NOTE: Late Friday night, Bellarmine announced that it had canceled the remainder of the meet due to heavy rain and potential flooding in the area on Saturday.
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Nearly all the Morehead State track and field team's entries on Friday's opening day of Bellarmine's Jim Vargo Invitational at the Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Ky, were either personal or season's bests.
All of Friday's races were invitationals, in which entrants had to meet a qualifying time to earn a spot. The Eagles had five "pr's", six "sb's" and seven podium finishes out of 14 competitors. Just one day in and the Blue and Gold is already ahead of its pace from the last two years, when they had six and four top-eight finishes, respectively.
Two of the most impressive performances came from freshman
Olivia Miles in the 400-meter dash and junior
Kaylyn Holman in the 1,500-meter run. Miles became the first Eagle to go below one minute in four years and Holman dropped 12.6 seconds off her "pr". Both fell just short of joining the list of top-five performers in their events.
Weather was expected to be an issue, but unlike the past several years, it turned out to be a reasonably nice day despite the storms that pounded the area the night before.
"It ended up being near perfect weather for distance events," MSU coach
Clay Dixon said. "The sprints was a little cool and the track was still wet for them."
Miles led a quadruplet of back-to-back finishers in her race, with all four either setting a "pr" or "sb". She finished in fourth in 59.99, followed by freshmen
Aaliyah Rodgers in fifth in 1:00.83,
Maryah Counts in sixth in 1:01.21 and
Mia Underwood in eighth in 1:01.39.
"None of us were really sure how today's race was going to go with the rain and all, but it held off, giving us pretty good conditions for our runs!" Miles said. "I've been hoping for a sub-minute for a while now and I was prepared for today to be a little slower time wise. I knew off of my first curve that I was too slow, so I just told myself I had to pick it up if I wanted (a) 'pr'. Now that I know what it should feel like to run that (time), I know that I have a lot more to give and more room to grow!"
"Glad to see Olivia dip under 60 (seconds)," Dixon added. "Aaliyah looked good as well."
Miles was pleased with the entire Eagle contingent in her race.
"I am also super proud of the rest of the girls and how they ran today, too!" she said. "We had a day of 'pr's in the 400m today which (was) amazing to see!"
Holman continues to make significant improvements. She finished the 1,500m in eighth place with a time of 4:46.61. Her previous "pr" of 4:59.21 was set last April at the Jim Green Invitational.
Last year in the open 1,500m, Holman was 31st in 5:04.01.
"Kaylyn's (near) 13-second 'pr' in the 1,500m is insane," said Dixon.
Freshman
Meredith Campbell also ran in the 1,500m and finished 14th in 5:00.69. It was the shortest distance she has run this year.
Counts was one of three individuals competing in their first individual outdoor race.
Freshman
Aa'Nya Freeland tied for first in the 100-meter dash but was awarded second when the clock was measured to the thousandths of a second. She covered the course in 13.020. Bellarmine's Ravey Payne won the race in 13.017. Both were officially listed at 13.02.
Freshman
Ryan Richendollar made his track debut after sitting out the indoor season. He finished 21st in the 5,000-meter run in 15:35.15.
"Ryan did well but will learn to race better as he gets more experience," Dixon said. "(It was the) first race for him since November."
In the women's race, redshirt sophomore
Christiana Brittian was 16th in 18:32.29. It was the second straight week she set a "pr". Entering the spring, her top outdoor time was 19:52.26. Last weekend at the Washington Distance Carnival, she dropped it to 19:23.56. She cropped more than 50 seconds off that mark on Friday. At the Ohio Valley Conference indoor championships in February, she ran an 18:56.99.
"Christiana had a huge 'pr'," noted Dixon.
Redshirt senior
Wes Grogan ran his fastest 1,500m in nearly two years, placing 20th in 4:01.72. At the April 2023 Centre Twilight, he finished in 4:01.56.
The day opened with the men's 100-meter dash. The Eagles had four entries. Freshman
Mark Whitener was eighth in 11.12, 12-hundredths of a second off what he did at the season-opening Eastern Kentucky Springtime Invitational. Sophomore
Cade Sullivan was 12th in 11.39, with freshman
Tate Glass in 13th in 11.41 and sophomore
Derril Carr in 15th in 11.59. Last spring, Carr was 19th in 11.39, while Sullivan was 23rd in 11.44.
Action resumes tomorrow with sophomore
Ginger Hayden in the long jump at noon. Last year, she was 16th in 4.85m/15'11.00".
Freshman
Brody Coleman will try his hand at the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which begins at 12:10 p.m.
Eight Eagle men are entered in the open 1,500m. That group includes: senior
Austin Montgomery; sophomores
Brady Baker and
Garrett West; and freshmen
Weston Blair,
Preston Glassco,
Carter Hurley,
Carter Lamb and
Liam Parido. West will be the only repeat performer in the event. A year ago, he was 33rd in 4:11.23. Last spring, Baker and Montgomery both competed in the 800-meter run, with Baker 42nd and Montgomery 54th. There will be three sections of the event.
Sophomore
Cheyenne Stark, redshirt freshman
Lauren Gooderson and freshman
Brooklyn Boyce are all in the women's open 400-meter run, which starts at 1:35 p.m. Stark was 32nd in 1:08.89 last spring. There will be three heats in the event.
The women's 800m will have a large contingent of Eagles. Senior
Lucy Singleton; juniors
Lydia Bauer,
Natalie Curry,
Hope Harris and
Casey Skaggs; and sophomores
Lani Baskett and
Emily Spradlin are entered. Their race will start at 2:20 p.m. The 800m will feature four heats.
Last year, Singleton was eighth in 2:14.08, with Spradlin in 35th (2:42.88), Curry in 41st (2:54.12) and Harris in 42nd (3:00.83). Baskett and Skaggs ran the 1,500m last year and finished in 52nd (5:35.72) and 59th (5:50.75), respectively.
All four men's 100m runners are back on Saturday for the 200-meter dash. Carr, Glass, Sullivan and Whitener's event begins at 2:55 p.m. In 2024, Carr claimed 18th in 23.55.
MSU will also be heavily represented in the women's race, with Boyce, Counts, Freeland, Gooderson, Miles, Rodgers, Stark and Underwood all entered. Both the men's and women's 200m will have six sections. The first women's race will start at 3:10 p.m. Stark was 32nd in 28.78 at last April's meet.
The men's 5,000m will be the exact same as last year, where sophomore
Aidan Whitsell was 36th (16:03.74) and sophomore
Keghan Thompson was 37th (16:09.60). Their race will start at 3:30 p.m.
The meet's final events will be the 4x400-meter relays. The gun for the men's event will go off at 4:15 p.m., with the women following at 4:30 p.m. The Eagle men's entry will be similar to last year and include Sullivan, Carr, Glass and Whitener, with the latter two replacing 2024 graduate Miach Gray and West. The foursome from last year finished ninth in 3:41.02.
The Eagle women will have two entries. Rodgers, Underwood, Counts and Miles will make up the top group. It will be the first time the quartet will have run together. Starks, Gooderson, Freeland and Boyce combine to make the second team.
Redshirt senior
Jacob Vogelpohl, junior
Abby Taylor and sophomore
Taylor Allen will sit out the meet after having competed last weekend in St. Louis.
Live results can be found at the link:
https://live.dcracetiming.com/meets/47523.
MSU returns to the track for the Northern Kentucky Invitational next Saturday at nearby Bishop Brossart High School's facility, the Dave Schuh Track, in Alexandria, Ky. It will be a homecoming for Gooderson, who was a standout soccer and track star for the Lady 'Stangs, before graduating in 2023.
