MOREHEAD, Ky. – Buoyed by the performance of sophomore
Abby Taylor, the Morehead State women's outdoor track & field team had most of the Eagle standouts on Friday in Day 1 of the 49er Classic at the Irwin Bell Track & Field Center in Charlotte, N.C.
MSU set four "pr's" and all were achieved by women.
Taylor set a new personal best by nearly nine seconds in the 5,000-meter run after placing eighth in 18:37.91 in the open race.
It was the third straight meet she has dropped time in the 5K.
"The last 5K I ran was a 25-second 'pr' at the indoor Marshall meet in 18:46 and my previous 5K was at the indoor Youngstown meet where I ran a 19:23," she said.
"My goal going into this race was to run as close to an 18:30 as possible," she continued. "My plan was to run with the lead pack for as long as possible. I started out with the front pack sitting in the top 10 for the first half of the race and trying to run 88-90-second laps throughout the race. The last mile was tough. As the race spread out, I had to run solo for a mile and try to catch the girls ahead of me. This led to my finish in eighth."
Taylor's teammate, junior
Megan Bush, also set a "pr" in the race. She finished in 12th in 18:54.45. Her previous best 5,000m time was 18:55.34.
The Eagle men also performed well in the 5,000m.
Senior
Kyler Stewart finished in 14th in 15:18.25. Freshman
Keghan Thompson was 44th in 16:09.73.
"Abby had a good personal best as (did) Megan," MSU coach
Clay Dixon said. "Kyler looked good for an outdoor opener."
Fifth-year runner
Jarrett Forrest and senior
Peyton Fairchild ran the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time since the pair finished fifth and sixth, respectively, at the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Championships. On Friday, Forrest placed 10th in 9:48.33 and Fairchild 11th in 9:51.03.
"Steeple was good. Jarrett and Peyton are pretty much right where they left off last season," Dixon said.
Dixon also was pleased with the efforts of the team's 1,500-meter runners. Junior
Lucy Singleton was the top finisher, placing 21st in 4:45.23. Freshman
Taylor Allen was next among the women by claiming 52nd in 4:56.37. Sophomore
Kaylyn Holman (79th in 5:06.85) and junior
Cloe Copas (88th in 5:21.10) rounded out the Eagle women. Holman set a new "pr" in just over 22 seconds.
Senior
Toby Cook paced the men, crossing the line in 36th in 4:03.60. Freshman
Armando Montes was 60th in 4:11.90, with freshman
Garrett West in 72nd in 4:14.55 and senior
Justin Bland in 74th in 4:15.73.
"I thought our 1,500s looked good," Dixon said. "I think Taylor and Kaylyn stood out the most with their progress from indoor to outdoor."
Freshman
Ginger Hayden notched a personal best in the long jump after leaping 5.15m (16'10.75") to capture 13th. Her previous best mark was a 5.08m (16'08.00") during the indoor campaign.
The sprinters opened the day by running the 100-meter dash. Freshman
Derril Carr was 59th in 11.55 and freshman
Cade Sullivan was 64th in 11.73.
In the women's 400-meter dash, freshman
Cheyenne Stark was 66th in 1:08.33 and freshman
Emily Spradlin was 68th in 1:09.72. On the men's side, redshirt junior
Micah Gray posted his fastest mark of the year (including the indoor season) with a 54.45. He placed 72nd. Junior
Sam Lucas followed in 55.67 to take 79th and freshman
Brady Baker, running his first long sprint, crossed the line in 56.07 to claim 81st.
"Sprints have made some solid progress as well," Dixon said. "Cheyenne made some good improvements and Ginger had her best long jump performance."
Twenty-five Eagles will compete in nine events on Saturday.
The first field event is the men's shot put, which starts at 10 a.m. The first race on the track is the women's 4x100-meter relay at noon.
The Eagles will begin with Hayden in the triple jump, which is slated to start at 11:30 a.m.
There will be a short break before the women's 800-meter run takes place at 12:45 p.m. Sophomores
Natalie Curry and
Hope Harris, redshirt junior
Jennifer Ramirez and Singleton are the Eagle entries. The men follow at 1:05 p.m. with the quartet of Baker, Cook, Lucas and Montes, who will all be competing in their second race of the meet.
The sprinters return to action with the 200-meter dash. Stark will run at 1:40 p.m., while Carr and Sullivan will both toe the starting line at 2:35 p.m.
The 3,000-meter run is the meet's final individual event. Freshman
Lani Baskett, sophomore
Casey Skaggs and Spradlin will race at 3:30 p.m., with the men's version starting at 3:45 p.m., and include senior
Alex Murray, and freshmen
Aidan Whitsell and
Noah Bunting.
A race rarely run on the collegiate level will end the day for the Eagles. Allen, Copas, Holman and Ramirez will combine to compete in the women's 4x800-meter relay at 4:10 p.m. The men's event will begin at 4:25 p.m. and feature Bland, Gray, Thompson and West. The lineup of each foursome will be a race-day decision for Dixon.
The meet concludes with the women's and men's 4x400-meter relays at 4:40 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
Results can be found at the link:
https;//Flashresults.com/2024_Meets/Outdoor?03-14_49erClassic/index.htm.
Morehead State will return to competition on Friday, March 22, when it travels to Richmond for the EKU Spring Meet.
