MOREHEAD, Ky. – Last year at the Jim Green Invitational, the Morehead State track and field team compiled 18 personal records and 13 season bests.
On Friday and Saturday when the Eagles return to Kentucky's meet at the UK Track and Field Complex in Lexington, coach
Clay Dixon hopes for more of the same.
"We usually have some good performances at this track. (We're) looking to continue that and the progress we have made the last few weeks," he said. "Weather is always the biggest concern as that seems like the theme this season. (The forecast calls for) scattered rain on Friday and looks like some wind on Saturday, but at least it isn't freezing."
Competition will begin on Friday with the hammer throw at 2:30 p.m. The team will return on Saturday with the first event, the pole vault, starting at 11:30 a.m. The meet will not be scored.
Besides the Eagles and the host Wildcats, who will be celebrating Senior Day, Campbellsville, the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.), Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Georgetown (Ky.), Life, Michigan, Murray State, Pikeville and Union College (Ky.) are slated to participate.
MSU is in the middle of a stretch of four straight weeks of track meets, something that the squad last did over the final four weeks of last season. That stretch began with the Kentucky Invitational. It will be the third consecutive year, and the seventh time since 2010, the Eagles will have competed in an outdoor meet at the Lexington university.
Twenty Eagles are slated to run in four events on Day One. Morehead State's first race will come at 5 p.m. with the 200-meter dash. Junior
Tayla Lee, sophomores
Keana Meriwether and
Lilly Gray, and freshman
Natalia Davis will represent the Blue and Gold. Lee ran in last year's meet and set a "pr" of 27.80, finishing in 52nd place. Davis owns the team's top time of 27.06, which she set last week at the Rick Erdmann Twilight.
A bevy of Eagles will toe the line for the men's and women's 1,500-meter run. The ladies go first at 5:40 p.m., with the gents at 5:55 p.m. Sophomore
Isabella Copher, freshman
Natalie Curry, freshman
Hope Harris, freshman
Kaylyn Holman, redshirt sophomore
Jennifer Ramirez and sophomore
Laikin Tarlton will be in the women's race. Tarlton has the fastest time of the group with a 4:57.50.
At last spring's meet, Tarlton was 15th in 4:52.78, followed by Copher in 22nd in 5:00.74 and Ramirez in 33rd in 5:19.10. It was the first collegiate race for Ramirez.
Six MSU guys are entered, including sophomores
Wes Grogan,
Austin Montgomery,
Alex Murray,
Kyler Stewart,
Ethan Vance and
Garrett Watts. Grogan, who will run in three events, was last year's top Eagle finisher placing 30th in 4:06.86. Stewart was 37th in 4:15.21, Murray was 49th in 4:27.60 and Vance was 53rd in 4:34.64 among those who ran at the 2022 meet.
Watts has the top time among the field with a 4:01.22, which he set two weeks ago at the Centre Twilight.
For the second straight outing, sophomore
Toby Cook will enter the invitational 800-meter run. At the Rick Erdmann Twilight, he finished 15th in a season-best 1:56.51.
Three individuals will enter the 3,000-meter steeplechase. It will be the third time for sophomore
Peyton Fairchild, who has the eighth-fastest mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. Freshman
Abby Taylor has one race under her belt, finishing fourth at the Centre Twilight in 12:35.30, which is the league's 11th-best time.
It will be the first steeplechase for junior
Jarrett Forrest. The event is slated to start at 6:30 p.m. for the women and 6:45 p.m. for the men.
Eighteen Eagles will hit the track on Day Two with the 3,000-meter run as the first event. The women's race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., with the men following at 1:15 p.m.
Freshman
Christiana Brittian and sophomore
Cloe Copas will represent the ladies; with sophomore
Justin Bland, and juniors
Justin Chavez and
Kyle Embry toeing the line for the guys.
Morehead State did not have any entries in the event last year and have yet to run the race during this outdoor season. However, Embry has the team's fastest time on the team with an 8:33.84 during the indoor season at the Bellarmine Open. Chavez ran a 9:00.67 at that same meet.
The prelims for the women's 100-meter dash will start at 1:50 p.m., with the finals slated for 3 p.m. Davis will be the lone Eagle entry. She has the team's top performance with a 12.78, set last Saturday at the Rick Erdmann Invite.
The 400-meter dash will follow at 2:15 p.m. Meriwether and Gray are entered. Last year at UK, Meriwether was 20th in 1:01.94, while Gray was 28th in 1:06.19. Meriwether's season best is 1:07.96. Gray has yet to run the race this spring.
The 800-meter run will be the team's last individual race. The gun goes off at 3:10 p.m. for the women and 3:20 p.m. for the men. Six Eagles are entered. Sophomore
Lucy Singleton, junior
Riliegh Owens, redshirt freshman
Christiana Lytle, sophomore
Sam Lucas, redshirt freshman
Micah Gray and Grogan will represent the Blue and Gold.
Last year, Owens was 18th in 2:28.96 and Lytle was 26th in 2:39.95; while Grogan was 22nd in 1:58.85. Singleton has this season's top time among the women with a 2:16.93. She has won three of her last four races at any distance. Grogan ran in the invitational event of the Rick Erdmann Twilight last weekend. His time there of 1:57.79 was his season best.
The 4x400-meter relay will round out the meet. It will be the first time this spring the Eagle men will have run a relay. Gray, Grogan, Lucas and Cook are the team's foursome. Last year, Cook, Montgomery, Grogan and
Michael Dunagan placed eighth in the race in 3:32.70.
Live results can be found at:
https://kentucky.tfresult.com/?mid=5571.
MSU will have its last race of the regular season on Wednesday when some members of the team will travel to Lynchburg, Va., for the Liberty Twilight. The meet begins at 11:30 a.m. The OVC Championship will be held May 11-13 in Edwardsville, Ill.
