DAY 1 STORY
MOREHEAD, Ky. – In a meet filed with multiple major college programs, Morehead State track and field only had a few performances that placed it on the podium on Saturday. However, that did not mean that the Eagles did not have success on Day 2 of the Jim Green Invitational at the UK Track and Field Complex on the Kentucky campus in Lexington, Ky.
"We had some mixed results, but overall (it was) a positive experience," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon.
Day 1 featured eight season bests and the Eagles built on that in Day 2 with eight more, particularly in the shorter races, although many of the "pr's" were incremental improvements.
Dixon pointed out many of the top performances spread out over the two days.
"Highlights are Kaylyn (Holman) going sub-five (minutes) in the 1,500m, Abby (Taylor) doing well in the steeple(chase), Armando (Montes) running a personal best in the 800m, and I believe Derril (Carr) ran (an MSU all-time) top-five performance (in the 100-meter dash) in our recently revived sprints program," he said. "I'm happy to see continued progress and excited to see more next week at EKU."
Montes had an impressive weekend, setting two "pr's". On Friday, he dropped more than four seconds off his top time in the 1,500-meter run and then on Saturday, he followed by cropping just over a second from his previous best 800-meter run effort.
"It was super spooky, I hit a home run through lap one. Then the crowd started whispering in my ear the last 200m. I knew I was toast when the sun started talking to me," he said referring to his 800m and using metaphors to describe his second-lap struggles. "I am happy, but it was rough."
Montes finished ninth in 1:56.46.
His strategy was to get out quickly and try to maintain his position, which is generally what he did.
"I made a move (with) 300 (meters remaining) that really hurt my last 200m," he admitted.
Freshman
Garrett West continued the team's solid outing in the 800m, by placing 13th in 1:59.22, while freshman
Brady Baker was 19th in 2:02.90. Junior
Sam Lucas was slated to run the event but did not start.
Junior
Lucy Singleton was one of three Eagle entries to earn a spot on the podium. She finished eighth in the 800m. She improved her time by five-hundredths of a second, crossing the line in 2:18.03.
Singleton has been saddled with leg issues this spring that have hampered her performance.
"It was the best I've felt physically all season since dealing with injuries, so I am happy with that," she said. "I was in the second heat and was the fastest seed in the heat, so knew going in it would be me against the clock. I came out a little fast in the first lap; I feel like if I had some girls in front of me to race and hang on to, I could've kept more consistent on my second lap and pulled my time down more. But given the circumstances, I'm happy with the outcome and it's a step in the right direction."
She did win her heat by 1.15 seconds over Northern Kentucky's Grace Biddle, who finished 11th overall.
Sophomore
Kaylyn Holman was one of three to set two "pr's" on the weekend. She finished 28th in the 800m in 2:27.05, an improvement of 24-hundredths of a second, one day after dropping nearly five seconds off her previous best and breaking five minutes for the first time in the 1,500m.
Redshirt junior
Jennifer Ramirez was 37th overall in the former event in 2:34.16, with freshman
Lani Baskett in 42nd in 2:40.11 and sophomore
Natalie Curry in 45th in 2:59.27.
Senior
Kyler Stewart led the Eagles in the 5,000-meter run, taking eighth after covering the distance in 15:19.78.
No MSU competitor had a more significant drop in "pr" than senior
Peyton Fairchild. He was 10th in 15:24.04. His previous top time was 15:45.87. Redshirt junior
Jacob Vogelpohl and fifth-year runner
Jarrett Forrest finished back-to-back behind Fairchild in 11th and 12th, respectively. Vogelpohl was clocked in 15:29.30, with Forrest notching a 15:35.31, which was a new "pr" by just over half a second.
Senior
Justin Bland claimed 17th in that race in 16:00.22, while freshman
Keghan Thompson was 20th in 16:09.14. Freshman
Noah Bunting followed in 21st in 16:35.56, with senior
Alex Murray in 22nd in 16:37.36 and freshman
Aidan Whitsell in 24th in 16:55.01.
Senior
Laikin Tarlton was 14th in the women's 5,000m in 19:08.35, with redshirt sophomore
Megan Bush 18th in 19:30.09.
Freshman
Derril Carr also set two "pr's". On Friday, he ran the 200-meter dash in 23.28. On Saturday, he continued his time-trimming by running the 100-meter dash in 11.27. It was an improvement by 12-hundredths of a second. In a loaded field, he finished 39th. Freshman teammate
Cade Sullivan was disqualified after a false start.
Redshirt junior
Micah Gray cropped 43-hundredths of a second off his "pr" in the 400-meter dash. He placed 43rd in 52.69. Freshman
Cheyenne Stark fell just short of setting a new personal best in her 400m race. She was 54th in 1:07.54.
The Eagles had two entries in the 4x400-meter relay. The men's foursome of Gray, Lucas, Sullivan and Carr was MSU's highest finisher, taking seventh in 3:38.53. The women's quartet of Stark, Holman, Ramirez and Curry placed 11th in 4:47.19.
One day after reaching 17 feet for the first time in the long jump, freshman
Ginger Hayden recorded a leap of 33'04.75" (10.18m) in the triple jump, which put her 20th.
The Eagles have one more tune-up before heading to the Ohio Valley Conference Championships in early May. That meet is Eastern Kentucky's Rick Erdmann Invitational, which will take place next Friday and Saturday in Richmond, Ky.
