Day 1 Recap
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State's women completed the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship on Thursday at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., with six athletes participating in three events and finished the competition by scoring its most points since the 2019 meet.
With only eight individuals competing a total of 10 times, the Eagles are overmatched in the team standings. But courtesy of the distance medley relay, which finished in seventh on Wednesday, this year they were able to garner two points.
"I'm happy with how we did. It would have been great to see points in the 3,000m or 800m, but indoor (track) is just risky," MSU coach Clay Dixon said. "Those tight turns on a 200-meter track can change a lot of the outcome of races. We scored our first points since 2019, so it was good to see that."
On Thursday, sophomore
Laikin Tarlton nearly added to the point total by finishing ninth in the 21-person 3,000-meter run. Tarlton crossed the line in 10:24.59, which beats her previous best time of 10:26.25. Katie Wegmann of Southeast Missouri won the race in 9:45.79.
"Laikin went for it in the 3,000m and came up just short of scoring. She placed ninth when she was seeded 10th," Dixon said. "(She) also had a personal best. She had a solid meet. (She) ran well in the DMR and in the 3,000m."
The day began with the mile run. Freshman
Abby Taylor placed 16th in 5:29.80 with sophomore
Cloe Copas following close behind in 17th in 5:33.15. Southeast Missouri's Taylor Fox won the event in 4:55.14.
"Abby looked strong through 1,200m and that last 400m looked hard. She was a bit tired from the DMR last night," Dixon said. "Cloe closed strong but wasn't feeling too fit early on."
In the last race of the day, the Eagles' first 4x400-meter relay of the season finished in 10th in 4:32.40. Sophomore
Lucy Singleton, junior
Mary Alice Thornburg, freshman
Christiana Lytle and Copas represented the Blue and Gold. Tennessee State posted the top time of 3:49.00.
Southeast Missouri captured the women's team title with 183.50 points. Little Rock was second with 103.50 points, followed by Tennessee State (79), Tennessee Tech (73), Eastern Illinois (71), Southern Indiana (65), SIU Edwardsville (37), Tennessee-Martin (25), Lindenwood (23) and Morehead State (two).
Eastern Illinois won the men's meet with 177.50 points. Little Rock was again second having scored 160 points. Southeast Missouri (128), Tennessee State (65.50), Tennessee-Martin (60), Southern Indiana (33), Lindenwood (24) and SIU Edwardsville (12) rounded out the field.
The following individuals received the conference's individual honors:
OVC Female Track Athlete of the Year: Taylor Fox, Southeast Missouri
OVC Female Field Athlete of the Year: Elaina Housworth, Tennessee State
OVC Female Freshman of the Year: Serenity Harry, Tennessee State
OVC Women's Coach of the Year: Eric Crumpecker, Southeast Missouri
OVC Female Athlete of the Championship: Taylor Fox, Southeast Missouri
OVC Male Track Athlete of the Year: Jaime Marcos, Eastern Illinois
OVC Male Field Athlete of the Year: Luke Hatfield-Jackson, Southeast Missouri
OVC Male Freshman of the Year: Tanner Koontz, Southeast Missouri
OVC Men's Coach of the Year: Keith Roberts, Eastern Illinois
OVC Co-Male Athlete of the Championship: Jaime Marcos, Eastern Illinois; Matt Fox, Little Rock
Morehead State will begin the outdoor track and field season on Friday, March 17 with the Jim Vargo Invitational at Bellarmine.
