HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Coach
Clay Dixon called the Morehead State track and field team's performance at Saturday's Marshall Alumni Classic its best at the meet in his five-year tenure.
Although the 12-team competition at the Jeff Small Track in the Chris Cline Indoor Athletics Complex at Marshall was unscored, the Blue and Gold came away with several impressive individual performances throughout its lineup.
Returning from a five-week break from competition for the holidays and with just two days of practice, Eagle athletes scored in six of their 11 events, including winning a pair of heats, and featured 18 top-16 finishes, as well as numerous "pr's" and, according to Dixon, the second-fastest time in the women's mile in MSU history.
In fact, of the 38 total Eagle entries, only nine finished outside of the top 20.
In comparison, last year's top two individuals placed 11th and just seven MSU athletes were in the top 20, among a field that included only seven teams.
Hear Dixon talk about the meet on Twitter (X).
https://bit.ly/427K1EA
It was essentially the season-opener for the two Morehead State squads, since only two individuals competed in two total events at the Marshall Opener on December 8. It also was the second of three meets in which the Eagles will participate at Marshall during the indoor season.
Highlights included second-place finishes from junior
Lucy Singleton (5:06.60) and fifth-year student
Kyle Embry (4:16.07) in the mile, and senior
Laikin Tarlton in the 3,000-meter run (10:14.72).
Freshman
Ginger Hayden qualified for the finals and eventually placed fifth in the long jump (5.07m/16'07.75") in just her second collegiate meet. Redshirt junior
Jacob Vogelpohl was fifth in the men's 3,000m (8:50.82) and freshman
Taylor Allen finished sixth in the mile (5:22.87).
Last year, Singleton was 11th in her race in 5:15.57, which was her previous "pr." Marshall's Kylee Mastin won Saturday's contest in a new meet record of 4:52.98.
Both Singleton's and Embry's marks are the second-fastest in the Ohio Valley Conference this season. According to coach Dixon, Singleton's time was the second-best in school history, trailing only MSU Hall of Famer Hopey Caudill's 4:54.70 in 1981.
Embry's previous "pr" was 4:32.12 set in 2021. He was one of three in his race to surpass the previous meet record of 4:20.96 notched last year by Marshall's Brett Armbruster. Wright State's Noah Sharp won the event in 4:15.36.
Also in the mile, junior
Cloe Copas was 14th in 5:50.82, sophomore
Kaylyn Holman was 17th in 6:04.44, junior
Jennifer Ramirez was 18th in 6:09.41 and sophomore
Casey Skaggs was 19th in 6:09.53. Copas (17th), Holman (22nd) and Ramirez (23rd) all improved their placing over last year's meet. Holman also dropped nearly 24 and a half seconds, with Ramirez slicing off close to 22 seconds, from last January's times.
Among the guys, senior
Toby Cook was 15th in 4:36.23, with freshman
Keghan Thompson in 17th in 4:37.29, senior
Kyler Stewart in 19th in 4:38.55, freshman
Garrett West in 30th in 4:55.10 and fifth-year runner
Jarrett Forrest 31st in 4:55.83.
Hayden's best jump was her first. She sat fourth after the prelims, but fell a spot in the finals. It was the second meet at Marshall in which she finished fifth. At the Marshall Opener in December, she leaped 5.08 meters.
Some of the most amazing individual efforts came from those who did not reach the podium as MSU saved its most exciting performances for its last two events of the day.
Sophomore
Christiana Brittian came from near the middle of the 18-member pack to win her heat of the 3,000m by 11 one-hundredths of a second in 11:18.93. She placed 12th overall.
Listen to Brittian discuss her race on Twitter (X).
https://bit.ly/48U3XxH
Sophomore
Abby Taylor moved up 12 spots and dropped just under 29 seconds from last year's 3,000m at the same meet. She finished in 10th in 11:07.63. Junior
Megan Bush was 16th in 11:26.80, an improvement of 10 places and about 27 and a half seconds off last year's race. Newcomer
Lani Baskett crossed the line in 24th in 11:51.28, with freshman
Emily Spradlin in 28th in 12:55.13.
Freshman
Armando Montes blew away the competition in his section of the 3,000m event. Leading essentially from wire-to-wire, Montes lapped approximately one-third of the field to win his race by nearly 12 and a half seconds in 9:15.29. He finished 19th overall.
Watch Montes describe his race on Twitter (X).
https://bit.ly/48XfdbT
Also in the men's event, senior
Peyton Fairchild was 13th in 9:04.00. Classmates
Justin Bland was 26th in 9:22.29 and
Alex Murray was 28th in 9:25.69. Freshmen
Aidan Whitsell (39th in 9:34.60) and
Noah Bunting (40th in 9:35.64), and junior
Sam Lucas (41st in 9:37.44) rounded out the Eagle contingent.
Cade Sullivan, who just joined the squad from the football team, finished 19th in the 200-meter run (24.35) and 22nd in the 60-meter run (7.51). He was third in his heat of the 200m and fifth in his 60m section.
Another newcomer,
Cheyenne Stark, placed 12th in the 400-meter dash in 1:12.54. Redshirt sophomore
Micah Gray (11th in 55.16) and newcomer
Derril Carr (14th in 57.65) were MSU's entrants in the men's race.
Six Eagles competed in the 800-meter run. The three women finished next to each other. Sophomore
Hope Harris was 16th in 2:53.46, sophomore
Natalie Curry was 17th in 3:00.91 and redshirt freshman
Bella Almodovar was 18th in 3:03.08. It was the first collegiate race for Almodovar, who missed the entire cross country season with injuries.
Freshman
Brady Baker was 15th in his event in 2:10.59, with junior
Austin Montgomery taking 16th in 2:12.81 and freshman
Asher Jack in 20th in 2:20.38.
A change in the schedule has the Eagles returning to action on Friday at the Youngstown State Collegiate Invitational presented by Southwoods Health in Youngstown, Ohio.
