YSU ATHLETICS Friday’s results

Record eight headed to NCAA prelims

YOUNGSTOWN

A school-record eight Youngstown State men’s track and field athletes have advanced to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Round which will be held May 23-25 in Jacksonville, Fla. The event is being hosted by North Florida and Jacksonville Sports Authority at Hodges Stadium.

Competing for the Penguins are Ryan Sullivan (10,000 meters), Chad Zallow (110 hurdles), Collin Harden (400 hurdles), Wyatt Lefker (pole vault), Dom Westbay (shot put), Zach Gehm (discus), Jake Wilson (javelin) and Noah Drudy (javelin).

Zallow is the top-ranked qualifier for YSU, ranking 12th in the 110 hurdles. Harden is 15th in the 400 hurdles. Wilson ranks 22nd while Drudy is 28th in the javelin, Gehm is 31st in the discus, Westbay is 35th in the shot put, Sullivan is 37th in the 10,000 and Lefker is 47th in the pole vault.

Zallow is a four-time NCAA prelims qualifier while Harden is now a three-time competitor at the prelims. The six other Penguins are each first-time qualifiers.

Zallow, who has been a second-team Outdoor All-American the past two years in the 110 hurdles, enters the prelims with a top time of 13.70 seconds which he recorded at the Clyde Littfield Texas Relays back on March 30. Harden’s quickest time in the 400 hurdles came at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships on May 5 when finished in 51.01 seconds. Sullivan’s top performance in the 10,000 came at the N.C. State Raleigh Relays when clocked a time of 29:38.15 on March 29.

Wilson and Drudy’s furthest throws in the javelin were recorded at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships on May 3. Wilson’s top throw was 66.98 while Drudy recorded a mark of 65.86.

In the discus, Gehm’s school-record throw of 54.17 came on April 20 at the Ashland Alumni Open. Westbay’s top toss in the shot put of 17.75 came on April 27 at the Jesse Owens Relays. Lefker’s school-record mark in the pole vault is 5.01, which he recorded on May 10 at the Harrison Dillard Twilight.

Last year, Zallow won both of his heats in the 110 hurdles to advance to the NCAA Championships and ultimately finished 15th. Harden placed fourth in his heat of the 400 hurdles with a time of 52.35 seconds while finishing 30th overall in the event.

The 400 hurdles are set for Thursday at 5 p.m. and Friday at 7:15 p.m. The 10,000 semifinal is at 9:40 p.m. on Thursday. The 110 hurdles are set for Friday at 5 p.m. and May 25 at 7:20 p.m.

The pole vault is Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The javelin is Friday at noon and the discus gets under way at 4 p.m. The shot put is May 25 at 2:45 p.m.

Lopatka on Horizon All-Academic Team

YOUNGSTOWN

Senior pitcher and outfielder Zach Lopatka of the Youngstown State baseball team has been named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for the 2019 season. The teams were voted on by the conference’s faculty athletics representatives.

Lopatka has played in 23 games and made 18 starts as a position player this season, in addition to making 10 pitching appearances. The Exeter, Pa., native is batting .290 with three doubles, four RBIs and a .405 on-base percentage in 12 Horizon League contests. He has pitched 19 innings in eight relief appearances and two starts.

Lopatka allowed one run on two hits and struck out three batters over 31/3 innings to earn his first career save in a 5-3 win over Toledo on April 10. He entered in the sixth inning with two outs and runners on first and second, and proceeded to get the final 10 outs of the game for the Penguins. He retired the first seven batters he faced, and got two big strikeouts in the ninth with the Rockets threatening.

Lopatka’s best performance at the plate came at Northern Kentucky on March 16, when he went 2 for 4 with a single, an RBI double, a walk and two runs scored. He also went 2 for 4 in both games of a doubleheader against Milwaukee on April 13 with two doubles and a run scored in game one. The senior had a season-high two RBIs against the Norse in game two of doubleheader on April 18. He also had an RBI single and scored a run in the series finale on April 19.

Lopatka holds a 3.72 GPA as a general studies major. To be eligible for All-Academic Team consideration, student-athletes must be a starter of important reserve for their team, have completed at least 24 semester (or 36 quarter) hours at their institution and have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2. The Penguins have now had at least one player earn all-academic honors in each of Dan Bertolini’s three seasons as head coach.

Staff report