BEAVER TOWNSHIP – With 56 combined men’s and women’s Horizon League-Mid-Continent Conference championships over the past 30 seasons, head coach Brian Gorby’s men’s and women’s cross country, and indoor-outdoor track and field programs show no sign of slowing down.

Truth be told, he has run out of fingers and toes on which to put his championship rings long ago.

The very first intercollegiate sport ever offered at Youngstown State was basketball, which came in time for the 1927-28 season. Over the years, if you were to combine all men’s and women’s conference titles, the sum of all Penguin sports teams doesn’t total half the titles enjoyed by Gorby’s teams.

To call Gorby’s squads a juggernaut over the past four decades might not do them justice.

Dynasty is a more apropos descriptor.

The Curbstone Coaches honored the Penguins’ track and cross country championship squads during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center with Gorby – he was already on his way to Austin, Texas, accompanying three of his players to the NCAA Division I All-American’s qualifying event, which takes place Wednesday through Saturday at the University of Texas – represented by assistants Dave Townsend (sprints coach) and Amaldo Morales (jumps), each of whom is nationally ranked in their respective area of expertise.

“As the saying goes, success breeds success and there is plenty of that to go around in our outdoor track and field programs,” Gorby noted prior to his departure. “We completed yet another Horizon League championship campaign this past spring semester with our women earning their ninth consecutive league title and the men claiming their fourth in a row. The men dominated, winning by 62 points.

“The title was the seventh overall for our men while the women added their 15th and are now ‘six-for-six’ when hosting the conference meet. Each team just continues to get better, each staff and student-athlete continues to get better and that is the cool part about our programs.”

Gorby has coached the Penguins’ track program for 28 years, recently completing his 30th season as cross country head mentor.

Their 56 team titles places Gorby second all-time in Division I – he also ranks second in any team sport – in NCAA history to legendary University of Arkansas head coach John McDonell, who won 83 (37 Southwest Conference, 46 Southeast Conference) crowns, including 34 consecutive cross country (27 indoor, 22 outdoor) titles.

Gorby does have the upper hand on McDonell in one area as he has been named league coach of the year on 55 occasions to just 49 for the Razorbacks’ coaching legend.

Last week, Gorby and staff sent 12 team members to the first-round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships which was held at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

That group included Jahniya Bowers (100m), Erin Bogard (pole vault) and Addi Watts (javelin) on the women’s side, and Tye Hunt (long jump), Jakari Lomax (triple jump), Zach Gehm (discus), Dominic Perry (shot put), Ryan Henry (shot put), Wyatt Lefker (pole vault), Dorian Chaigneau (pole vault), Weston McLain (javelin) and Harry Barton (400m hurdles).

Joining Gorby in Texas this week will be qualifiers from that UNF meet Chaigneau, a pole vault indoor All-American and Division II national champion, Gehm, who was the discus U-20 national champion and Bogard on the distaff side of the ledger.

Gorby credits his coaching staff, which includes five YSU grads and several Mahoning Valley natives. That staff includes Morales (Struthers), Eric Rupe (Cortland, Maplewood), Keith Gorby (Boardman), Townsend (Youngstown East High), Rick Penniman (YSU) and Megan Tomei (Tallmadge).

“This is a strong track area and Ohio is a strong track state,” Gorby stated. “When you look at our staff, I keep saying they are Power 5 coaches and the neat part is that they hail from the area. There aren’t a lot of moving parts from that standpoint.

“We probably put in 100 hours of work each week and when you do that, the entire program, the staff, the athletes all understand why the ball might tend to bounce your way. It’s the same with our championship success. At the end of the day, there is a ton of work to be done but the kids really care about this program. They are very proud.”

With six triple crowns to Gorby’s credit, three each by the men and women, one goal that he hopes to attain isn’t as elusive as one might think.

“I would like to see this already nationally relevant program claim a Division I championship, and continue to produce more All-Americans while racking up more league titles,” he added.

Next week, the organization will host the Ohio Division I state champion Austintown Fitch girls’ softball team.