MOREHEAD, Ky. – This week the Morehead State track and field team will travel to Edwardsville, Ill., for the three-day Ohio Valley Conference Championship. Competition runs Thursday through Saturday at the Ralph Korte Stadium at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. This is SIUE's second time serving as the host.
Thursday's opening event will be the 100-meter hurdles in the heptathlon at 10 a.m. ET. The meet will run until approximately 10 p.m. ET. On Friday, the decathlon's 110-meter hurdles will begin the day at 10 a.m. ET. Day two's final race will end around 10 p.m. ET. The shot put finals opens Saturday's action at noon. The meet will conclude with the awards ceremony at 5:45 p.m. ET.
All 10 league schools will send representatives to the meet. Last spring, MSU's men finished seventh, while the women were 10th. Host Murray State snapped Eastern Illinois' two-year reign in the men's competition, while Southeast Missouri captured its second consecutive women's title.
At the 2022 meet, MSU scored a total of seven points (five for the men and two for the women).
Lucy Singleton took seventh in the 1,500-meter run in 4:43.12;
Michael Dunagan was sixth in the 800-meter run in 1:56.70; and the men's 4x400-meter relay team of
Toby Cook,
Wes Grogan, Dunagan and
Liam Dale were seventh in 3:33.80.
Morehead State's men have won the meet twice in their history, in 1955 and 1956, while the women have never claimed the title.
MSU coach
Clay Dixon will send 22 athletes (12 men and 10 women) to this year's competition.
"(The) team is excited," Dixon said. "I think they are all primed for being competitive."
The Eagles will have limited representation on Day 1. Their first race will be the prelims for the 200-meter dash at 7:55 p.m. ET. Freshman
Natalia Davis and junior
Tayla Lee are entered. Davis has the team's fastest time this spring with a 27.03.
Sophomore
Laikin Tarlton and sophomore
Kyler Stewart will be the only others in action as each are entered in the 10,000-meter run. Neither individual has competed in that race this season.
Davis returns on Friday to run in the 100-meter dash prelims at 7:55 p.m. Her top time this season is 12.78.
The bulk of the Eagle entries on Day 2 will be in the 800m. MSU will have five individuals toeing the start line, with redshirt freshman
Micah Gray, Grogan, Cook and
Sam Lucas opening the action at 8:15 p.m. ET. Singleton will represent the Blue and Gold at 8:30 p.m. ET. Grogan, Cook, Lucas and Singleton are all sophomores.
Among the men, Cook own's the fastest time with a 1:54.81. Grogan and Gray have both posted sub two-minute efforts, with Lucas' season best at 2:00.06.
Singleton has one of the best chances to score for the team. Her top time of 2:15.89 ranks 11th in the league this spring.
Junior
Jarrett Forrest and sophomore
Peyton Fairchild will run the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which will begin at 8:50 p.m. ET. Both are ranked among the conference's top eight, with Forrest's mark of 9:54.41 leading the way in fifth.
Freshman
Abby Taylor will also compete in the steeplechase. Her race begins at 9:10 p.m. ET. She has the 11th-best time in the OVC this year at 12:18.80.
Competition concludes on Saturday. Because of only a single-heat's worth of entries, there will be no preliminary races in the 1,500m. Therefore, everyone will advance to the finals which will begin at 1:50 p.m. for the men and 2 p.m. for the women. Singleton is MSU's lone entry. Her fastest time this season is a 4:41.98, which is 15th-fastest in the league.
Four finals with previous-day qualification races will follow. The women's 100m will be at 3 p.m. ET, with the men's 800m at 3:10 p.m. ET and the women's 800m at 3:15 p.m. ET. The 200m rounds out the group at 3:50 p.m. ET.
Dixon will have seven representatives in the 5,000-meter run. Sophomore
Justin Bland, junior
Justin Chavez, Stewart and redshirt sophomore
Garrett Watts will go first at 4 p.m. ET. Sophomore
Cloe Copas, sophomore
Isabella Copher and Tarlton will follow with their race at 4:45 p.m.
The 4x400m relay ends the meet. The men will run at 5:15 p.m. ET and the women at 5:25 p.m. ET. Gray, Grogan, Lucas and Cook are entered in the men's race.
A quintet of notable Eagles will not be running for various reasons, including junior
Kyle Embry, sophomore
Jacob Vogelpohl, sophomore
Megan Bush, junior
Riliegh Owens and redshirt junior
Mary Alice Thornburg.
Dixon highlighted the team's best opportunities to collect points.
"Jarrett and Peyton are looking good in the steeple. Lucy is in the 1500m and 800m, and she should have a shot at scoring in both," he said. "Laikin and Kyler are both in the 10K, and that should be good for both of them. Garrett, in the 5K, has a shot of scoring as well. I'd like to see Toby and Wes do well in the 800m as well."
Live results and updated scoring will be available at the link:
http://www.cfpitiming.com/2023_Outdoor_Season/OVC_OTF_2023/OVC_Outdoor_2023.html
All three days of the meet will be broadcast on ESPN+. Day one can be found on the link:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=b17fa2dd-2f53-472e-b299-a065251d5d7e. The day two link is:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=f8be41ff-e2dc-45ef-bb41-7f22e7c50625. The day three link is:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=0116d1f3-6c7d-4142-aa98-f6a6527d44c4.
