MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State indoor track and field team heads to Indianapolis, Ind., to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Championships held in the city for the first time. The Eagles are coming off the Marshall Invitational on February 14-15 at which the squad set a school record, claimed heat and event winners and had nearly 60 percent of the team set personal or season's bests.
The meet will take place at the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and will run Tuesday and Wednesday. Competition starts at 9 a.m. on both days.
Last year, Morehead State's women tied for 10th and the men finished 10th. Southeast Missouri captured its second consecutive women's title, while Little Rock took home its first men's crown. Eleven women's teams and nine men's squads will vie to be this year's champions.
The Eagles hold one team title in their history, courtesy of the 1977 men's squad. The two squads have combined for 20 individual titles, 11 from the men and nine from the women.
MSU coach
Clay Dixon is sending 10 women and nine men to compete in 17 events. Only six members of this year's entries have competed in the previous OVC Indoor Track and Field Championship. All six ran last year, with one having participated in two meets and another in three.
"We have been looking good in practices and the team is focused. I think our relays have good chances of scoring and individually Lucy (Singleton) is looking to do some big stuff," Dixon said. "All of our entries have been looking particularly good in practices or meets and we think they can compete at the OVC."
The women enter the meet having bettered their point total in each of the last two years. The men, however, only reinstated their indoor program in 2024 after lying dormant since 2009.
Singleton is the Eagles' primary contender for an individual crown. The senior, who was the OVC's co-Track Athlete of the Week after the Marshall Invitational, enters the meet as the top seed in the mile and sixth in the 800-meter run. Last year, she finished eighth in the mile (5:06.61) and sixth as a member of the distance medley relay (12:43.88). In her career, she has competed in seven events at the meet, including placing ninth in the 800m as a freshman (2:17.95) and 10th as a sophomore (2:29.09). She also was part of the seventh-place finishing DMR (12:46.74) in 2023, and two 10th-place 4x400-meter relay teams (4:11.28 in 2022 and 4:32.40 in 2023).
Every race shorter than the mile will have prelims and finals. All of the preliminary races will be held on Tuesday.
The multi-event heptathlon and pentathlon begin competition on both days, but the Eagles will hit the track first at 3:10 p.m. in the men's 400-meter run preliminaries. Freshman
Tate Glass is MSU's lone representative. He brings a top time of 51.59 and is seeded 24th. He is in heat one.
The women's race will follow at 3:25 p.m. and include freshmen
Olivia Miles,
Aaliyah Rodgers and
Mia Underwood. Miles is seeded 27th with a season's best mark of 1:00.44. Rodgers is 32nd in 1:01.16 and Underwood 35th in 1:01.56. Underwood will run in heat two, with Rodgers in four and Miles in five.
Heats for the men's 60-meter run begin at 3:50 p.m. Sophomores
Derril Carr and
Cade Sullivan, and freshman
Mark Whitener will enter the blocks wearing the Blue and Gold. Sullivan has the top time of the group at 7.12 and is ranked 29th. Whitener follows at 7.17 and is 38th, with Carr at 7.18 and 40th. Carr is in heat one, Whitener in heat two and Sullivan in heat three. Last year, Carr was 19th in 7.41.
The women's race will feature one MSU entry, freshman
Aa'Nya Freeland. Her event is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Freeland owns a season's best of 7.95, the second-fastest mark in Morehead State history. The school record is a 7.69, set by Kilani Harvey in 2021. Freeland is 29th entering the meet and will run in heat two.
At 4:15 p.m., the men's 800-meter run gets underway. Freshman Westin Blair is the lone Eagle entry. His top time is a 1:58.43 and is seeded 31st. He is in heat four.
The women's event begins at 4:30 p.m. Singleton has a season's-best time of 2:16.23 and is in heat three. Singleton's top competition should come from Southern Indiana's Abrielle Richard (2:12.15), who is in heat one. Third seeded Erika Mellor of Southeast Missouri (2:12.70) is also in Singleton's heat. Fourth seeded Maggie Roy (2:14.31) and fifth seeded Rita Eimer (2:14.54) of UT Martin are in heat two. The school record in the event is 2:11.45, held by Natalie Norman. Singleton's "pr" is 2:14.04.
The 200-meter dash is up next. The men's race starts at 4:45 p.m., with the women at 5 p.m. Sullivan and Carr are MSU's only entries. Sullivan is 32nd in 23.13 and Carr is 35th in 23.17. Carr was 21st last year in 23.44.
The 5,000-meter run is the day's final individual event. Redshirt senior
Jacob Vogelpohl is MSU's entry, although his status is uncertain due to an illness. There is only one heat and it will start at 5:15 p.m. Vogelpohl has the season's 22nd fastest time of 15:17.16. Last year, he was 18th in 15:11.62.
Dixon might hold Vogelpohl out of the 5,000, with the hope of him being able to compete in the 3,000-meter run on Wednesday.
"There is a rule that you are scratched from the meet if you miss your first event. I think the 5K is out of the question but 3K might be possible. We have a doctor's note," he said. "It's gonna take a week to fully recover."
The women's 5K will be split into two heats, with the first beginning at 5:35 p.m. Both junior
Abby Taylor and redshirt sophomore
Christiana Brittian are in heat one. Taylor's top time this winter is 18:35.74 and she is seeded 25th. Brittian is ranked 34th with a best mark of 19:25.80.
MSU will enter a team in both distance medley relay races for the first time this year. The men's race begins at 6:25 p.m., followed by the women at 6:40 p.m.
Freshman
Liam Parido will lead off the men by running the 1,200-meter leg, Glass will follow with the 400m, with freshman
Carter Lamb in the 800m and hand off to Grogan for the final 1,600 meters. The women's foursome will include sophomore
Taylor Allen for the first 1,200m, Miles in the 400m, junior
Kaylyn Holman running the 800m and freshman
Meredith Campbell closing with the 1,600m. Dixon did not declare any alternates.
Last February, Allen, Holman and Taylor were part of the DMR that finished in sixth in 12:43.88. Last year's men's entry finished sixth in 10:35.73.
Morehead State will return on Wednesday with all races being finals. The day will begin with the men's mile at 12:30 p.m. Redshirt senior
Wes Grogan and freshman
Liam Parido will toe the line. Grogan enters ranked 37th with a time of 4:23.11. Parido's top mark is 4:32.85 and he is seeded 58th.
MSU biggest event of the day will be in the women's mile, where Singleton will look to become the first Eagle indoor conference champion since Hall of Famer Karen Lutes won both the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000m in 2003. Singleton owns the school record in the mile with a time of 4:50.19. Her top competition figures to be Southern Indiana senior Audrey Comastri, whose top time this season is 4:51.12. Both will run in the second heat.
"We haven't discussed strategy yet. (There is) no point on dwelling on it and overthinking it. It would just wear you out," said Dixon of how he and Singleton will approach the race. "We'll work something out as we get closer, but she's prepared for anything."
Junior
Kaylyn Holman is also entered in the mile. She is seeded 32nd with a top time of 5:21.79 this year. She was 20th in 2024 in 5:26.81.
Taylor Allen and
Abby Taylor finished 15th and 16th, respectively in last year's race. Allen recorded a 5:19.82, with Taylor in 5:29.80.
The 400m finals will begin at 1:30 p.m. for the men and 1:35 p.m. for the women. The 60m finals will follow at 1:50 p.m. (men) and 1:55 p.m. (women).
The 800m is next on the schedule with the men's race at 2:10 p.m. and the women's competition at 2:20 p.m.
The 200m races are the last two which had prelims on Tuesday. The men's event is at 2:30 p.m., with the women starting at 2:35 p.m.
Vogelpohl is entered in the 3,000m. The first race is slated to begin at 2:45 p.m. There are two heats and Vogelpohl is in the first. He is seeded 33rd, with a top mark of 8:45.03. Last year, he was 21st in 8:48.27.
The women's race is scheduled for a 3:10 p.m. start. Again there are two heats. Sophomore
Taylor Allen is in the first section, with freshman
Meredith Campbell in the second. Allen enters with a top time of 10:42.84 this season, while Campbell owns a 10:13.50. Allen is seeded 34th, with Campbell at 13th.
Abby Taylor finished 17th last year in 10:44.14.
The meet will conclude with the 4x400-meter relays. The men's race goes off at 3:40 p.m., followed by the women at 3:55 p.m. Carr, Glass, Whitener and Sullivan are the Eagles' men's entry. They will run in heat one. They are seeded ninth with a top time of 3:32.22. Blair, Grogan, Lamb and Parido are the alternates.
Rodgers, Singleton, Underwood and Miles are the MSU women's representative. It is seeded ninth with a top time of 4:05.64. However, this will be the first time this year that Singleton will be a part of the group. Freeland joined Rodgers, Underwood and Miles on the relay that recorded a 4:05.64. Freeland and Holman are the team's alternates. MSU's entry will be in heat one.
An awards ceremony will end the day at 4:15 p.m.
An OVC Championships central page can be found at:
https://ovcsports.com/tournaments/?id=46.
Live results are available at the link:
https://pttiming.com/event.php?mid=2205&pt=schedule
The event also can be seen on ESPN+. The link for Day 1 is:
https://shorturl.at/G3L7W, with Day 2 at:
https://shorturl.at/zAtK9.
The Eagles' outdoor campaign will begin on March 21 at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational.
