YSU roundup

TRACK AND FIELD

Penguins still in front in Horizon League meet

ROCHESTER, MICH.

Both the Youngstown State men’s and women’s track and field team’s maintained their leads at the Horizon League Championships on Saturday. Three women’s athletes and a pair of men picked up titles on day two.

Winning events on Saturday were Hannah Ropp (pole vault), Nina Grambling (long jump), Jennifer Neider (shot put), Ryan Booth (shot put) and Eric Rupe (steeplechase).

In the team races, the women have 88 points while Valparaiso is second with 49, Wright State third with 32, Detroit fourth at 38 and Milwaukee fifth with 34. The men have 78 points, Valparaiso is second with 58, Milwaukee third with 43 and UIC is fourth with 27.

Ropp, a senior, won the pole vault at the Horizon League Championships in her last attempt. Ropp, who’s previous-best finish was fifth in 2013, cleared a height of 3.50 meters to win. She tied her own school record which she set back in March of 2013. Sarina Mauerman finished fourth clearing a height of 3.20m.

Grambling won the eighth championship of her career — indoor and outdoor — with a jump of 5.61 meters to defeat Milwaukee’s Alisha Harper who had a 5.59m with a tail wind of 3.3. Grambling, who won the event last year with a distance of 5.54m, had a head wind of 1.8 mph on her attempt. Also in the event, Ellie Pollock was fourth and Savannah Osborne was fifth.

Neider won her second straight Horizon League title in impressive fashion with a throw of 14.49 meters. She won the event by .43 meters. In the prelims, she tied her personal-best and set a Horizon League Championships record with a throw of 14.51m. She had clinched the title entering her final attempt before uncorking a throw that was .02 off her career best.

In the high jump, the Penguins took second, fourth and sixth. Leading the way was Chenera Lacey who was second clearing the bar at 1.69 meters. Lacey eclipsed the height on her third attempt while Valparaiso’s Jazmin Taylor earned the win by clearing the bar at 1.69m on her first try. Lacey and Taylor missed all three attempts at 1.72m. Finishing fourth was Mackenzie Sturtz at 1.63m while Leanna Hartsough was sixth at 1.60m.

In the lone other final on Saturday, Brittany Stockmaster was third in the steeplechase with a time of 11:22.67 while Libby Rogenski was sixth at 12:09.02.

Grambling qualified with the top time in the 100m dash at 11.89 seconds as Taylor Thompkins qualified third with a time of 12.22 seconds. In the 200m, Grambling posted the second-fastest time at 24.72 seconds while Jennifer Shiley was third with a 25.27. Thompkins qualified fifth with a 25.38.

In the 100m hurdles, Amber Eles and Taylor McDonald advanced. McDonald also reached the finals in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.89. Shiley was second again, this time in the prelims of the 400m (57.55 seconds) while Jayme Ritchie also advanced with a time of 59.62 seconds.

Rupe and Austin McLean finished one-two in the men’s steeplechase. Rupe had a time of 8:58.52 to win the event for the first time in his career. McLean, the 2014 Horizon League Champion, ran a time of 8:59.48.

Booth, who has improved throughout the outdoor season, had a toss of 17.54 meters on his second attempt to win the shot put by 0.37 meters. His throw was the fourth-longest in school history and Booth’s best effort entering Saturday this year was 16.52m. Placing fourth was Jacob Chiclowe with a throw of 16.02m.

The final day of competition starts at 10 a.m. today with the hammer throw, triple jump and high jump. The running finals all start at noon.

BASEBALL

Golden Grizzlies even series against Penguins

NILES

After YSU won Friday’s game with a walk-off single in extra innings, the Penguins fell 6-1 in the second game of a three game series with Oakland on Saturday afternoon at Eastwood Field.

Oakland starting pitcher Aaron Dehn scattered seven hits and did not allow an earned run in the complete-game victory, and the Golden Grizzlies scored five of their six runs in the fifth inning.

The Penguins scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Frank Califano reached base on a fielding error and advanced to second on a throwing error by the pitcher on a pickoff attempt. Califano then moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Jason Shirley’s RBI single to right field.

Dehn did not allow more than one hit in any inning, and YSU had two runners on base at the same time just once. He walked two and struck out just one in earning his second win. Josh North took the loss for the Penguins.

SOFTBALL

Dowd hits 11th homer, but Penguins drop two

VALPARAISO, IND.

Sophomore Sarah Dowd tied the single-season home run record with 11 and went 4-for-8 on the day, but YSU was swept in a doubleheader by Valparaiso, 7-5, 9-5, at the VU Softball Field.

The Penguins fall to 18-31 overall and 7-13 in the Horizon League while the Crusaders improve to 15-33 and 9-11 in league play.

Staff reports