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A weekend to savor
No championships, but memories to last a lifetime
By JON MOFFETT
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State track and field teams entered the Horizon League meet by following the adage of hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Recent success by the Penguins gave the team confidence for lofty goals. But a slew of injuries, and the almost strong emergence of the Wisconsin-Milwaukee team, gave them realistic expectations.
“From a realistic standpoint, going in we knew that we needed to have a perfect performance at the meet if we were going to win,” said coach Brian Gorby, “but we had a couple [athletes] who were injured and things like that.”
The YSU women’s team was the defending back-to-back conference champions entering the meet. The men’s team was the runner-up both years.
This year, Milwaukee swept the meet. The women’s team tallied 217 points while the men’s team scored 174. The Penguins scored 120 and 96, respectively.
The Penguins did have four athletes win individual events. Seniors Aaron Merrill and Jen Grayson each defended their conference titles in the shot put and high jump, respectively. Junior Danielle Curry did the same for her shot put record. And newcomer Samantha Hamilton, a freshman, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
“There’s not shame in being No. 2, but for us there is,” Grayson said. “Our mindset is we should be wining every year.”
The Penguins faced their biggest hurdle before even setting foot on the track.
Senior jumper Alisha Anthony, who has captured numerous conference awards in her career, aggravated a back injury and was unable to compete. Gorby said Anthony would’ve scored 30 points had she won her event.
“We didn’t have our best athlete, so right there we knew we were in trouble,” Grayson said.
The team also lost 14 seniors from last year, Gorby said, and relied heavily on a youth-laden squad. Their inexperience was evident as the team finished in fifth place at the indoor conference meet in February.
“Looking at the future, I can’t really say we’re disappointed,” Gorby said. “It’s more or less a lack of experience than that of talent. And going from fifth place to second is good. The final step is going from second to first.”
Gorby said the young players on the team should help continue the team’s winning ways — eight consecutive years with a top-two finish, he said. And younger athletes, such as Hamilton, will be able to build on this year’s experience.
Hamilton, who was a track and cross country standout at Jackson-Milton High, bettered her personal record by 17 seconds in only her third attempt at the race.
“To see a local girl come in and win against the mighty Butler is something we’re excited about,” Gorby said.
Accolades are nothing new to the 19-year-old Hamilton. A four-year letter winner in both track and cross country for the Blue Jays, Hamilton was named second-team all conference.
“I couldn’t have been happier. I’ve had a pretty big freshman year, and I’ve been very thankful and fortunate,” she said. But getting a league title as a freshman is so important to me.”
Hamilton said the tough competition will be better for the team in the long run.
“You’re going in there, and you’re competing against some of the top girls in the nation,” she said. “You definitely go in there knowing they’re going to bring it and be good competition. Knowing that you’ve got those girls behind you just pushes you that much more.”
Hamilton said she was often one of the better runners in high school, no matter the meet. She said she hopes her college days are just as productive.
“Every time you go out there you have a chance to better yourself,” she said. “At every race you have girls that are better than you and just as good as you. I came from such a small school, and we never had the numbers to compete. So going to a Division I college and competing like that is just amazing.”
And while Gorby is focusing on who will return to the team next year, he said it’s still hard to think about those who won’t be coming back.
Grayson said she was in tears after winning the high jump. Not because of the win, but because it was the last event of her career.
“It’s been a long road. I’ve been doing this for 12 years, and it was a little bittersweet,” the 23-year-old Cortland native said. “I actually cried, not bawled, but teared up, after my event. It’s going to be hard to not have to worry about track practice.”
Similar to Hamilton, Grayson’s Rockets team was small and she was often the focal point.
“To come into college and have a team behind me, to win with a team and celebrate with a team is something you’ll never forget.”
Grayson said the hardest thing she’ll have to leave behind is the camaraderie and competition. She agreed that the team has a solid core for years to come.