David Townsend

    Former Youngstown State football player and area AAU coach David Townsend is in his second season as sprints coach for YSU's track and field program.
    In his first season, Townsend's sprinters were key contributors in leading YSU to two runner-up finishes at the Horizon League indoor and outdoor championships. He coached three different conference champions, and his group combined to score points 16 times.
    In the indoor campaign, Yandeh Joh became the sixth consecutive YSU hurdler to capture the Horizon League title in the 60m hurdles. Kari Kreutzfeld also improved her finish by four spots from her freshman year to win the 400m dash.
    In addition to Joh's win, two other Penguins scored in the hurdles as Jen Grayson placed second in the and Emily Dumitru finished sixth. Ashley Oliver placed third in the 60m and fifth in the 200m, and Alisha Anthony placed third in the 200m. Emily Wollet also finished sixth in the 400m.
    The success carried on to the outdoor circuit where Aaliyah Gillespie won the 100m hurdles for the third time in her career. Darcelle Formby's steady improvement throughout the season led to second-place finishes in the 100m and 200m, and Katie Betts placed third in the 200m and fourth in the 100m. Formby's placing was three spots higher than her freshman year in the 100m and seven spots higher in the 200m.
    Kreutzfeld just missed sweeping the 400m for the year after finishing second by 0.52 seconds, but she still led three YSU scorers in the event. Jennifer Roman made the transition from middle distance runner to sprinter to finish fifth, and Wollet finished sixth.
    The sprinters also made six new entries to YSU's all-time top performers list in the indoor season and seven in the outdoor campaign.
    On the men's side Townsend helped develop freshman Eric Baltputnis to a second-team all-conference sprinter in the indoor 60m. Baltputnis was one of five sprinters to earn a top-six finish as Scott Streiner placed fourth in the 200m and fifth in the 400m, Adam Kagarise placed fourth in the 400m and Da'Michael Horne finished sixth in the 60m.
    In the outdoor season, Streiner put up his career-best times and placed third in the 100m and 200m dashes at the Horizon League Championships. Baltputnis had another solid season by placing fourth in the 100m and fifth in the 200m, and Clarence Howell placed sixth in the 100m.
    The men's sprint group also made four new entries on the all-time list in the indoor season and one more in the outdoor circuit.
Townsend has been the head coach of the Youngstown Striders Track and Field Club since 1998 and has produced four Ohio state champions. During his tenure, 18 of his athletes have qualified for the Ohio State Track and Field Championships and 11 have earned All-Ohio honors.
    Townsend has also coached 157 AAU Junior Olympics qualifiers in his 10-year stay with the Striders. The team has had 16 medalists, and one of his runners won a national title in 2000.
    Townsend is also the current sports director for the Lake Erie AAU Track and Field Association, an organization that has over 700 age-group athletes in Northeast Ohio.
    A reserve tailback for YSU's football team from 1976 to 1978, Townsend was a member of the 1978 team that won the Mid-Continent Conference and earned YSU's first Division II playoff victory. He scored four touchdowns in his three seasons and played under coach Bill Narduzzi.
    A 1975 graduate of Youngstown East High School, Townsend has been very active in the community. At YSU he was president of the NAACP, a member of YSU's Student Council and was and the Black United Students Student-of-the-Year in 1978. He was inducted into the Ebony Lifetime Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 for his participation and contribution to sports in the Youngstown community.
    Townsend graduated from YSU with a bachelor's degree in combined sciences in 1981 and has worked for the Internal Revenue Service since 1979.  He and his wife Beverly have two sons, Dorian and Devin, that attend YSU.