MOREHEAD, Ky. – It has been nine years since a Morehead State female recorded a top-three finish at the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Now, a new streak has begun, as junior
Lucy Singleton placed third in the finals of Saturday's Day 3 of the OVC Championships by breaking her own school record in the 1,500-meter run by 82-hundredths of a second in 4:34.17 at Eastern Illinois' O'Brien Field in Charleston, Ill.
"I'm really happy with my race. We took it out kinda slow starting out. I didn't want to take the lead going out because of the wind. With a lap to go, I made my move and just gave it all I had and hung on as long as I could," she said. "(I) came out with a 'pr' and a podium finish, so (I) couldn't be happier!"
Eagle women have had two fourth-place finishes in the past nine years, including sophomore
Abby Taylor yesterday in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but Singleton became the first to move up a step since Alex Morris won the 5,000-meter run in 2015.
"Lucy ran a perfect race. She sat on the leader the entire race, made a move at 300 (meters) to go and was in the lead. She pushed hard but finished third," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "(I'm) super proud of her and the support from the team. We had some major mid-season struggles with injuries, but we got that taken care of and her hard work paid off."
Eastern Illinois freshman Brenda Torres won the event in 4:33.20. She was eighth in the prelims in 4:46.94. Eastern Illinois senior Sarah Carr was second in 4:34.06. Like Torres, she came from down the list in the prelims, having claimed seventh in 4:46.77. Singleton was the top finisher in the prelims with a time of 4:41.53.
Although she was edged by Carr at the line by 11-hundredths of a second, Singleton's 4:34.17 beat her pre-meet "pr" of 4:34.97, which she set two weeks ago in a meet at Eastern Kentucky. Western Illinois junior Maleigha Huston, who finished just behind Singleton in the prelims (4:41.57), took fourth in 4:35.69.
Carr entered the meet with the fastest time (4:34.19), with Huston second (4:34.90) and Singleton third.
Senior
Kyle Embry capped off his career by taking 11th in the 1,500m in 3:59.27. For the second straight time in the event, he recorded a "pr", after having placed 11th in Thursday's prelims in 4:01.86.
Little Rock senior Andrew Payton came away with the victory in 3:52.03.
Embry entered the meet with a season-best time of 4:02.64 and was ranked 30th in the conference. It was his third OVC Outdoor Championship, having previously finished 13th (4:03.24) in 2022 and 14th (4:02.72) in 2021. He missed last year's competition with an injury.
"Kyle ran with the group," Dixon said. "(He) was in the mix the entire way and just didn't have it at the finish."
Morehead State's best men's result of the day came in the 4x400-meter relay. The Eagles had to make a late lineup switch when redshirt junior
Micah Gray elected not to run.
The foursome of freshman
Derril Carr, sophomore
Garrett West, sophomore
Armando Montes and senior
Toby Cook placed ninth in 3:27.52. It replicated the 2023 Eagles' 4x400m performance when the team crossed the line in ninth in 3:31.34. Tennessee State won the race in 3:11.52. SIUE placed eighth in 3:21.07.
The Eagles were seeded eighth entering the race with a top time of 3:26.16.
MSU's other event was the 5,000-meter run. The Eagle women finished relatively close to each other. Freshman
Taylor Allen was 17th in 18:45.53, senior
Laikin Tarlton was 21st in 19:10.86, Singleton was 22nd in 19:13.75 and redshirt sophomore
Megan Bush was 24th in 19:42.28. It was Singleton's first collegiate race at the distance. None of the others runners set personal bests. Tarlton took seventh at last year's meet in 17:59.50. Her 2024 best was a 19:08.35.
The story was similar for the men. Redshirt junior
Jacob Vogelpohl was 14th in 15:24.30 and was the closest to setting a new "pr", falling short by 12-hundredths of a second. After finishing 14th last year in 15:37.58, on Saturday, senior
Kyler Stewart crossed the line in 21st in 15:44.28. Embry rounded out the group in 25th in 16:03.89. Senior
Peyton Fairchild was on the entry list but did not start.
All six Eagles finished higher than their initial seed (Allen 25th, Bush 32nd, Tarlton 35th, Stewart 30th, Vogelpohl 34th and Embry 41st).
Little Rock junior Marci Cudworth won the women's event in 17:19.32. Eastern Illinois freshman Joseph Stoddard was the men's champion with a time of 14:43.49.
"(The) 5,000m was a blood bath," coach Dixon said. "People were dropping out and just surviving. Our people competed and put themselves out there."
Unfortunately, Singleton was the only individual to score on Saturday and the MSU women wrapped up the meet with 11 points, courtesy of Singleton and Taylor. However, that tally tied their third-highest total score since 2013.
It was a good day for the Southeast Missouri State women, who defended their team title. The Redhawks also won the OVC Softball Championship in nearby Peoria, Ill., earlier in the afternoon.
Southeast Missouri finished with 197 points, followed by Little Rock (147.50), Western Illinois (114), Eastern Illinois (103), Tennessee Tech (59.50), Lindenwood (48), Tennessee State and SIUE (44), UT Martin (29), Southern Indiana (22) and Morehead State (11).
Little Rock dethroned SEMO's men's team to take its first OVC Outdoor Track and Field title. The Trojans tallied 220 points, with Eastern Illinois in second at 190.50 points and Southeast Missouri in third with 142.50 points. Tennessee State (81), Western Illinois and Lindenwood (55), UT Martin (35), SIUE (32), Southern Indiana (5) and Morehead State (0) rounded out the field. According to available information, it is the first time the Eagle men did not score.
It was the second consecutive year the MSU women out-pointed the men.
Coach Dixon acknowledged that the competition has become much fiercer, noting that several Eagle performances this week would have scored in years' past.
"(It was) easy to score points when the OVC had five to seven men's teams until 2023," he said. "Now with 10 men's teams, everything is competitive. Our conference has never had this (much) depth on the men's side."
The Eagles finished the meet with nine "pr's" from their 26 entries. Five of the 2023 men's performances (
Toby Cook in the 800-meter run,
Kyler Stewart and
Jacob Vogelpohl in the 10,000-meter run, and
Peyton Fairchild and
Jarrett Forrest in the 3,000-meter steeplechase) would have scored last year.
The OVC awards were handed out after the conclusion of the competition:
OVC Female Track Athlete of the Year: Breanna Miles, Southeast Missouri
OVC Female Field Athlete of the Year: Brianna Dixon, Southeast Missouri
OVC Female Freshman of the Year: Brianna Dixon, Southeast Missouri
OVC Women's Coach of the Year: Eric Crumpecker, Southeast Missouri
OVC Female Athlete of the Championship: Aliyah Adams, Western Illinois
OVC Male Track Athlete of the Year: Andrew Payton, Little Rock
OVC Male Field Athlete of the Year: Paden Lewis, Southeast Missouri
OVC Male Freshman of the Year: Joseph Stoddard, Eastern Illinois
OVC Men's Coach of the Year: JP Behnke, Little Rock
OVC Male Athlete of the Championship: Paden Lewis, Southeast Missouri
