Morehead, Ky. – Bolstered by the record-setting performance of freshman Lucy Singleton, the Morehead State women's track and field team placed third at the Marshall Classic on Saturday afternoon at the Jeff Small Track at the Chris Cline Athletic Complex in Huntington.

"I think if you look at the last time we were here in 2020, and also in 2019 and 2018, we did as good or better in several events (today)," Eagle coach Clay Dixon said. "I wanted to see where we were at after winter training and see how things have gone for the last six weeks, and I think we did pretty well."

Saturday's competition was the team's second meet of the year. Like the first one, it took place at Marshall University. The Eagles scored 48 points at the December 2nd Marshall Opener. In the 2020 Marshall Classic, the Blue and Gold tallied 21 points.

At this year's event, Morehead State accumulated 58 points and defeated Cleveland State (34 points). Host Marshall won the 14-event meet with 190 points, followed by Wright State with 78.

With just 13 athletes entered 17 times in six total events, Dixon thinks it speaks to the impressiveness of the Eagles' performance when they finish ahead of deeper and more well-rounded teams.

"It's kind of fun when we beat a couple teams in the points standings when we only have sprinters and distance runners. A lot of these other teams are scoring a lot of points in the jumps and throws and hurdles. It's nice to know that with just two-fifths of a team that we can still beat people," he said. "Other teams have rosters of 60 and 70 (athletes), and we have a roster with 18."

Accounting for nine points, Singleton was easily the headliner among Saturday's MSU performers. She set a meet record in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:38.33, supplanting Marshall's Mikah Alleyne, who covered the distance in 1:39.05 in 2020. In Saturday's race, Singleton edged Marshall's Astoria Beckett, who also bested the old mark, in 1:38.99, but not before she shook off a stern challenge from the Thundering Herd sophomore.

"Lucy pretty much led wire-to-wire. I don't think there was any point when she was not in the lead. It was an exciting race," Dixon said. "The Marshall girl (Beckett) pulled up close right next to her with a lap to go, but Lucy just gave a surge and kept the lead. Then with about 150 meters to go that same Marshall girl pulled close again and Lucy just kicked in with anther gear and just pulled away. It was just classic middle-distance racing."

Freshman Lilly Gray also scored points for MSU in the race, finishing fifth in 1:52.05.

Dixon also was pleased with the showing of the team's sprinters. Freshman Grace Lopez bettered her time from the Marshall Opener in the 60-meter dash by clocking 8.46 to place fifth. Lopez also claimed ninth in the 200-meter dash in 20.17.

Junior Sierra Kelley followed her team-best runner-up finish in the 300-meter dash at the Marshall Opener, by pacing the Eagles in the 200m and 400-meter dashes. Kelley claimed third in the latter race in 1:01.95 and sixth in the former event in 27.96. Freshman Keana Meriwether was fourth in the 400m in 1:06.08 and eighth in the 200m in 30.11. Junior Dallas Jones improved upon her Marshall Open time in the 400m after taking fifth in 1:10.04. She also captured seventh in the 200m in 29.10.

In the two longest races with Morehead State entries, freshman Isabella Copher continued her strong 2021-22 campaign by running a 'pr' in the 3000-meter run. She finished fourth in 10:58.16. Freshman Megan Bush followed in 10th in 11:32.89. Freshman Hannah Hostetler also competed in the race.

Freshman Laikin Tarlton paced the squad in the mile run claiming seventh in 5:30.73. Freshman Cloe Copas was next in ninth in 5:40.48, with sophomore Riliegh Owens in 11th in 5:48.25. Christina Lytle also represented MSU in the event.

"Isabella 'pr'ed in the 3K in 10:58. She was right there (with the leaders) also placing fourth. Also, Sierra in the 400 in 61.9, I'm pleased with that. She's had good winter training and there's a lot more good work we can do with that (performance) in the coming weeks," Dixon said. "The meet was another rust-buster to see where we were at. Those three were the big standouts. Grace also was fourth in the 60m, and the milers were also in a decent spot. They haven't done anything (like running in a race) that fast in a while."

Dixon plans to use the results as a guide to direct the training regimen over the next several weeks.

"It varies from event group to even group, but the overarching thing is we're strong, but now we've got to get fast. We need to focus on the leg turnover and get them used to racing again," he said. "This is the first time the sprinters have run at race-paced speed in months. In cross country, you don't go faster than a 6-minute mile pace. There is nothing like that when they run in track. Now we need to get that foot speed going faster and we address that by running 200-meter and 400-meter repeats. You get that race pace by doing repetitions like that.

"The milers looked fine and felt strong, but just not fast. They need to run 400m and 800m sprints and repeat them, and that will help them develop. Sierra (and the other sprinters) need to do 150-meter and 200-meter repeats," Dixon added. "The good news is that no one was completely gassed after their runs (today). We're fit, now we just need to find that racing gear."

Morehead State will be back on the track on Friday to compete in the Bellarmine Open in Louisville.