MILWAUKEE, Wis. --- After a three-and-a-half hour storm delay, Day Three of the Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships finally got underway. That didn’t seem to slow down the student-athletes though, because five of them set new Horizon League records. However, due to inclement weather at the end, the Championship meet was not completed and only 20 of 21 events were scored.
Based on points, the women's team champion is Youngstown State with 172 points and the men's team champion is Milwaukee with 175 points.
Ariel Kirby of UIC set the new Horizon League record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:09.32. The junior’s time beat the seven-year-old record of Rebecca Long (Loyola, 2:10.10) that was set back in 2005. Last year’s champion, Kirsty Legg, placed third with a time of 2:12.90.
On the men’s side, Valparaiso’s Julian Smith and teammate Nick Kowaleski broke the previous 100-meter dash Horizon League record with times of 10.56 and 10.59, respectively. The mark makes Smith the sole record holder and beats the old time of 10.62 by Eugene Harris (YSU) set back in 2003.
Loyola’s Declan Murray beat the eight-year-old record in the men’s 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.86. Jake Szczepaniuk of Detroit had held the record of 1:49.90 since 2004. Loyola went on to third and fourth place finishes from Sam Penzenstadler and Ned Brady with times of 1:51.92 and 1:52.41, respectively.
Last year’s shot put winner Bobby Grace (Youngstown State) won the event again this year with a Horizon League-best mark of 60-00.50 (18.30m). The distance beats the old record of Nick Gretz (Milwaukee, 18.13m) set back in 2007. Grace also won the men’s discus throw earlier in the Championship meet with a toss of 165-00.
In the first event of the day, the men’s high jump, Milwaukee went 1-2-3, with sophomore Nick Hughes leading the way with a leap of 6-7. Ben Crogan and Aaron Dillon followed with heights of 6-5 and 6-3.25, respectively.
Youngstown State gained 18 points in the shot put when Alison Roth and Kaitlyn Griffith went 1-2. Roth won the event with a toss of 46-5.50 and beat the reigning champion, Griffith, who threw the shot 44-10.75. Valpo’s Sarah Drozdowski rounded out the top-3 with a toss of 43-4.25.
For the third year in a row, Butler’s Kirsty Legg won the women’s 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:34.25. Butler also finished 4-5-6 (Mara Olson, Kaitlyn Love, Shelbi Burnett) in the event for additional points.
Wright State’s Cassandra Lloyd ran a 13.39 (+2.8 wind) in the finals of the 100mH to take the title for the third year in a row. The time would have bettered her own Horizon League record, but it is a wind-aided time and cannot count as a record. She still holds the League record with a time of 13.62 set back in 2010.
Loyola’s Penzenstadler took on Butler’s Tom Curr in the last 100-meters of the 1,500-meter run to out-pace Curr by less than a two-tenths of a second to take the title with a time of 3:51.11. Curr finished the race with a time of 3:51.26.
Milwaukee’s Durell Busby ran a 13.92 (+2.2 wind) in the men’s 110mH to take the crown. The time would’ve been a new League record, but like Lloyd’s time, it could not count because it was wind-aided. Teammates Dillon, Dexter Schleis and Jordan Schmidt went 2-3-4 in the event as well.
Women’s Team Standings (Through 20 Events):
1. Youngstown State - 172
2. Milwaukee - 129
3. Loyola - 94
4. Wright State - 65
5. Butler - 58
6. UIC - 52
7. Detroit - 31
8. Valparaiso - 19
Men’s Team Standings (Through 20 Events):
1. Milwaukee - 175
2. Youngstown State - 108
3. Loyola - 81
4. UIC - 73
5. Valparaiso - 66
6. Butler - 65
7. Detroit - 48
