7 YSU track athletes capture Horizon League indoor wins

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown State men’s and women’s track and field teams combined for seven event winners at the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships which concluded on Sunday at the WATTS.

The Penguins also had three specialty award recipients.

Winning events on Sunday were Katria Rettburg (high jump), Ciara Jarrett (200-meter dash), Jennifer Neider (shot put), John Seaver (shot put), Michael Davis (60-meter dash), Tarelle Irwin (200-meter dash) and Jay Jakovina (high jump).

Earning awards for their all-around performances were Jarrett (Most Outstanding Female Runner), Neider (Top Field Women’s Newcomer) and Jakovina (Top Field Men’s Newcomer).

The YSU women and men both placed third. The women scored 112 points and were just 7.5 points behind Milwaukee for second.

The men scored 78 points.

Rettburg won the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.67 meters. YSU’s Leanna Hartsough was second with a leap of 1.61 meters.

It was the third consecutive HL title for Rettburg who is just the third high jumper in conference history to win three consecutive indoor crowns in the event.

Jakovina had an impressive showing clearing 2.06 meters on his first attempt. UWM’s Nick Hughes passed at that height and neither jumper could clear 2.09 so Jakovina walked away with the title having cleared five consecutive heights on his first attempt.

The men’s shot put crew dominated the event taking three of the top four places. Seaver defended his shot put crown with a heave of 56-4.75 feet. Eric Vendemia was second at 50-10.75 feet and George Thomas was fourth (47-9.75).

Neider, a freshman, won with a throw of 14.18 meters while senior Alison Roth finished second with a heave of 13.89 meters.

In the women’s sprint events, Jarrett won the 200-meter dash and was second in the 60-meter dash. Jarrett stumbled at the start of the 60m, but regrouped and was able to finish second with a time of 7.67 seconds.

In the 200m, Jarrett breezed to her third straight title in the event in a time of 24.55 seconds. She is just the third runner to win three straight 200-meter dash crowns.

Nina Grambling finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.86 seconds.

Davis and Irwin both won events and had a top-three finish in their other event. Davis won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.86 seconds while Irwin was third at 6.91 seconds. In the 200m, Irwin was on top finishing at 21.64 seconds. In a tight bunch, Davis was second at 21.68 seconds.

Kendall Homan was third in the pentathlon with 3,153 points.