Day 1 story
MOREHEAD, Ky. – One day after the Morehead State's women's outdoor track and field team stood out in the 49er Classic at the Irwin Bell Track & Field Center on the campus of UNC Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C., it was the men who stepped up their performance on Saturday's final day of action.
The Eagle men's 4x800-meter relay team of freshman
Garrett West, senior
Justin Bland, redshirt junior
Micah Gray and freshman
Keghan Thompson covered the course of the unique collegiate event in 8:29.33 to finish in eighth place.
"I opened the race out pretty hard and started us in a pretty good spot. Justin had a pretty good leg too, especially considering he doesn't hasn't run an 800m in a few years. Micah had a decent split, and this is the furthest race he's had all season. Keghan finished us off strong after his 5K last night," noted West. "All in all, for a team of mostly non-800 runners, I'd say it was a pretty good 4x800 time."
According to West, the team held its spot for most the way.
"I think we stayed in eighth for most of the race, maybe (we) moved up or down one place throughout but no major moves," he added.
The eighth-place finish matched MSU's top result from Friday's first day of competition in the 44-team meet.
One day after not posting a single "pr", the Eagle men had half of the 10 season-bests on Saturday.
Highlighting the group was the performance of the sprinters. Both
Derril Carr and
Cade Sullivan blew away their previous best marks. In the 200-meter dash, Carr, a freshman, finished 68th in 23.28, while classmate Sullivan was 78th in 23.99. Carr dropped about six-tenths of a second, while Sullivan cropped off 35-hundredth of a second off their respective indoor times.
They were not the only sprinters to shatter their "pr's". Freshman
Cheyenne Stark also achieved the feat in the 200m, after placing 88th in a time of 28.78, slicing a little over two-tenths of a second off her top mark.
Five of the eight Eagles in the 800-meter run set new "pr's". Junior
Lucy Singleton led the pack, placing 13th in 2:18.49, while redshirt junior
Jennifer Ramirez followed in 43trd in 2:34.08, with sophomore
Hope Harris in 60th in 2:49.84 and sophomore
Natalie Curry in 62nd in 2:51.81. Ramirez had the biggest drop at 5.10 seconds, with Curry shaving off 1.46 seconds and Harris slicing off .26 seconds.
Among the men, freshman
Armando Montes continued his outstanding meet by crossing the line in 28th with a time of 1:57.52 (a "pr" of 2.07 seconds), with senior
Toby Cook in 41st in 1:59.69, junior
Sam Lucas in 58th in 2:03.83 and freshman
Brady Baker in 68th in 2:05.96 (a "pr" of 4.63 seconds).
One day after bettering her career-best mark in the long jump, freshman
Ginger Hayden placed 14th in the triple jump with a leap of 10.58m/34'08.50".
The 3,000-meter run closed out MSU's individual events. Freshman
Lani Baskett led a trio of Eagles by claiming 20th in 12:15.51. She was followed by
Emily Spradlin, who set a new personal best by 32.83 seconds, taking 21st in 12:22.30. Sophomore
Casey Skaggs finished 23rd in 12:57.82.
Freshman
Noah Bunting cut 7.58 seconds off his time from the indoor season in placing 24th in 9:28.06 in the men's 3,000m race. Senior
Alex Murray crossed the line in 25th in 9:31.67, with freshman
Aidan Whitsell in 31st in 9:47.04.
The women's 4x800m relay team of freshman
Taylor Allen, sophomore
Kaylyn Holman, junior
Cloe Copas and Ramirez did not have the same level of success as its male counterpart, placing 10th in 10:21.93.
Overall, coach
Clay Dixon thought it was a good weekend for the Eagles.
"I was happy with how we opened the season. Most people picked up right where we finished indoor at or even progressed some," he said. "I think a few more weeks and we will see continued progress."
Morehead State will return to the track in six days for the EKU Spring Meet in Richmond.
