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Penguins on the run
youngstown
Anna Pompeo and Samantha Hamilton can still remember competing against each other in high school as runners at Poland and Jackson-Milton high schools.
Hamilton even has the pictures to prove it.
“Please don’t bring them out,” Pompeo begs.
The pair has nothing to be ashamed of, though.
Pompeo won the Bulldogs MVP in distance award and was an All-American Conference All-Star. Between track and cross country, Hamilton won eight Inter-Tri County League championships.
Together at Youngstown State, they earned First-Team Horizon League honors and were part of the conference cross country second-place team.
“We’ve always really had a strong track program, but for cross country this is the highest we’ve ever finished in YSU history,” Hamilton said. “Finishing runner-up to Butler, who is nationally known, is an accomplishment in itself.”
Hamilton placed third overall with a time of 19 minutes, six seconds, and Pompeo was fifth running a 19:32 at Squire Farm in Gates Mill.
Aside from that tandem, four other Valley natives run for the Penguins. Jionna Bodrick (Boardman), Katie Heney (Boardman), Jillian Smith (Canfield) and Christina Oles (Mooney) join two other Ohio residents and imports from British Columbia and Kenya.
“The local flavor adds more to a great program,” said YSU head coach Brian Gorby who has been at the helm for 17 years.
For the team, it’s hard to disagree.
“It’s a nice tradition to have friends you know coming into a tougher college atmosphere,” Pompeo said. “It’s been so comfortable.”
A notorious hotbed for distance running talent, Gorby has made it a point to recruit the Youngstown region when building his teams.
“It’s fulfilling,” he said. “We’ve had a great tradition year-in, year out for getting the top Northeast Ohio regional runners. We’re very fortunate to have it to go along with our own championship tradition.”
It’s quite a tradition with 17 championships and 34 runners-up in program history. The most rewarding part for Gorby may not be the hardware displayed in a case, he likes what he sees when his ruuners develop as athletes and people.
“It’s a tremendous situation to get these local girls stepping up and taking pride in their program,” Gorby said. “The improvement that they’ve shown in the last few years from coming in since high school is great. They make the whole coaching experience enjoyable.”
The next goal for the Penguins is a solid showing at the regional collegiate meet Saturday in Toledo, where they will face Butler again.
“It’s a very tough region,” Hamilton said. “A realistic goal would be to place top-20, a remarkable goal would be to place top-15.”
According to Gorby, they are already considered one of the top-60 teams in the nation.