DAY ONE RECAP

Lexington, Ky. –  It was more of the same for the Morehead State Eagle track and field teams on Saturday's final day of the Kentucky Invitational at the UK Track and Field Complex.

Just as it did on Friday, coach Clay Dixon's Blue and Gold squad put together multiple personal bests.

Entering the weekend, Dixon had envisioned if there was good weather at the meet, the team would respond in kind.

And that's what happened. Clear skies and temperatures that reached into the 80s brought out double-digit 'pr's.

"I'm very pleased with this weekend. As a coach you can't complain about 18 personal bests and 13 season bests," Dixon said. "Some of these people had some long overdue breakout races and it has really up lifted the spirits of the team. I'm looking forward to the coming meets."

The Eagles had 16 entries on day two, which started with the team's first foray into the sprint relay. The foursome of freshman Grace Lopez, junior Tayla Lee, junior Sierra Kelley and junior Dallas Jones covered the course in 49.92, which met Dixon's goal of a sub 50-second time. Kentucky won the event in 42.91.

"We had a good start. I'm gonna see if we can polish up on some of the exchanges and try it again (in this weekend's meet) at Louisville," Dixon said.

Lopez also was entered in the 100-meter dash, but she withdrew after running the 4x100-meter relay.

Kelley topped the team in the 400-meter dash, posting a time of 1:01.05 to finish in 18th. Freshman Keana Meriwether finished second in her heat and was 20th overall in 1:01.94. Jones and freshman Lilly Gray were 27th and 28th, respectively, in 1:05.97 and 1:06.19. Kentucky's Alexis Holmes claimed the title in 51.54.

Freshman Sam Lucas was the lone MSU runner in the men's 400m. He finished in 16th in 54.66. It was the first time this season the Eagles had a male entry in the event. Kentucky's Dwight St. Hillaire posted the fastest time (46.20) to win the race.

Morehead State's best individual finishes on the day came in the 800-meter run, where sophomore Michael Dunagan was 10th in 1:55.05 and sophomore Laikin Tarlton was 14th in 2:24.56. Dunagan ran a 57.47 on lap one and a 57.59 on lap two.

In the women's race, sophomore Riliegh Owens placed 18th in 2:28.96 and freshman Christiana Lytle was 26th in 2:39.95. Murray State's LaMiah Campbell came away with the victory in 2:12.40.

MSU had a strong set of performances in the men's competition. Four individuals ran sub two-minute times. In addition to Dunagan, sophomore Toby Cook was 13th in 1:56.31, sophomore Wes Grogan was 22nd in 1:58.85 (while finishing second in his heat), and sophomore Liam Dale was 22nd in 1:59.15. Freshman Austin Montgomery claimed 31st after covering the distance in 2:09.63.

Cook had the fastest lap of the group, clocking a 56.73 over his first 400m.

St. Louis' Malik Stewart posted the top time of 1:52.24.

The 4x400-meter relays closed out the meet. The guys' foursome of Cook, Montgomery, Grogan and Dunagan placed eighth in 3:32.70; while the ladies' quartet of Owens, Tarlton, sophomore Hannah Hostetler and freshman Cloe Copas finished 10th in 4:31.19. Kentucky won both races, with its men clocking a 3:25.79, while the women notched a 3:05.67.

Grogan and Dunagan were particularly impressive in their legs. Dunagan recorded a split of 51.79, while Grogan registered a 54.32.

Morehead State will be right back in action this weekend as the two squads head to Louisville for the Clark Wood Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The running events will start at 4:30 p.m. on day one and 12:10 p.m. on the second day.