MOREHEAD, Ky. – Senior
Lucy Singleton has only raced three times this winter, but she has made each of them count.
On Friday at the 19-team PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic indoor track & field meet at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, she came away with a second-place finish in the 800-meter run and teamed with freshmen
Olivia Miles,
Aaliyah Rodgers and
Mia Underwood to claim fifth in the 4x400-meter relay. Although they were Friday's top two results for the team, more impressively they were MSU's top times in those events in several seasons.
"I was really happy with both of them!" she said of her events.
Last weekend, in her first indoor track & field meet of the year at the Vanderbilt Invitational, she ran the third-fastest mile in school history, the top time in the Ohio Valley Conference this year by more than four seconds and defeated 37 runners from major and mid-major programs.
Singleton began Friday with a 2:16.23 in the 800m, the third fastest mark in her career, the fastest since she ran a 2:14.04 at the 2023 OVC Outdoor Championships, the fastest indoors in over a decade and the second fastest in the conference this winter.
"I told myself to stick with the lead girl and on the third lap to reset mentally so I could stay strong and keep my splits even," she said.
Ball State freshman Tori Jackson won both Singleton's heat and the overall event with a personal best of 2:13.97.
The day ended with Singleton's relay quartet covering the distance in 4:10.70, which won heat two. It was MSU's fastest 4x400m effort this season by 8.86 seconds and the team's top mark since the 2021 OVC Outdoor Championships.
"I just had fun and ran hard. It was exciting to get the heat win and run with the girls," she said. "We had a lot of solid performances today and I'm proud of the team."
Last year, Singleton finished 22nd in the mile, but in 2023, she won the 800m in 2:18.29. In 2022, she was third in the latter event in 2:17.67. She also was a member of the 4x400m relay team in 2022 that finished sixth in 4:20.00.
"Lucy ran her fastest indoor 800m in years. She should progress well with more speed work. (Her) third-fastest 800m all-time is a good sign and indoor personal best," MSU coach
Clay Dixon said. "The women's 4x4 (relay) is coming together. Fresh and with more training we can see more progress. (It is the) fastest women's (indoor) 4x4 since 2020."
Without several of the team's top performers, five of whom sat out after competing in back-to-back weekends, the Eagles struggled to place well against high-quality competition.
Outside of Singleton and three relays, the Eagles only had three top-15 finishes.
"A lot of the sprints' group just needs more experience on 200-meter banked tracks and nicer weather to train in," Dixon said. "Distance has (made) some progress, not as much as I would like but we are under the same circumstances. We have had to switch up training plans for the last three weeks (due to the weather)."
Miles had the next-best result on the team. She had a "pr" in the 400-meter dash after placing 11th in 1:00.60. It was the fastest time by an MSU woman since Mya Andrews went under a minute in the spring of 2021.
Rodgers also set a "pr" in that race. She finished 17th in 1:02.59.
Sophomore long jumper
Ginger Hayden notched a season's best mark of 4.82m/15'09.75" to place 12th. Last year, she was 30th with a mark of 4.71m/15'05.50".
Junior
Kaylyn Holman was 13th in the mile, placing fourth in her heat. She crossed the line in 5:27.74. It was a season-best time by more than eight and a half seconds but short of her "pr" by just under a second. It was a huge improvement over what she did at the meet last January, when she was 70th in 5:47.71.
Redshirt sophomore
Christiana Brittian was 23rd overall and second in her heat in 5:37.36.
"Kaylyn and Christiana looked strong. They still have a lot left that we can work on," Dixon said.
There were some decent times in the 200-meter dash, but it was the first time this season the Eagles had run on a banked track.
"Sprints are progressing well. They have had the hardest time working around the weather issues we have had in our part of the state. (You) can't train fast when the track is under ice and it's under 20°F," Dixon said. "Despite that, Olivia and Aaliyah looked good with personal bests."
Sophomore
Cade Sullivan finished 25th in 23.13, with sophomore
Derril Carr in 27th at 23.17 (23.167), freshman
Mark Whitener in 30th in 23.25 and freshman
Tate Glass in 32nd in 23.63 (23.624). It was a "pr" for Sullivan.
Carr finished 50th in the event last year in 23.87.
On the women's side, freshman
Aa'Nya Freeland was 21st in 27.01, with Miles in 22nd in 27.07 and redshirt freshman
Lauren Gooderson in 32nd in 28.63. It was Gooderson's first meet since the Kentucky High School outdoor state championship in June of 2023.
Underwood placed 20th in the 400m in 1:04.10, with freshman
Brooklyn Boyce in 27th in 1:08.36 and sophomore
Cheyenne Stark in 28th in 1:08.61. Last year, Stark crossed the line in 1:14.39 to claim 50th.
In the 800m, sophomore
Brady Baker was 20th in 2:05.57, while freshman
Weston Blair was 23rd in 2:09.53. Junior
Hope Harris was 35th in 2:47.24, with junior
Natalie Curry in 36th with a "pr" of 2:48.23 and junior
Casey Skaggs in 37th in 3:07.36. The former two improved upon both their placing and time from last year's meet, when Harris was 67th in 2:50.10 and Curry was 69th in 2:53.27.
In the mile, freshman
Liam Parido was 37th in 4:33.19, freshman
Carter Lamb was 42nd in 4:40.34, sophomore
Keghan Thompson was 44th in 4:42.29 and sophomore
Garrett West was 52nd in 4:50.75. On the women's side, sophomore
Lani Baskett was 38th in 6:01.68, with sophomore
Emily Spradlin in 42nd in 6:22.65 and junior
Lydia Bauer in a tie for 45th after she did not finish.
It was Spradlin's first race in three months.
At last January's meet, Baskett was 76th in 5:56.93 and Spradlin was 81st in 6:11.49.
The day began on the track with the 3,000-meter run. Freshman
Brody Coleman was 39th in 9:27.82, with sophomore
Aidan Whitsell in 51st in 9:52.27 and senior
Austin Montgomery in 52nd in 10:04.15. In his first race back since the end of the 2023 cross country season, redshirt junior
Ethan Vance did not finish and claimed 54th. It was a season's best time for both Coleman and Montgomery.
Redshirt junior
Megan Bush covered the distance in 11:49.68 to place 35th. Last year, she was 19th in 10:56.77.
The 4x400m relays rounded out the day. The men's foursome of Carr, Glass, Whitener and Sullivan finished in seventh in 3:37.08. The second women's quartet of Freeland, Boyce, Gooderson and Stark was ninth in 4:30.74.
It was the fourth year the team competed in the meet, but the first time it was not scored.
The Eagles will return to Louisville and the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center for the two-day PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational next Friday and Saturday.
