MOREHEAD, Ky. – On Saturday, for the first time in her career, Morehead State sophomore jumper
Ginger Hayden won a track and field event. In fact, she won two. Making the day even more memorable, it was her birthday.
Hayden and the men's sprinters led the way for the Eagles at Northern Kentucky University's Norse Track Invitational, which took place on the Dave Schuh Track at Bishop Brossart High School in Alexandria, Ky.
Hayden led the MSU women to a fourth-place finish at the meet with a total of 61 points.
"I think I have a better understanding this year of what (assistant coach) Rob (Springfield) wants from me and what he wants me to change between jumps, which has helped me to improve," she said.
It was the first time Hayden competed in the triple jump in nearly a year. Her last appearance was a fourth-place finish at the Rick Erdmann Invitational on April 27, 2024. On Saturday, she jumped 10.49m/34'05.00" to win the event by more than two feet and three inches.
"I think I did really good. It was great to jump outside in warmer weather," she said. "I was excited to finally do triple again. I missed doing triple. Triple jump is my favorite jump, so it's always great to finally be able to triple jump. And I'm hoping to keep this energy and (keep) improving in the future meets this season!"
Hayden won the long jump with a top leap of 4.94m/16'02.50". She out-jumped Northern Kentucky's Kayla Willging by just under eight inches. Last year, Hayden was fourth in 5.03m/16'06.00".
The quartet of freshmen
Mark Whitener and
Damien Lee (both from Cincinnati), and sophomores
Derril Carr (Union, Ky.) and
Cade Sullivan combined to score 13 points in individual events, helping the Eagle men to a sixth-place finish among the collegiate entries. MSU scored 32 points.
Morehead State earned 20 podium finishes, one more than last year. It also set 27 "sb's". The Blue and Gold improved upon its team placing from last April, when the men tied for sixth and the women finished seventh.
"(The) sprints had some good results but mostly mixed. Among the distance crew, (senior) Lucy (Singleton) had a 'pr' in the 800m and is number two in school history now, number one in the conference at this point. (Junior) Kaylyn (Holman) looked strong with a mile 'pr'. (Freshman Carter) Hurley had a strong kick in the 800m. Ginger had two wins in the long and triple jump, so that's great to see, especially on her birthday," summarized MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "(I'm) coming away satisfied today (and am) looking forward to building on it."
Whitener was fifth in the 100-meter dash in 11.02 and sixth in the 200-meter dash in 22.96. Sullivan was ninth in the 100m in 11.19 and third in the 200m in 22.66. Carr placed 10th in the 200m in 23.43. Lee, running his first collegiate event, was 11th in 23.69. Last year, Carr was seventh in the 100m in 11.29 and Sullivan was 11th in 11.47.
Sullivan set "sb's" in both of his races, while Whitener notched his best effort in the 200m and fell two-thousandths of a second off his top time in the 100m.
Sullivan, Carr, freshman
Tate Glass (Alexandria, Ky.) and Lee were fifth in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:31.91. The all-freshman foursome of
Liam Parido,
Weston Blair,
Carter Lamb and Hurley was seven-hundredths of a second faster (3:31.84) and placed fourth. Whitener, sophomores
Brady Baker (Alexandria, Ky.) and
Garrett West, and freshman
Ryan Richendollar were 10th in 3:47.18.
Last year,
Micah Gray, Sullivan,
Armando Montes and Whitsell were the top Eagle men, placing fifth in 3:35.91. Carr, Baker,
Sam Lucas and West finished sixth in 3:36.25.
Singleton continues her assault on the MSU record books. She registered a "pr" and the second-best performance in school history in the 800-meter run by placing second in 2:12.67. The school record is 2:11.35 set by Natalie Norman in 2013. Singleton's previous top time was 2:14.32. Northern Kentucky's Oliva Kennedy won the race in 2:11.64.
Junior
Lydia Bauer joined Singleton in setting an "sb". She finished 22nd in 2:34.29. Sophomore
Emily Spradlin followed in 24th in 2:39.36, with sophomore
Lani Baskett in 25th in 2:40.40.
Last year, Singleton was fifth in 2:21.17, with Holman ninth in 2:27.29, sophomore
Taylor Allen 10th in 2:28.87, junior
Hope Harris 20th in 2:46.71, Spradlin 22nd in 2:48.52 and junior
Natalie Curry in 23rd in 2:55.31.
In the women's Munninghoff Mile, Holman was fourth in 5:14.02. Junior
Abby Taylor (Lebanon, Ohio) was 11th in 5:28.19, with Allen 19th in 5:37.26 and Harris 31st in 6:20.94. Taylor was also entered in the 3,000-meter steeplechase but withdrew to focus on the mile.
Holman set a "sb" in the race, as did Harris.
Last year, Taylor was 15th in 5:29.87, Baskett was 33rd in 6:13.40 and Skaggs was 34th in 6:21.50.
In the women's 400-meter dash, four of the seven Eagles entered scored points for the Blue and Gold. Freshman
Aaliyah Rodgers led the way for the first time in 1:01.04, with freshman
Olivia Miles in fifth in 1:01.21, freshman
Mia Underwood in seventh in 1:02.06 and freshman
Maryah Counts (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) in eighth in 1:02.17. Redshirt freshman
Lauren Gooderson (Cold Spring, Ky.), running on her high school track for the first time in college, placed 11th in 1:03.01. Sophomore
Cheyenne Stark was 14th in 1:04.90 and freshman
Brooklyn Boyce was 15th in 1:04.95.
In the 100m, freshman
Aa'Nya Freeland was sixth in 12.57. Freeland also was seventh in the 200m in 26.04. Counts (10th in 26.52), Rodgers (11th in 26.70), Miles (13th in 26.82), Underwood (18th in 27.52), Gooderson (21st in 27.72), Stark (22nd in 27.85) and Boyce (24th in 28.03) rounded out the contingent of Eagles in the event.
In last year's 200m, Stark was 23rd in 28.85.
A bevy of Eagle female sprinters set "sb's" on Saturday, including Boyce, Freeland, Gooderson and Stark in both the 200m and 400m. In addition, Counts, Miles, Rodgers and Underwood achieved the feat in the 200m.
The quartet of Rodgers, Counts, Underwood and Miles posted the Eagles' best 4x400m relay finish of the day, taking second in 4:07.51. Gooderson, Singleton, Holman and Bauer were seventh in 4:19.17. Stark, Freeland, Boyce and Spradlin were ninth in 4:29.31.
Last year, Allen,
Laikin Tarlton, redshirt junior
Megan Bush and Taylor were fifth in 4:29.74; and Holman,
Jennifer Ramirez, Stark and Spradlin were sixth in 4:34.60.
Outside of the sprinters, the men struggled to reach the podium. Sophomore
Aidan Whitsell did the best, taking fifth in the 5,000-meter run in 15:57.71. Also in that event, sophomore
Keghan Thompson was 11th in 16:24.70, with freshman
Preston Glassco in 14th in 16:55.17. It was an "sb" for both Whitsell and Glassco.
Hurley led a pair of top-eight finishers in the 800m. He captured sixth in 1:58.46, with Parido in eighth in 1:59.64. Lamb (16th in 2:01.20), Baker (17th in 2:01.41), West (24th in 2:05.31) and Blair (28th in 2:09.31) rounded out the Eagles in the 800m. Both Hurley and Baker set "sb's".
Last year, West was fifth in 1:59.26, with Baker in eighth in 2:01.65.
Glass was 10th in the 400m in 52.32.
In the Munninghoff Mile, redshirt senior
Jacob Vogelpohl (Independence, Ky.) was 12th in 4:30.95. Richendollar followed in 19th in 4:38.87, with senior
Austin Montgomery in 25th in 4:57.75 and redshirt junior
Ethan Vance in 27th in 5:06.07. It was the first race for Vance in nearly a year. It was a "pr" for both Richendollar and Vance.
Last year, Vogelpohl was fourth in 4:30.91, with Thompson in seventh in 4:36.53, Whitsell in 19th in 4:45.76 and Montgomery in 20th in 4:49.08.
Freshman
Brody Coleman tried the steeplechase for the first time and claimed seventh in 10:24.09.
Host Northern Kentucky swept the team titles, scoring 121 points to earn the men's crown and 157.50 points to walk away with the women's trophy.
Midway was second among the collegiate men with 106 points, followed by Thomas More-Ky. (85 points), Xavier-Ohio (57 points), Wright State (53 points), Mount St. Joseph-Ohio (29 points), Transylvania-Ky. (22 points), Miami-Ohio (10 points) and Bethel-Tenn. (five points).
In the women's college-only standings, Wright State was second (73), with Xavier third (66), Transylvania fifth (60), Midway-Ky. sixth (49), Thomas More seventh (41), Ohio eighth (26.50), Miami-Ohio ninth (19) and Mount St. Joseph 10th (nine).
The Eagles will return to action on Friday, Apr. 18, when they host their first meet since 1981 with the Morehead State Eagle Twilight. Competition will begin at 5:15 p.m. with the first of 20 events. Prior to that, MSU will have its Senior Recognition Ceremony, honoring approximately seven team members. Five to six teams are expected to participate.
