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YSU cross country team 14th nationally
Senior Austin McLean leads pack
as Penguins reach new heights
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
YOUNGSTOWN
Austin McLean and his Youngstown State men’s cross country teammates are making history.
McLean, a senior, was eighth of 650 runners with a time of 24:52.68 in the All-Ohio Championships last week. His performance — and those of his fellow Penguins — have helped YSU surge to the 14th spot in the most most recent United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association rankings.
YSU has never been ranked higher. McLean and Penguins coach Brian Gorby say the team’s success is rooted in the runners’ approach to their sport and commitment to one another.
“When it comes to defining the word team, this group of guys is the definition of the word,” Gorby said.
McLean — a native of West Jefferson — said the YSU program is a second family for him. The runners are close because they share a common pursuit.
“All the guys want the same thing. We all have the same goals, the same dreams,” he said. “They push me to try my hardest. The team is like a home away from home.
“Coach Gorby is like a father figure and he’s there when the team is looking for that extra push and motivation.”
Gorby, a 1990 YSU graduate, is in his 22nd season coaching the Penguins’ cross country teams. Both the YSU men and women have been at their best the last few years under Gorby’s direction.
McLean placed third in the Horizon League Championship in 2014 as the YSU men had all seven runners place in the top 25.
“The team has really become what a team should be over the last four or five years,,” Gorby said. “They constantly work on improving whatever needs to be done. The boys strive to make the program better than it has been in the past. ... There is a lot of sacrifice the boys put into the team and seeing that pay off is a reward in itself.”
Gorby said the Penguins’ work ethic can lead to more success. Next up the Disney World Cross Country Classic on Saturday in Orlando, Fla. The Penguins have a history of second-place finishes there in recent years.
Gorby said a title at Disney World is within reach.
“The team just has to keep working as hard as they have been,” he said.
McLean’s season also has included an individual title at the Tommy Evans Invitational on Sept. 10 in Akron. The YSU football team tends to be in the sports spotlight on campus in the fall — especially this season under the direction of first-year coach and Youngstown native Bo Pelini — but McLean said that’s OK.
His efforts and those of the Penguins’ other runners do not go unnoticed.
“I couldn’t imagine anything better than the support I get from the Youngstown community and my own family,” said McLean, a nursing major.
After this weekend’s meet, YSU will compete in the Penn State National Invitational on Oct. 17 and the Horizon League Championships on Oct. 31. The Great Lakes NCAA Regional is Nov. 13.