In December of 2010, as Youngstown State's athletic department was wrapping up the worst calendar year in the school's history, I sat down with Penguins athletic director Ron Strollo in the stands at Beeghly Center before a women's basketball game.

At the time, YSU's women's basketball program was a mess, having just snapped a 34-game losing streak a few weeks earlier. The men's basketball team was headed for its second straight 2-16 season in the Horizon League.

And it wasn't just those teams that were struggling. In the 2010 calendar year, YSU's team sports (i.e. volleyball and soccer, not golf and tennis) all finished either last or next-to-last in the conference standings. That included football, which had just gone 3-8 in the Missouri Valley.

Strollo didn't hide from reality — http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/dec/26/league-fatigue/" target="_blank">and we printed a massive day-after-Christmas story detailing the program's struggles — but he insisted that YSU had a plan in place to turn things around.

That plan (which was already in motion) was built around upgrading facilities and athletic budgets so the Penguins could get better recruits and better coaches.

Four years later, you can see that plan working.

Youngstown State is coming off its best year, athletically, since joining the Horizon League in the fall of 2001. The Penguins won Horizon League titles in men's and women's outdoor track, baseball, women's tennis and women's cross country.

The football team just hired Bo Pelini, a major coup aided by the hire of Jim Tressel as president just a few months earlier. The women's basketball team won its first 10 games — its best start in the program's Division I history. And while the Penguins aren't competing for titles in every sport, they're solidly competitive.

In short, it's already a merry Christmas at YSU. And the Penguins looked poised for a happy new year.

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Since I probably won't be writing many YSU stories for the rest of December, here's a look back at my five favorite stories from 2014:

1.http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/apr/20/road-to-redemption/" target="_blank"> Jamaine Cook shared how he overcame a troubled childhood to become one of Youngstown State's best football players.

2. http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/jan/26/facilitating/?print" target="_blank">Ron Strollo explains why facility upgrades, including a new weight room and film room for the basketball teams, are so important for a school like YSU.

3. http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/may/05/horizon-champions/?print" target="_blank">Austin McLean nearly passes out on the track after helping YSU clinch the Horizon League men's outdoor track title.

4. http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/oct/10/rivers-bridges-gap/" target="_blank">Sophomore defensive end Derek Rivers chases down a dream that started with his father.

5. http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/dec/21/how-ysu-landed-pelini/" target="_blank">A behind-the-scenes look at how Bo Pelini ended up at Youngstown State.