MOREHEAD, Ky. — Morehead State coach
Clay Dixon saw a lot of improvement in his team in comparison to last year's Marshall Alumni Classic, when the Eagles competed at Saturday's version of the indoor track and field meet at Marshall's Jeff Small Track in the Chris Cline Indoor Athletic Complex in Huntington, W.Va.
It was MSU's second meet of the season, and like the 2024 competition, when the club posted five podium finishes and 30 "pr's", Saturday's event featured 13 top-eight finishes and 27 season's bests.
"Times I thought were better than in years' past at this meet," Dixon said. "Overall, I was pleased."
Putting it into perspective, last winter he said it was the teams' best performance in its then-six trips to the event.
Like last year, the Eagles only had a week of practice before the competition. And on Saturday, the team was further hamstrung by having 12 individuals sit out primarily due to sickness or injury.
Just as it was in 2024, the 12-team contest was not scored.
Dixon highlighted the performance of several individuals.
"(Redshirt senior) Wes (Grogan) had a good first race back since (the) OVC Cross Country (Championships in) 2023. He competed well. (Freshman) Olivia (Miles) had a solid 400(-meter) leg in the 4x400m relay. She is looking to have a good season. … (Junior) Kaylyn (Holman) had a 30-second improvement from this time last year (in the mile), so that was huge," he noted.
Redshirt senior
Jacob Vogelpohl and freshman
Meredith Campbell both finished third in the 3,000-meter run, the highest placement of any Eagle on the day.
Vogelpohl set a new "pr" in his race by 2.41 seconds. He covered the distance in 8:45.03. Last year, he was fifth in 8:50.82. Marshall's Garrett Ferguson won Saturday's race in 8:39.36.
"(I did) not (have) many expectations coming into the first race. (I) just wanted to spin the legs and try to compete for the win if I could. I tucked in behind the pack like normal and then I continued to make moves once I felt like the back of the pack was falling behind the front runners," he said. "With about four laps to go, I could feel the first-place guy slowing down so I felt like it was time to make my move to the front. I tried to turn on the jets to prevent him from staying attached, but I guess they were ready for me to make the move because they ended up being able to coast behind me and then out-kick me on the last portion of the race.
"I can never be mad with a 'pr' though, no matter how small it is, especially if this is the first race back (from winter break)," he added.
Campbell registered a time of 10:30.86, the fastest by an Eagle other than December graduate
Laikin Tarlton since the 2019 indoor season. Marshall's Hannah Wyler captured the victory in 10:00.57.
"I think it went pretty good," Campbell said. "I tried to stay with the top girls for the first two laps the best I could, but they dropped me pretty quick. After that, I used the other girls trying to pass me to keep me moving up. The last lap, I kicked hard to pass a couple more girls at the end."
"Meredith and Jacob looked good in the 3K and had personal bests," Dixon pointed out.
Another rare accomplishment included freshman
Aa'Nya Freeland qualifying for the finals in the 60-meter dash. It last happened at the meet in 2020, when Dakorria Winstead claimed third.
Freeland placed eighth in the prelims in 8.22 then moved up a spot to take seventh in the finals. She and Marshall's Myrka Cadet each finished in 8.17, but Cadet was awarded sixth after going to one-thousandth of a second to break the tie (8.166 to 8.170).
Sophomore
Ginger Hayden replicated her finish in the long jump by taking fifth for the second consecutive year, both times advancing to the finals. On Saturday, she leaped 4.97m/16'03.75", with her top mark coming on her first attempt. Last year, she registered a distance of 5.07m/16'07.75".
Miles recorded the fastest 200-meter dash in four years. She was seventh in a time of 26.91. Freshmen
Aaliyah Rodgers (11th in 28.06),
Mia Underwood (13th in 28.22) and
Brooklyn Boyce (14th in 28.25); and sophomore
Cheyenne Stark (17th in 28.86); rounded out the Eagle contingent. Stark placed 12th in the 400m dash at last year's meet.
Junior
Natalie Curry put together one of the more noteworthy performances in the 800-meter run. She placed eighth with a "pr" of 4.73 seconds in 2:47.08. Last year, she was 17th in 3:00.91.
"
Natalie Curry was (in) my favorite race to watch. She has improved in almost every 800m she has raced since last year," Dixon said. "She was looking really good in workouts during cross country before she had a season-ending injury. She picked up right where she left off and had a huge personal best in the 800m (on Saturday)."
Juniors
Hope Harris (10th in 2:51.41) and
Casey Skaggs (13th in 3:08.16) also competed in the race. In the January 2024 meet, Harris was 16th in 2:53.46, while Skaggs was 19th in the mile.
Grogan ran his first race in more than 14 months and did so in style, by setting a new "pr" in the mile. He placed 10th in 4:25.75, nearly seven seconds faster than his previous top time. He led a large contingent of Eagles, including freshman
Liam Parido in 13th in 4:32.85, freshman
Carter Hurley in 16th in 4:35.75, freshman
Carter Lamb in 22nd in 4:43.52, freshman
Weston Blair in 24th in 4:46.72, sophomore
Brady Baker in 25th in 4:46.95 and sophomore
Garrett West in 29th in 4:52.65. It was a slight improvement over last year's performance for West, who claimed 30th in 4:55.10. Baker also ran at the 2024 meet, taking 15th in the 800m.
Holman made major strides in the women's mile. She came in fifth in 5.36.39, one year after registering a 6:04.44 to take 17th. Sophomore
Lani Baskett also had a good race, finishing in ninth in 5:57.62. Last year, she was 24th in the 3,000-meter run.
The Eagle ladies had some strong results in the 3,000m race. Sophomore
Taylor Allen was seventh in 10:42.84, a "pr" by over 11 and a half seconds. It was her second podium finish at the meet. Last year, she was sixth in the mile.
Junior
Abby Taylor followed Allen by placing ninth in 10:46.97. It also was a significant improvement for her over last year's race, when she was 10th in 11:07.63. Redshirt sophomore
Christiana Brittian, who has been slowed by an injury this year, claimed 13th in 11:59.86. Last winter, she was 12th in 11:18.93.
The Eagle men did not match the success of the ladies, although sophomore
Aidan Whitsell did move up considerably from last year's race by taking 11th in 9:29.58. In 2024, he was 39th in 9:34.60. Also on Saturday, freshman
Brody Coleman was 13th in 9:38.96, while senior
Austin Montgomery was 15th in 10:05.75. It was a slight improvement in placing over last year for him, when he was 16th in the 800m.
The short sprinters could not replicate their performances from the Marshall Opener. Sophomore
Cade Sullivan had the best outing, earning 13th in the 60-meter dash in 7.13, just one-hundredth of a second off both his time from five weeks ago and his "pr". He also made a noticeable improvement over last year's race, when he was 22nd in 7.51. In that meet, he also was 19th in the 200m. Freshman
Mark Whitener (14th in 7.18) and sophomore
Derril Carr (16th in 7.32) rounded out the Eagle contingent in the 60m. Carr actually finished in 7.313, edging Bryson Smith of Rio Grande (Ohio) in a tiebreaker (7.317). Last year, Carr was 14th in 400m.
Freshman
Tate Glass was ninth in the 400m in 52.34. He recorded a 52.50 at the Marshall Opener.
For just the third time in slightly more than three years, the Eagles entered multiple teams in the same relay. Underwood, Rodgers, Stark and Holman had the best outing of the group, taking third in the 4x400m race in 4:31.38. The quartet of Boyce, Freeland, Miles and Curry was fourth in 4:39.27. Carr, Glass, Whitener and Sullivan set a "pr" of 3:32.22 to snare fourth in their 4x400m event. West, Parido, Lamb and Blair took sixth in 3:38.45.
Dixon plans to just take a small group to the next meet, the Vanderbilt Invitational, which will take place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17-18, in Nashville, Tenn.
