MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State senior
Toby Cook won his first-ever outdoor race on Saturday at the Northern Kentucky University Inaugural Norse Track Invitational presented by Biggby Coffee Cold Spring and City Barbeque Highland Heights on the Dave Schuh Track at Bishop Brossart High School in Alexandria, Ky.
Cook covered the course in the 800-meter run in 1:57.81 to lead a pack of four Eagles, who all finished in the top eight. Cook ran in the fast heat and beat Northern Kentucky's Thomas Gray-Torsell and MSU freshman teammate
Armando Montes over the line. Gray-Torsell finished in 1:58.48 to take second, with Montes coming in at 1:58.98 to claim third.
Although he was not particularly pleased with his time, it was his first collegiate outdoor victory and the first time this spring an Eagle won an event. Adding to the specialness of the occasion, Cook was running near his hometown of Covington, Ky., and had family in attendance to watch his race.
"My grandpa, my parents and one of my sisters were able to make it out to watch. I didn't feel great going into the race, but God is good, and it was in his will for me to win today," he said. "It's my last season, so it was fun to get my first outdoor win."
Cook previously won the 800m at the Feb. 11, 2023, Marshall Invitational, but his best outdoor finish was second in the 800m at the 2023 Liberty Twilight Qualifier and the 1,500-meter run at the 2023 Centre Twilight.
"I wasn't feeling great, so I let someone lead for about the first 370 (meters), but then I decided it was time to go," he added. "My 'pr' is about two seconds faster than anyone else in the field, so I knew I would be able to go without too much of a fight from anyone else."
Cook was not the only standout. Junior
Lucy Singleton placed in both of her individual races. Thu dual event slate was a tune-up for later in the year when she is expected to compete in two competitions at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships.
Singleton was fourth in the Munninghoff mile in 5:06.78 and fifth in the 800m in 2:21.17. She just missed setting a "pr" in the mile (5:06.60).
"The mile went good. I've not been running well because I'm dealing with some injuries, so it was nice to finally feel more like myself racing again and to get my legs back under me. The 800m went about as expected considering I had just run the mile and, with the injuries, I was happy to compete and finish," she said. "My times weren't where I wanted them, but (I'm) still happy with both despite everything and am satisfied with how today went. We also had a couple girls and guys 'pr', so all around was a decent day for the team!"
She was particularly pleased with her mile race.
"Definitely the mile, the 800m was up in the air and was there if I felt good enough to race it. I ended up feeling good enough to race, but it wasn't near my best and I was more focused on just running and finishing the race," she said of which event she favored. "The mile, however, went well. Going in, I wasn't sure how it was going to go for me and where I was going to be at shape-wise because of dealing with my injuries. So, my plan was to stay connected with the front pack on the back end and respond when they made a move and (try) to avoid getting boxed in. I was able to do that and ended up with a good race and a decent time!"
Singleton's 800m-mile double was part of a bigger plan for the meet by head coach
Clay Dixon.
"Yeah, it was a good day. We are really training through today and used it as a day to either do a different event or to just refine a few techniques. We had some pretty tough workouts this week. (I'm) glad to see some solid performances, even after this week of training," he said. "We used today to work on our 4x4(00-meter relay) groups. I think we have a better understanding of who our best 400m runners are."
Dixon only entered competitors in 11 events, so scoring was not a priority. Consequently, the men tied for sixth in the final standings with 61 points. Likewise, the women finished seventh with 30 points.
Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) won the men's competition with 95 points, edging Xavier (Ohio), which finished with 94 points. Host Northern Kentucky was third with 68 points, followed by Brescia, Ky. (67), Thomas More, Ky. (65), Wright State (61) and Kentucky Christian (43).
On the women's side, Northern Kentucky tallied 168 points to claim the title at its first-ever home meet. Thomas More, Ky., was second with 101.50 points, followed by Brescia, Ky. (83), Wright State (75.50), Xavier, Ohio (74), Mount St. Joseph, Ohio (47) and Kentucky Christian (26).
Morehead State took four of the eight podium spots in two races, the men's 800m and men's Munninghoff mile.
Behind Cook and Montes in the 800m, freshman
Garrett West finished fifth in 1:59.26, with freshman
Brady Baker in eighth in 2:01.65 and junior
Sam Lucas in ninth in 2:05.26. West cracked the two-minute barrier for the first time. His previous best mark was a 2:01.31. Baker also carved time off his "pr", dropping 2.65 seconds. Freshman
Asher Jack did not finish his race.
Senior
Kyle Embry was the top Eagle in the mile. He covered the course in 4:25.86 to place third, with redshirt junior
Jacob Vogelpohl in fourth in 4:30.91, freshman
Keghan Thompson in seventh in 4:36.53, senior
Kyler Stewart in eighth in 4:38.10, senior
Justin Bland in 11th in 4:40.03, senior
Alex Murray in 18th in 4:45.18, freshman
Aidan Whitsell in 19th in 4:45.76, junior
Austin Montgomery in 20th in 4:49.08 and freshman
Noah Bunting in 22nd in 4:50.44. Thompson (76-hundredths of a second), Stewart (45-hundredths of a second), Whitsell (1.76 seconds) and Bunting (2.86 seconds) all set new "pr's". Murray was one one-hundredth of a second off his.
Singleton was the top finisher in both of her races. In the 800m, sophomore
Kaylyn Holman was ninth in 2:27.29, with freshman
Taylor Allen in 10th in 2:28.87, redshirt junior
Jennifer Ramirez in 14th in 2:33.77, sophomore
Hope Harris in 20th in 2:46.71, freshman
Emily Spradlin in 22nd in 2:48.52 and sophomore
Natalie Curry in 23rd in 2:55.31. Ramirez sliced five one-hundredths of a second off her "pr".
Junior
Cloe Copas was a scratch in both the 800m and mile. However, she did compete in the 5,000-meter run and placed fourth in 20:41.81. Senior
Laikin Tarlton was a scratch in that event.
In the mile, Tarlton was 13th in 5:26.27, sophomore
Abby Taylor was 15th in 5:29.87, redshirt sophomore
Megan Bush was 25th in 5:44.90, freshman
Lani Baskett was 33rd in 6:13.40 and sophomore
Casey Skaggs was 34th in 6:21.50. Taylor's time was a "pr".
Fifth-year runner
Jarrett Forrest tied for the second-best Eagle finish on the day, after placing third in the 5,000m in 15:35.87. Senior
Peyton Fairchild was not far back in fifth in 15:45.87. Both were personal bests. Forrest improved his by just under 19 seconds, while Fairchild did so by a little over nine seconds.
Freshman
Derril Carr made the podium for the first time in his short career, by taking seventh in the 100-meter dash in 11.29. His classmate,
Cade Sullivan, was 11th in 11.47.
Freshman
Ginger Hayden was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 5.03m/16'06.00". Hayden's official mark tied for third with Wright State's Melissa Siler, but Siler's second-best jump of 5.01/16'05.25" was farther than Hayden's (4.83/15'10.25"), thus breaking the tie.
Freshman
Cheyenne Stark was 23td in the 200-meter run, finishing in 23rd in 28.85.
MSU entered two men's and two women's 4x400-meter relays for the first time this year. The women's foursome of Allen, Tarlton, Bush and Taylor placed fifth in 4:29.74; while Holman, Ramirez, Stark and Spradlin were sixth in 4:34.60. The men's combination of redshirt junior
Micah Gray, Sullivan, Montes and Whitsell was fifth in 3:35.91; while Carr, Baker, Lucas and West were sixth in 3:36.25.
Morehead State's next meet will be the Jim Green Invitational at Kentucky on Friday and Saturday, April 19-20 in Lexington, Ky.
