Morehead, Ky. – Two weeks after competing at the Bellarmine Open "Presented by Urban Shipper", the Morehead State men's and women's track and field teams will return to Louisville for the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic on Friday.

Despite concerns about an impending ice storm, the meet is expected to take place, although the start time has been pushed back an hour to noon. It will take place at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center off campus in Louisville's Russell neighborhood. The facility features a 200-meter banked track.

Seventeen teams are expected to compete. Besides host Bellarmine, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois-Springfield, Indianapolis, IUPUI, Jacksonville State, Lipscomb, Northern Kentucky, Southern Indiana, Union (Ky.), Western Kentucky and Xavier (Ohio), plus Ohio Valley Conference foes Belmont, Murray State, Tennessee State and Tennessee-Martin will complete the field. Murray, IUPUI, UIS, USI, NKU, UTM, Union, Xavier and Bellarmine also participated at the Bellarmine Open. The Racers won the women's competition, with the host Knights, which placed third, as the top returning men's team.

Both genders of Eagle athletes are entered. It is the second meet of the year for the MSU men and the fourth for the Morehead State women.

There are 30 events in the competition, including two sets of 3000-meter races, open and invitational versions. MSU will have 31 entrants in 11 events. All of the Eagle 3000-meter competitors will run in the open heats.

Grace Lopez will participate in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. Sierra Kelley, Tayla Lee and Dallas Jones will join her in the latter event. Keana Meriwether and JD Camacho will compete in the 400-meter dash. The Eagles 800-meter run contingent will include Lucy Singleton, Cloe Copas, Riliegh Owens, Mary Alice Thornburg, Lilly Gray and Christiana Lytle. Laikin Tarlton and Hannah Hostetler will toe the line in the mile, with Isabella Copher and Megan Bush representing the Eagles in the 3000m.

Michael Dunagan will be the lone MSU runner to compete in two individual races: the 800m and mile. Toby Cook, Sam Lucas and Austin Montgomery will join Dunagan for the former event; while Kyle Embry, Kyler Stewart, Wes Grogan, Liam Dale, Jarrett Forrest, Justin Bland and Cruz Ortiz-Ramirez will participate in the longer race. Jacob Vogelpohl, Jonah Stanley, Peyton Fairchild and Ethan Vance will toe the line in the 3000m.

Coach Clay Dixon will have three sets of representatives in the 4x400-meter relay. For the first time this season, the men will compete in the event with Ortiz-Ramirez, Grogan, Cook and Lucas comprising that entry. The women will have two quartets racing. Kelley, Singleton, Gray and Meriwether make up one group; while Copas, Camacho, Owens and Lee will be the other foursome.

Live results are available at: https://live.dcracetiming.com/meets/12726.

Both MSU squads will be back in action in the two-day Marshall Invitational in Huntington, W.Va., on Feb. 11-12. It will be the final indoor meet of the year for the Eagle men.