MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State track and field team's third trip in three years to Bellarmine did not yield any titles, but it did feature multiple personal bests, according to head coach
Clay Dixon. Included among those were performances by senior
Kyle Embry, junior
Megan Bush and freshman
Keghan Thompson.
Although it has had different names in the past, this year's meet was titled the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic and took place on Friday at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville.
"Overall, a pretty decent day. We had approximately 12-13 personal bests out of roughly 33-34 competitors on our team. So, we're looking at roughly 30% of the team having really great days, and for many others. they had solid races, just not personal bests," Dixon said. "Kyle went for it and came out with a 'pr'. He has been looking good in the middle distances this season. Keghan has been progressing well, I think he has a bright future."
Unfortunately, none of the Eagles finished on the podium, so neither team scored.
Southeast Missouri came away with both team titles.
On the men's side, the Redhawks collected 102 points, followed by Tennessee State (75.5); Miami, Ohio (57); Western Illinois (54); the University of the Cumberlands, Ky. (52.5); Southern Illinois (49); Lipscomb (35); UT Martin (25); Belmont (24); Bellarmine and Marshall (22); Louisville (19); Eastern Kentucky (12); SIUE (11); Evansville (10); Xavier, Ohio (seven); Western Kentucky (five); and Vincennes, Ind. (three). Murray State, Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana did not score.
The Redhawk women tallied 92 points; with Murray State (81.33); Belmont (66); Marshall (64); Miami, Ohio (59.33); Western Illinois (47.5); Louisville (46.5); Lipscomb (43.5); Northern Kentucky (23.33); the University of the Cumberlands, Ky. and Western Kentucky (18.5); Tennessee State (17); SIUE (15.5); Southern Illinois (14); Jacksonville State (13); Bellarmine (10); Evansville and UT Martin (eight); Eastern Kentucky and Xavier, Ohio (six); IUPUI (three) and Southern Indiana (one), rounding out the field.
One of the day's best performances came from Bush as the lone MSU entry in the open 3,000-meter run. She finished seventh in her heat and 19th overall in 10:56.77. It bested her previous "pr" of 11:26.80, which she set two weeks ago at the Marshall Alumni Classic, and made her the Eagles' only sub 11-minute 3K runner in the last five years, besides senior
Laikin Tarlton.
"Going from 11:26 just two weeks ago to 10:56 was super exciting. I went into the race knowing it was going to be competitive, and being able to stay with the pack during the race really helped me out," Bush said. "I went in with a goal to run 44-45 seconds each lap and ended up surprising myself every time Coach Dixon yelled out a 42 or a 43 for the lap. I stayed connected the whole race and even made some ground towards the end. It really was a perfect race considering my original goal was an 11:15. I could not ask for anything different today."
In a highly-competitive heat that featured seven sub 11-minute times and included a winning mark of 10:36.69, Bush realized during the race that she would need to stay near the pack to have a chance of meeting her goals. A late surge even moved her up a few spots.
"I started in around the ninth-10th spot and finished out in seventh for the heat the last 400 meters," she added. "I knew I needed to stay connected with the small group in front of me or I would have fallen off. I kept a solid 15 meters of distance behind the front group, but I didn't let it get any further than that."
The best finish of the day belonged to Tarlton, who was 11th in the invitational 3,000m. She covered the distance in 10:40.00. Last year, she was 13th in 10:47.78.
The men's 3,000m also featured several impressive performances.
Embry topped the Eagles by placing 18th in 8:31.38. His previous "pr" was an 8:33.84 set last year at the same meet when he finished eighth. Senior
Peyton Fairchild was next (36th) in 8:58.78. At the 2023 competition, he was 45th in 9:21.10.
Thompson noted that he dropped nearly a minute off his best performance from high school, finishing 43rd in 9:06.55.
"It gave me a lot of motivation for the rest of the indoor and outdoor season," he said.
Senor
Kyler Stewart claimed 45th in 9:07.11, with fifth-year runner
Jarrett Forrest in 50th in 9:15.92 and senior
Justin Bland in 59th in 9:26.52.
The mile featured some solid performances. Junior
Lucy Singleton finished in 22nd in 5:07.40. It was just off her "pr' of 5:06.60, which according to Dixon was the second-fastest mark in school history and was set about three weeks ago at the Marshall Alumni Classic -- her last outing at that distance.
Freshman
Taylor Allen was the next Eagle to cross the line, taking 48th in 5:20.91. Sophomore
Abby Taylor (56th in 5:30.48), sophomore
Kaylyn Holman (70th in 5:47.71), junior
Cloe Copas (75th in 5:55.49), freshman
Lani Baskett (76th in 5:56.93) and freshman
Emily Spradlin (81st in 6:11.49) rounded out the MSU contingent. Sophomore
Casey Skaggs was scheduled to run but was a last-minute scratch.
On the men's side, freshman
Armando Montes was 56th in 4:30.79, senior
Alex Murray was 75th in 4:45.17, freshman
Brady Baker was 76th in 4:46.63, freshman
Aidan Whitsell was 78th in 4:47.52 and freshman
Noah Bunting was 80th in 4:53.30.
"Our milers looked pretty good or had some pretty good progress," Dixon said.
Freshman
Garrett West was the lone heat winner on the day. In his 800-meter run, he crossed the line in 2:02.73, capturing the race by 76-hundredths of a second. He placed 34th overall.
"I just barely missed a 'pr', but it felt good leading the race for the second half. (It) definitely has me more confident for upcoming meets," he said.
His strong finish was the difference.
"I had intended to run with the pack until around 600 meters and then kick through the finish, but everyone slowed down after about 300m. So, I had to either take the lead or slow (down) with them," he said. "I just held it from there and kept pretty even splits all the way through. I wasn't really worried about anybody coming up on me."
Senior
Toby Cook was the top Eagle in the event, placing 32nd in 2:01.20. Junior
Sam Lucas was not far behind, capturing 35th in 2:02.83. Junior
Austin Montgomery was 47th in 2:09.98, with freshman
Asher Jack in 52nd in 2:15.83 to round out the team.
Among the women, redshirt junior
Jennifer Ramirez was 55th in 2:39.18, with sophomore
Hope Harris in 67th in 2:50.10 and sophomore
Natalie Curry in 69th in 2:53.27. Redshirt sophomore
Bella Almodovar, was expected to race, but pulled out on Friday.
In the shorter distances, freshman
Derril Carr finished 35th in the 60-meter dash in 7.37 and was 50th in the 200-meter dash in 23.87.
Redshirt junior
Micah Gray was 43rd in the 400-meter dash in 55.49. Freshman
Cheyenne Stark was 50th in the women's quarter mile, circling the track in 1:14.39. She pulled out of the 200m.
Freshman
Cade Sullivan also was supposed to run two events, but withdrew from the 200m after taking 43rd in the 60m in 7.61.
Freshman
Ginger Hayden was scheduled to compete in both the long and triple jumps, but only participated in the former event, where she finished in 30th in 4.71m/15'05.50".
"(The) sprints and jumps are coming along," Dixon said. "We are building this program from scratch and I like the attitude and enthusiasm this group brings to competition and practice."
Morehead State will have one final tune-up for the Ohio Valley Conference Championships, the Marshall Invitational, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9-10. The OVC meet will be Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 21-22 in Birmingham, Ala.
