SCHEDULE
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State men's and women's track and field teams are set to open the 2014 outdoor season Saturday at the Butler Bulldog Opener in Indianapolis.
Head Coach Brent Ericksen, who is in his third year, believes expectations for both squads are high.
"The men are coming off the best NCAA Southeast Region cross country finish in school history, and I would certainly like to see them carry that aggressive racing over to track," he said. "Our women are a team made up of the two recruiting classes we've had so far, and although the team is almost all freshmen and sophomores, they have really improved from where we were two years ago."
According to Ericksen, the men's squad will rely on middle and long distance for success this season.
"Junior Desmond Bell returns to try to defend the Ohio Valley Conference 800-meter championship he won last year and leads a group that looks to keep improving on their school-record 4x800-meter relay mark that they set last season," he said. "In the middle distances, senior Gary Monroe was an OVC medalist last year, and expectations are high that he can continue that trend and become an NCAA qualifier as well."
Bell claimed OVC top honors in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:52.99, but he ran a season-best 1:51.99 at the Heart of the Bluegrass Invitational. Monroe is a 1,500-meter specialist who recorded a season-best 3:51.07 at the final meet in Louisville last year. He also manned the final leg of the school-record 4x800 relay team.
In distance, Ericksen expects positive results from senior Chase Ratliff and sophomore Jesse Moreno. Both ran personal bests in the 5 and 10K last season.
"Chase and Jesse give us a strong 1-2 punch in the 5 and 10K, and I expect them to be significant players in the conference and hopefully at the regional level as well," he added.
On the women's side, Ericksen wants to see his group start strong, after what he considered a positive performance in the final cross country meet, the NCAA Southeast Regional.
"Although the women didn't have the conference finish they were looking for in cross country, they are coming off a solid performance at the regional where they tied MSU's best-ever finish," he said.
The roster features 12 underclassmen.
"We have a strong group of freshmen that could all make an impact in one way or another," Ericksen said. "I look for freshman Karina Manz in the 5 and 10K, freshman Mackenzie Butler in the 1,500 meters and 5K and freshman Hannah Bailey in the 3K steeplechase to have solid seasons."
Sophomores Lauren Tarovisky (5K) and Alex Morris (1,500 meters) both set personal bests last year, and Ericksen feels both are ripe for significant improvement this year.
"Lauren posted a two-minute improvement from high school in the 5k and ran 18:18 as a freshman," he said. "We hope to see her continue to drop significant time by the end of this season. Alex has improved incredibly since the end of fall, so we are really looking forward to seeing what she can do on the track."
Both teams are scheduled for eight meets, with the possibility of athletes also qualifying for the Drake or Penn Relays as well as the NCAA East Region Championships.
