Correspondent photo/Robert Hayes. Anthony Woods of YSU, a fifth year senior, crosses the finish line at the end of his school record 60m dash last Saturday at the WATTS, posting a time of 6.63 seconds.

YOUNGSTOWN — Life just has a weird way of working out sometimes.

Look at the midfield of any track and field meet and you’ll see athletes from all different backgrounds. Some enjoy the thrill of the sprint, some have the stamina for distance, others vault with pre-cut sheets of fiberglass.

For the most part, a far majority of college Division I track athletes have been working on their craft since junior high but that isn’t the case for Youngstown State graduate student Anthony Woods.

Growing up with a football in his hands, he joined the Nordonia High School sprints team on a whim during his senior year in high school. Fast forward to 2021 and he now sits as one of the fastest 60m dash runners in the country for the Penguins.

Being an elite sprinter was never really the goal for Woods, but it’s about naturally having a talent.

“It kinda started off as a joke, with some of my high school coaches, I was doing a phys ed. class, and I told them that I’m going to come out for track, and they were like no you not,” Wood explained. “I just did it during my junior year. I ran kinda slow and saw everybody going to states and I wanted to go there.

“Next year I did it, and I’m just going on with it. After I ran the 40, it showed me that I had speed and I was like ‘I think I can translate that over to the track for sure.’ So that was something I really wanted to do.”

Last Saturday, in his first official meet with a Youngstown State uniform on, Woods ran a blazing 6.63 clocking in the 60m dash during the YSU Collegiate Holiday Classic, taking first in the event while also taking down Chad Zallow’s school-record time of 6.69 seconds.

That isn’t even his best time within the Watson and Tressel Training Site either. The week prior, he competed unattached, posting a 6.57s during the YSU Icebreaker, which set a new facility and meet record.

His official 6.63 clocking from last Saturday currently ranks second in the nation, just behind Indiana’s Rikkoi Brathwaite’s time of 6.54 seconds.

College has been an adventure for Woods. He originally enrolled and competed at Division II Ohio Dominican in Columbus, winning a pair of titles in the 100-meter indoor and 200-meter outdoor events in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

He then transferred to Cincinnati of the American Athletic Conference where he competed for the Bearcats from 2018 through the 2020 indoor season, recording solid times at the AAC Championships.

Injuries to his lower back and hamstring have sidelined Woods at times over the past few years but after graduating from Cincinnati, he looked to maybe find a change of scenery while competing as an independent at various meets.

Following Zoom calls with the Penguins coaching staff, Woods felt that Youngstown was the place to go.

“COVID really gave me a year to kinda focus on myself, focus on my weaknesses, turn them into strengths and get ready for the upcoming year,” Woods said. “I wouldn’t say there’s much of a difference because they’re both great programs and they’re both Division I. The biggest difference is staying healthy now because I told myself to have a higher expectation.”

Sprints coach David Townsend knew that Woods was a unique talent, breaking records that he never thought would fall at YSU.

For now, it’s about pacing himself with a long indoor track season ahead. Townsend sees plenty of talent within the grad transfer.

“If you look back on (Woods’) record, it’s spotty as far as finishing the season, finishing meets and everything,” Townsend said. “So, we’re cognizant of that, we’re very careful with what we do. We kinda spoon feed him right now because he’s not used to running a lot of volume.

“So you’ve been in school for four years, your body isn’t used to it. My athletes, they do two events, some do three events this meet. So it’s like a bank, you put money in the bank as far as your condition, so we have to get him to that format.”

YSU won’t compete again until January 14th at the Akron College Meet. In the meantime, Woods plans to keep training with Collin Harden, a former YSU and Girard standout who recently made the US Olympics Trials in the summer.

The biggest lesson he’s learned from the former YSU All-American?

“He had a great experience, he’s been shining some light on me, teaching me a couple of things that I didn’t know, and just helping me along the way,” Woods said. “Consistency, being consistent no matter what.”