DAY ONE RECAP

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Cloe Copas had the top individual finish of the Morehead State contingent on Thursday in the final day of competition at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Brimingham, Ala.

Copas placed 10th in the mile in 5:26.95. Hannah Hostetler was just a few seconds back in 15th with a time of 5:32.57.

Laikin Tarlton finished 13th in the 3000-meter run. She covered the distance in 10:31.04. Isabella Copher was 20th in the race in 11:08.31.

The Eagles only other entry on the day was their 4x400-meter relay, which took 10th in 4:11.28. Sierra Kelley, Lucy Singleton, Riliegh Owens and Keana Meriwether represented the Blue and Gold.

"Most of our girls had personal bests or season bests this week," MSU coach Clay Dixon said. "We ran out of luck on a couple of events and had a few things out of our control happen. All I could ask was (for) my athletes (to) perform their best and give it their all, and they did."

Most of the team competed during Day 1 of the meet. Singleton topped Wednesday's performers by claiming ninth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.95.

Kelley led the sprinters by placing 21st in the 200-meter dash in 27.10. Dallas Jones followed in 22nd in 28.60, with Grace Lopez in 23rd in 28.72 and Tayla Lee in 24th in 29.09.

In the 400-meter dash, Meriwether crossed the line in 1:04.53 to claim 22nd, with JD Camacho in 23rd in 1:05.74, Jones in 24th in 1:05.82 and Lee in 26th in 1:09.25.

Lopez was the Eagles lone entry in the 60-meter dash. She finished 21st in 8.28.

Megan Bush placed 20th in the 5000-meter run in 19:14.93.

Owens, Kelley, Mary Alice Thornburg and Tarlton were hampered by confusion over the lap count in the distance medley relay in which an official rang the bell for the last lap one lap early. The MSU foursome was in seventh at the time of the mishap, but ended up placing ninth in 12:45.30.

"Officials miscounted laps in the distance medley relay and a few teams were stopping mid-race," Dixon said. "We were in seventh when that happened, but after our girl stopped, they started racing again."

Murray State finished atop a tight pack for the women's team title with 139 points. Belmont took second with 122 points, followed by the 2019 champ, Austin Peay (106), Southeast Missouri (103) in fourth, with Tennessee Tech (62), Eastern Illinois (59), SIU Edwardsville (44), Tennessee State (23), Tennessee-Martin (four) and Morehead State rounding out the field.

Southeast Missouri won the men's competition with 198 points, edging defending champion Eastern Illinois (196.50). Belmont was third with 82.50 points, with Tennessee-Martin fourth with 73 points, Tennessee State fifth with 61 points and SIU Edwardsville sixth with 43 points. Morehead State did not field a men's team.

The following were the conference's individual award winners: 

Female Freshman of the Year: Breanna Miles, Southeast Missouri

Female Track Athlete of the Year: Kenisha Phillips, Austin Peay

Female Field Athlete of the Year: Nicole Humphreys, Southeast Missouri

Co-Male Freshman of the Year: Darius Holland, UT Martin

Co-Male Freshman of the Year: Marshall Swadley, Southeast Missouri

Male Track Athlete of the Year: Dustin Hatfield, Eastern Illinois

Co-Male Field Athlete of the Year: R'Lazon Brumfield, Tennessee State

Co-Male Field Athlete of the Year: Shae DeGraaf, Southeast Missouri

Female Athlete of the Championship: Kenisha Phillips, Austin Peay

Male Athlete of the Championship: Shae DeGraaf, Southeast Missouri

Women's Coach of the Year: Adam Kiesler, Murray State

Men's Coach of the Year: Eric Crumpecker, Southeast Missouri

MSU will take a little more than two weeks off from competition and return on Friday, March 18 for the two-day Blizzard Buster in Oxford, Ohio, hosted by Miami University.