MOREHEAD, Ky. – After just three races, the Morehead State track and field team has already matched its point total from last year at the conclusion of Day 1 of the three-day Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championship at the Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Behind the efforts of
Kyler Stewart, the men got off to a tremendous start as the sophomore placed seventh in Thursday's 10,000-meter run. Running his first 10K of the year, Stewart crossed the line in 32:42.63 to edge Eastern Illinois' Michael Atkins by 17-hundredths of a second.
Stewart was ecstatic after his race.
"I was really happy with how this race went. This was my first 10K on the track, but I was confident in how I would do based off of my previous 5K races this season," he said. "My strategy for the race was to pace my laps for 76-80 seconds."
His strategy paid off.
"The start of the race went out pretty fast for the first lap. I held back and stayed reserved because I knew I had a lot more racing to go still. Throughout the race I did my best to maintain contact with the front pack and I held good placement for the first half of the race," he said. "With 12 laps to go, I was feeling (the mental anguish of) the miles (still) to go, but I held on and made sure to gradually catch a few people at a time."
Sitting just outside of a top-eight finish, Stewart made a late move in the race.
"My coaches and teammates were telling me who to overtake and they eventually told me to go for the racer in eighth so I could score points," he said. "In the last mile of the race, I closed in on the eighth-place runner. I closed the last lap in 64 seconds, I think, and I was just able to beat out the eighth-place runner.
"I finished with a 32:42 which was exactly what I was wanting to hit. And that was my ambitious goal too," he added. "I was really happy with how the race went overall. (t was) definitely one of my best races (that) I've ever run."
According to MSU coach
Clay Dixon, Stewart sat in 12th place for the first half of the race and gradually moved his way up, picking off one runner at a time until he finished.
"Kyler ran a perfectly-paced race. He trusted his gut and he closed hard. On his 23rd lap of 25, he started speeding up and I said, 'That red guy right there is points, go after him,'" he said. "The icing on the cake was closing in that last lap and he caught that EIU kid. Kyler said it was the best race of his life and I agree. (I think) he's got more in him."
Southern Indiana senior Noah Hufnagel won the event in 31:00.10.
On the last race of the night, sophomore
Laikin Tarlton hit the track for her 10K race. Like Stewart, it worked out perfectly.
Yet unlike Stewart, who came from behind and picked off runners one-by-one, Tarlton was in the lead pack right from the start and held on while the other racers fell off.
"My main focus was just to stay in contact with the front pack and stay controlled, but engaged, through the first four miles. Then the last one to two (miles) were just going to be a push to the finish," she said. "I'm really happy with how I did, considering it's my first time running the event and it was pretty muggy tonight."
Tarlton held off Tennessee Tech's Madilyn Long down the stretch to finish in fourth with a time of 38:13.55. Long was fifth in 38:20.60. Eastern Illinois sophomore Mackenzie Aldridge captured the win in 36:51.04.
"She just sat in the pack the entire race. After five laps, she was in 15th. After 10 laps she was in 12th. After 20 laps she was in eighth," Dixon said. "At that point I thought she was in a great spot and I said, 'If you want fifth place get that girl. If you want fourth place get that girl.' She just kept pushing, ran the race of her life, and closed hard and held off everybody. I'm impressed with how she's progressed this entire season."
Stewart and Tarlton's results marked the first time MSU had scored in the 10K since Jarrett Mattingly took fourth in the 2021 meet and Gloria Corona-Luna placed fifth in 2019. It was the first time either Stewart or Tarlton scored at the conference outdoor meet.
The day opened with freshman
Natalia Davis and junior
Tayla Lee in the 200-meter dash. Davis finished 24th in 27.53, while Lee was 25th in 28.76.
"I wish (the sprinters) could have ended on a higher note. They were in better shape than they think they are," Dixon said. "Both had weak starts. We've got work to do in that group. It will be a major focus over the summer. We're also bringing in new sprinters and will be building that group up."
After Day 1, the Eagle women sit in fifth place with five points. Southeast Missouri leads the way with 54 points, followed by Little Rock (40), Eastern Illinois (34) and Lindenwood (14). Tennessee Tech is in sixth with four points. Southern Indiana is seventh with three points and Tennessee State is eighth with one point. SIUE and UT Martin have yet to score.
The Eagle men are seventh place with two points, leading Tennessee State and UT Martin, who have zero points. Tennessee Tech does not field a men's team.
Southeast Missouri also paces the men, having scored 74 points. Eastern Illinois is second with 29 points, followed by Little Rock (21), Lindenwood (11), Southern Indiana (10) and SIUE (six).
The Blue and Gold return Friday for Day 2. The meet will begin with the decathlon's 110-meter hurdles at 10 a.m. ET.
Nine Eagles will be in action, including Davis, who will start the day for the squad in the 100-meter dash prelims at 7:55 p.m.
Redshirt freshman
Micah Gray; plus sophomores
Wes Grogan,
Toby Cook and
Sam Lucas will be in the 800-meter run which begins at 8:15 p.m. ET. Sophomore
Lucy Singleton will follow as the lone Eagle woman in her 800m event. That race will start at 8:30 p.m. ET. Both sets of competitions will be preliminaries. The finals will include the individuals with the top eight times and will take place on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. ET and 3:15 p.m. ET, respectively.
Capping off the night will be a trio of Blue and Gold entries in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Junior
Jarrett Forrest and sophomore
Peyton Fairchild will run at 8:50 p.m. ET, with freshman
Abby Taylor following in the women's competition at 9:10 p.m. ET.
Fans can follow Friday's action in two ways. Live results will be posted online at:
http://www.cfpitiming.com/2023_Outdoor_Season/OVC_OTF_2023/OVC_Outdoor_2023.html, while those who wish to watch the meet on ESPN+ can view it at:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=f8be41ff-e2dc-45ef-bb41-7f22e7c50625.
The meet will conclude on Saturday, with the Eagles first running at 1:50 p.m. ET.
