

In the bottom of the eighth, a bases-loaded walk drove in the game-winning run.

Jordan Ingalls hit a three-run homer for YSU and sophomore Kristen Philen had a two-run single.

Haley Thomas also homered for the Penguins, her eighth.