MOREHEAD, Ky. – Day 1 is in the books, and it went mostly as expected for the Morehead State track and field team at Thursday's Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships at Eastern Illinois' O'Brien Field in Charleston, Ill.
"I'm pretty happy with today," MSU coach
Clay Dixon said. "Times don't matter as (much as) how the races went (in terms of placement for qualification)."
Junior
Lucy Singleton won her heat and posted the overall top time in the 1,500-meter run prelims, after leaning at the tape to edge second-ranked junior Maleigha Huston of Western Illinois and eighth-ranked sophomore Kathryn Cichon of Eastern Illinois. As the No. 3 seed, Singleton covered the course in 4:41.53, with Huston finishing in 4:41.57 and Cichon in 4:42.14. Southern Indiana sophomore Emily Rempe was fourth in 4:44.54. The five fastest times all came from Singleton's heat. The top 12 finishers will advance to Saturday's finals.
The mark was well below Singleton's qualifying time of 4:34.97, but near her 2023 race of 4:40.05, when she placed sixth. Because of the number of entries last spring, only finals were run.
"My strategy going into today was to let the girls take it out and tuck in (behind them) because of the wind. I wanted to stay at least (in the) top five racing but stay (in the) top three to be safe," she said. "We got a little pack going and I settled in. The last 300 (meters), I spaced out into lane two in case someone was behind me, (that way) they (would have) had to go around (me). But just tried to stay comfortable throughout the race, not push too much so I can give all I can at finals!"
Five runners stayed in a pack up front, running a sub-58 second first lap, with Singleton sitting fifth. She moved up two spots after 700 meters by clocking a 2:09.935 split. She held that spot through the 1,100-meter mark by recording a 3:25.387, but then made her move to pass second-place Cichon and leader Huston on the final lap.
"I made my move at the 300(-meter mark). I moved up and out to lane two and just stayed (as) comfortable as possible bringing it in," she said.
Singleton knows she will have to run faster in the finals. The top 10 times entering the meet were better than her Thursday race.
"Going into finals I feel confident," she said. "I think my best bet is to try and do what I did today and sit on the front pack and kick the final lap and try and bring it in!"
Dixon liked what he saw out of Singleton, knowing the most important element was just to qualify for the finals.
"Lucy ran a good race and qualified," he said. "She ran smart, just sat on the lead pack, and stayed relaxed. They let up at the end saving it for the final."
Four other Eagles were also in action on Day 1.
Senior
Kyle Embry placed 11th in the 1,500m with a time of 4:01.86 and has also qualified for Saturday's finals. He was seventh in his heat, which was won by Little Rock senior Andrew Payton (3:57.86). Embry was the lone Eagle on Thursday to improve upon his qualifying mark. He had the 30th-best time entering the meet with a 4:02.64. Embry suffered an injury midway through the 2023 season and did not compete in those OVC Championships.
"Kyle ran a hard last lap and nabbed the final qualifier by time," Dixon said. "(It's) good to see him in the finals, since he was the first one out two years ago."
The 10,000-meter run was much more competitive than last year's meet. The top times were also much faster than the qualifying marks.
Redshirt junior
Jacob Vogelpohl and senior
Kyler Stewart finished back-to-back, with Vogelpohl claiming 10th in 32:12.01 and Stewart 11th in 32:19.99. Last year, Stewart grabbed seventh in 32:42.63. He entered Thursday as the eighth seed with a time of 32:12.50. Vogelpohl was ranked seventh after posting a top time of 31:46.82. He redshirted last spring and did not compete at the 2023 OVC meet. Eastern Illinois freshman Joseph Stoddard won Thursday's race in 31:20.59.
"The men's 10K came through halfway in 16:20, then the race began, and it was a sprint for the last 5K," Dixon said. "Jacob and Kyler ran smart races and I'm happy with their performance."
Both Vogelpohl and Stewart are expected to compete again in the 5,000-meter run on Saturday afternoon.
Senior
Laikin Tarlton was 14th in the women's 10,000-meter run in 39:33.38. Southern Indiana freshman Zoe Seward won the race in 36:14.25. Tarlton was fourth last year in 38:15.55. That time would have placed 10th on Thursday. Although redshirt sophomore
Megan Bush was initially slated to compete in the event, coach Dixon did not enter her in the race.
Freshman
Ginger Hayden finished 24th in the long jump with a top distance of 5.09m/16'08.50". She got that on her first attempt.
In her first OVC Track and Field Championship, sophomore
Kaylyn Holman took 17th in the 1,500m in 5:04.69. She finished ninth in the heat opposite of Singleton.
In the team standings, Eastern Illinois leads the men with 42.5 points, while Western Illinois sits atop the women's side with 31 points. Southeast Missouri, the defending men's and women's champion, is second in both competitions, with its men recording 40.5 points and its women registering 17 points.
Rounding out the field, Western Illinois's men are third with 19 points, followed by Tennessee State and Little Rock (17), SIUE (10), UT Martin (6), Lindenwood and Southern Indiana (2), and MSU (0).
Among the women, Eastern Illinois holds down third with 16 points, with Southern Indiana (12), SIUE (11), Little Rock (10), Lindenwood (8), Tennessee State (5), Tennessee Tech (4), UT Martin (3) and MSU (0) completing the pack.
On Day 2, action begins at 10 a.m. ET with the decathlon. Friday's first event for the Eagles will be the men's 400-meter dash prelims at 6:50 p.m. ET.
Redshirt junior
Micah Gray is the only MSU entry. He set his top time of 52.26 after placing fifth in the race two weeks ago at Morehead State's last meet, Eastern Kentucky's Rick Erdmann Twilight Invitational. His time is 37th in the OVC this season. He did not run the 400m at last year's conference championships but did compete in the 800-meter run where he finished 23rd.
Freshmen
Derril Carr and
Cade Sullivan are MSU's representatives in the 100-meter dash. Their event will begin at 7:20 p.m. ET. Sullivan enters with the fastest time (11.11), which he set at the most recent meet, moving him onto fourth on the school's top performers' list. It ranks 28th in the OVC this spring. Carr's top mark of 11.27 puts him 44th in the league.
The prelims for the women's 800m are slated to begin at 7:35 p.m. ET. Holman will be back for her second event and joined by redshirt junior
Jennifer Ramirez. Holman's top time of 2:27.05 sits 32nd in the OVC, while Ramirez's 2:33.77 is 45th. It will be the first OVC Track and Field Championship meet for Ramirez.
The starting gun for the men's 800m prelims will go off at 7:55 p.m. ET. A trio will toe the line for the Blue and Gold. Senior
Toby Cook will be making his fourth appearance in the outdoor event, having narrowly missed a spot on the podium in each of the last two years. In 2023, he placed ninth in 1:54.71, falling short by two-hundredths of a second. It was a near replication of the 2022 meet, when he was also ninth after crossing the line in 1:54.76, eight-hundredths of a second out of eighth. In 2021, he was 19th in 1:59.83. He enters this week's meet with an eerily similar top time of 1:54.78, which ranks 15th.
Freshmen
Armando Montes and
Garrett West will join Cook in the race. Montes' 1:56.46 is the 21st best in the OVC, with West's 1:59.22 the 29th best.
The last event of the evening is likely MSU's finest, the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Three Eagles should factor among the medalists, highlighted by sophomore
Abby Taylor in the women's race.
Taylor's top time of 11:20.42 ranks fifth all-time at Morehead State and is the third fastest in the OVC this year. Likewise, senior
Peyton Fairchild and fifth-year runner
Jarrett Forrest both sit among the league leaders, albeit a little farther off the pace. Fairchild's top mark of 9:41.56 ranks 11th in the conference, with Forrest's 9:48.33 sitting 13th.
All three Eagles reached the medal stand in last year's meet. Forrest finished fifth in 9:43.36, with Fairchild sixth in 9:49.50 and Taylor eighth in 12:01.32. The 2023 race was their first in the event at the OVCs. Fairchild previously competed in the 10,000m in 2021, where he placed 17th. Forrest will be making his fourth OVC outdoor appearance. He was 17th in both the 1,500m and 5,000m in 2022, and 19th in the 5,000m in 2021.
Taylor's competition will begin at 8:15 p.m. ET, followed by the men at 8:35 p.m. ET.
Taylor was scheduled to run the steeplechase at the Rick Erdmann Twilight Invitational, but the race was scrapped since she was the lone entry. So, she switched to the 5,000m and set a new "pr', finishing in fourth in 18:47.82.
Western Illinois' Aylana Cezar owns the OVC's top time in the women's steeplechase at 10:54.02. Eastern Illinois' Rylea Borgic is second at 11:14.96. The next fastest after Taylor is 15.55 seconds slower than the MSU sophomore.
Saturday's action concludes the meet. The day will feature only finals, starting at noon ET with the shot put. It will include the largest contingent of Eagles competing, although several events will require qualifying into the final races. That group includes the women's and men's 1,500m at 1:40 p.m. ET and 1:50 p.m. ET, respectively; the men's 400m finals at 2:40 p.m. ET; the men's 100m finals at 2:55 p.m. ET; and the women's and men's 800m finals at 3:05 p.m. ET and 3:15 p.m. ET, respectively.
The Eagles will compete in both the 5,000-meter run and 4x400-meter relay on Saturday. They are finals-only events.
Friday's action can be viewed on ESPN+ at the link:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f5e49cfe-5457-45e9-afd6-a39ab50d3044#bucketId=1. Live results are also available at:
http://www.cfpitiming.com/2024_Outdoor_Season/OVC_OTF_2024/OVC_OTF_2024.html.
