Aug. 11, 2009

Track and Field Inks 13 Signees to Continue the Title Tradition in 2009-10 Season

    Youngstown -- The 2009-10 Youngstown State Track and Field 2009-2010 recruiting class welcomes 13 new student-athletes to the program and consists of eight females and five males.

    The class also includes three local athletes (Shanae' Butler, Samantha Hamilton and Nicole Pachol), four more from the state of Ohio (Ben Goodnight, Bobby Grace, Caleb Schwan and Alexis Washington), a Pennsylvanian (Tarelle Irwin), a Wisconsin native (Symona Gregory), one from Canada (Katherine Digby) and three Kenyans (Viola Cheptoo, Aron Korir and Nelly Yegon).

    Highlighting the class are Pachol and Irwin, who both have state titles to their names. Pachol becomes the highest-ranked recruit ever to sign with the Guins as she ranks fifth nationally in the 300-meter hurdles.

    This is one of the largest recruiting classes ever by head coach Brian Gorby, with the goal in mind to continue  Youngstown State's Championship Tradition.

    Since joining the Horizon League in 2001, the Penguins Track and Field Program has won 17 conference titles including the women winning the 2009 Outdoor title the past two seasons. Below is a list of the signing class with their high school accolades.

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Shanae' Butler
    Warren Harding: Butler is a three-time regional qualifier in the 100 meters and two-time qualifier in the 200m. During her senior campaign, Butler placed second in the 200m dash along with a third place time in the 100m dash at the OHSAA District Championships.  Butler ran a personal-best time of 12.52 seconds in the 100m at the Poland Invitational. Her personal-best time in the 200m came at the 2007 Trumbull County Championships, where she ran a time of 25.94 and finished third.

Katherine Digby
    Kitsilano Secondary: Digby hails from Vancouver, British Columbia and will compete in distance events for the Penguins. At the 2009 British Columbia High School Championships, she finished sixth in the 1,500m steeplechase with a time of 5:24.59.  At the same event in ’08, Digby ran a first-place time of 5:15.28 in the 1,500m steeplechase.  Also in ’08, Digby ran a time of 7:42.66 in the 2,000m steeplechase at the Canadian Youth Champions to finish eighth and at the Canadian Jr. National Championships finished in 13th with a time of 7:36.74 in the same event.

Ben Goodnight
    Garfield: Goodnight is a 2009 Regional qualifier in the shot put, where he finished seventh and also added a third place finish at districts in the discus. Goodnight threw his personal-best in discus with a heave of 145 feet-8 inches at the 2009 Austintown Optimist Meet. Goodnight was victorious in the shot put at the Wildcat Invitational, where he threw a personal-best distance of 52-5.25. He also finished first in the shot put at the Aurora Greenmen Invitational, Champion Invitational, Newton Falls Tiger Invitational and the Champion Relays. In the discus, he claimed first place at Newton Falls and the Champion Relays.

Bobby Grace
    Midpark: Grace is a 2009 OHSAA State qualifier in the discus after finishing in second place at Regionals with a personal-best distance of 159-7.  Also in Regional completion, Grace finished in seventh in the shot put with a heave 52-9.25.  Grace finished 14th at the State with a throw of 149-5.  At Districts, Grace had a first place toss of 57-0.25 in the shot put and added a third place finish in the discus of 156-6.  His best throw in the shot put came at the 2009 Kent State High School Open where he threw a distance of 55-9.  In the indoor circuit, Grace finished in fourth place at the OATCCC Ohio State Indoor Championships with a distance of 52-11.50.

Symona Gregory
    Bradley Tech (Wis.):  At the 2009 Wisconsin Interscholastic State Track Meet, Gregory finished third in the 100m dash, ran the second leg of the 4x100m team that finished second as well as the third leg in the 4x200m squad that also finished second. During her junior year at state, Gregory finished fourth in the 100m dash and was a member of both the 4x100m and 4x200m that took the state crown. The time of 1:38.46 in the 4x200m was a meet record.

Samantha Hamilton
    Jackson-Milton: Hamilton boasts two top-10 finishes in the 3,200m at the Ohio State Meet as she finished in fifth in 2009 and ninth in 2008. Hamilton also has been named an All-Ohioan in cross country as she qualified for the state meet twice, including an 11th-place finish in 2008. Other 2009 highlights include a first place finish in the 3,200m at both the state district and regional meets, a first place finish in the 1,600m at districts and an eighth place finish in the 800m at the Midwest Meet of Champions.

Tarelle Irwin
    Monessen (Pa.):  During his senior season, Irwin became the first PIAA State track champion in Monessen’s history as he won the 200m in 22.25 seconds. Irwin also captured WPIAL AA titles in both the 100m and 200m dashes. His time of 21.87 in 200m prelims at State was his personal-best and fastest time in the event.  He ran his personal best time in the 100m also at the state meet, where he finished in third with a time of 10.89.  Irwin also claimed first place finishes in the 100m and 200m events at the PIAA District 7 AA Championships.  In 2008, he competed in the USATF Regional II Junior Olympics where he finished fifth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m.

Nicole Pachol
    Howland:  Pachol comes to YSU as the highest ranked athlete ever to commit to the YSU Track & Field program, as she ranks fifth nationally in the 300m hurdles. As a senior, Pachol broke the school records and qualified for the State meet in both the 100m and 300m hurdles. At state, Pachol was victorious in the 300m hurdles with a time of 42.12 and finished fifth in the 100m hurdles.  She ran her personal-best time in the 300m hurdles at the 2009 Regional meet where she finished first with a time of 41.86. Along with being ranked nationally in the 300m hurdles; Pachol also ranks in the top-10 in the state of Ohio in the 100m hurdles, 200m and 400m, including winning all four events at the 2009 Trumbull County Invitational.

Caleb Schwan
    Garfield: Schwan joins his high school teammate Ben Goodnight to help carry on the winning tradition of Penguin throwers. Schwan is a two-time Regional qualifier, with his best finish coming in 2008 where he finished second to qualify for the State Championships.  At State, Schwan finished in sixth with a throw of 149-6.  Schwan’s best throw in the discus came at the 2009 Austintown Optimist Meet where he threw 156-2 to finish in fourth.  In 2008, Schwan won the District title in the discus with a distance of 153-4.

Alexis Washington
    Lorain Southview:  Washington is a three-time Ohio Regional qualifier in the 100m dash and a two-time Regional qualifier in the 200m dash.  In the 100m at regionals, Washington finished in eighth in 2009, seventh in 2008 and sixth in 2007. Washington also made it to regionals as part of the 4x100m and 4x200m relays.  Washington ran her best time in the 100m at the 2009 Vermilion Invitational, where she finished in first place with a time of 12.34.  Her best time in the 200m came at the 2008 OHSAA Regional meet with a time of 25.06.

Kenyan Athletes
Sophomore Kiplangat Tisia set the bar high for the three incoming Kenyans as Viola Cheptoo and Nelly Yegon will compete for the women and Aron Korir will join the men’s squad. Tisia’s long list of accomplishments after only one season include running the top freshman time in the 3,000m steeplechase, breaking the school record in the event, qualifying for the NCAA Mideast Regional and being named Indoor and Outdoor Running Newcomer of the Year. Tisia provided a boost in the distance events and the Cheptoo, Yegon and Korir will be relied on for the same.