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Track and field stars named Athletes of the Year
By charles grove
youngstown
Youngstown State University celebrated the best student-athletes in the classroom and honored Conner Neu and Nina Grambling as the YSU/The Vindicator Male and Female Athletes of the Year for 2015-16 on Tuesday night.
Neu, a throwing specialist on the YSU track and field team, earned first-team All-America honors at this year’s 2016 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and is ranked in the top-five on the national level in the hammer throw as an outdoor event.
Neu placed eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw, launching the weight over 70 feet. This spring, so far Neu has reached 70.96 meters, or nearly 233 feet, in the hammer throw. Neu ranks fourth in the country in the event and he’ll almost certainly be a factor at the NCAA Track and Field Championships this June.
At the league level, Neu has won three consecutive Horizon Leauge weight throwing titles. Neu recently set a Horizon League record with a throw of 21.1 meters, or just over 69 feet.
Neu transferred to YSU after attending the University of Kentucky his freshman year as a discus specialist. But an injury and coaching change after his initial year eventually landed him with the Penguins.
“Going from a top Division I program to Youngstown, not to say we’re not good, but it’s different at a mid-major school because I feel like you get more individual attention for your accomplishments,” Neu said.
Upon hearing that he was being named Athlete of the Year, Neu said he was surprised even with his individual and team’s success, that a track and field athlete would take home the honor.
“It’s pretty cool to get recognized for all the hard work we do because track and field, even though we have a winning program here at YSU, I feel like the sport of track and field doesn’t get a lot of recognition because it’s trumped by football and basketball,” he said.
“So being the one guy out of all these athletes who gets Athlete of the Year is pretty humbling.”
Grambling is aleady working on her master’s degree in interdisciplinary communications. She has already earned 14 Horizon League track and field titles during her YSU career.
Grambling is 3 for 3 in 100-meter dash titles at the outdoor level and could win another one before her career is over. Grambling is also the two-time defending champion in the 200-meter dash and the long jump.
In terms of indoor success, Grambling is the first Horizon League runner to win the 60- and 200-meter dashes in consecutive years since Milwaukee’s Timeka Walker in 2006-07.
Grambling felt it was especially gratifying to win the award at a banquet where so many student-athletes were being awarded for their successes inside the classroom.
“It’s nice to have people notice your struggles behind the scenes that we all go through academically,” Grambling said. “It means a lot because I think a lot of times the student part of student-athlete is pushed under the rug.”
Grambling, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, said it was crucial to learn how to strike that balance between student and athlete.
“You definitely have to learn what resources you have, what responsibilities you have and what you can get help with,” Grambling said. “You can get help you but you have to put in the work as well.”