DAY 1 STORY
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Weather did not slow the Morehead State Eagles on Day 2 of the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, although storms and a tornado warning disrupted Friday's meet schedule at the Abe Stuber Track & Field Complex at Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The entire schedule was altered with the running events and the field events flipped, and the start time moving to the morning, followed by multiple delays, before the meet was stopped in the early evening with the women's discus, women's long jump and men's high jump yet to be completed.
The elements were not a factor for the Blue and Gold, which recorded another outstanding day at the meet, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase from junior
Abby Taylor.
"Abby rocked that steeple. She moved right into (the) three-four spot and after about three laps it was the top three," Morehead State head coach
Clay Dixon said. "They slowly distanced themselves from the group and it was the top three until the EIU girl (Rylea Borgic) went. Abby moved to second with about 600m to go. She looked great and a got 'pr', too. We are all really happy."
Morehead State athletes recorded five "pr's" on Friday, nearly half of their entrants in the day's races, with four individuals also breaking into the school's all-time top-five performers list in their event.
Dixon singled out several.
"(Freshman) Aaliyah (Rodgers), fourth fastest 400(-meter dash) in school history. (Freshman) Mark (Whitener), fourth fastest 100(-meter dash) in school history. (Sophomore) Cade (Sullivan), fifth fastest 100m in school history."
Yet, Taylor was the star, finishing second in the steeplechase, the women's team's best finish since Alex Morris won the 5,000-meter run in 2015. It was the highest known placing in the event for the Eagle ladies in school history.
Taylor ran in a front pack of four right from the start. She broke free from third-place finisher Western Illinois' Aylana Cezar with about two laps to go and eventually crossed the line in 11:17.61, her "pr" by 1.35 seconds which reaffirmed her fifth-place standing on MSU's all-time list.
"The goal for this race was the podium. I was ranked third (sic) going in, so I knew I was capable. I just had to put the pieces all together on race day," she said. "When the gun went off, I got out hard to be with the top three girls and stayed there for the first mile of the race, focusing on good jumps over the barriers.
"With less than three laps to go, I was sitting in third and the second place girl began to fall off pace, so I took the opportunity to surge ahead of her and closed the race as best I could to finish second," she added. "Crossing the line was such an exciting moment realizing we made the podium! Coach Dixon and (coach) Grayson (Brookshire) were so excited and have helped me improve so much in this event the last few years. My teammates support cheering for me every lap made this a special race!"
There were a total of 17 runners in the event. Borgic's winning time was 10:59.53. Cezar clocked an 11:33.34 to place third.
It was the third straight top-eight finish for Taylor. She was eighth in 2023 in 12:01.32 and fourth last year in 11:28.10. She entered the meet seeded fourth with a "pr" of 11.18.96. Cezar was both the defending champion and the top seed with a time of 10:56.79. Borgic was seeded second at 11:03.22.
The Eagles' day began with the women's 400m, with both of their entrants setting "pr's". Rodgers covered the course in 58.94, finishing fourth in her heat and 13th overall. She went under one minute for the first time in her career and is now tied for fourth place with Alysa Coleman on MSU's top performer's list. Freshman
Olivia Miles was sixth in her heat and crossed the line in 59.78, 21-hundredths of a second below her "pr".
It was a huge jump in seeding for the pair which entered the race sitting 29th and 28th, respectively, in the league.
The 100m followed and again both MSU men's entries recorded "pr's". Whitener was fourth in his section and cracked the 11-second mark for the first time in his career, registering a 10.88 to move into fourth all-time at MSU. He finished 10th overall. Ironically, Sullivan also dropped time off his best performance after notching an 11.06 and placing seventh in his heat. Sullivan cut 13-hundredths of a second off his "pr" but moved from fourth to fifth on the Eagles' all-time list, being surpassed by Whitener.
"Mark ran a phenomenal race," Dixon said. "Tenth as a freshman is great."
Freshman
Aa'Nya Freeland was entered in the women's 100m, but did not start.
The men's and women's 800-meter runs got mixed reviews. The guys all finished with times above their "pr's". Freshman
Liam Parido led the way, taking fifth in his heat and 21st overall in 1:59.72. He entered seeded 37th with a top time of 1:58.60. Freshman
Carter Hurley, who entered with the fastest mark of the group at 1:56.46 and seeded 29th, was sixth in his heat and 22nd overall. He finished in 1:58.43. Freshman
Weston Blair was sixth in his heat and 25th overall. He was ranked 30th with a "pr" of 1:56.92, but fell well below that mark with a time of 2:13.92.
The highly-anticipated women's 800m also had some highs and lows. Senior
Lucy Singleton qualified for Saturday's finals, but did so on time and in the last spot. The top two finishers in each of the three heats and the next two fastest runners made the finals. Singleton was fourth in her heat and sixth overall (on time) in 2:16.09, far short of her qualifying mark of 2:11.78.
Singleton led for the first 600 meters of her race and sat in second after 700 meters but was passed twice down the stretch. She was seeded fourth overall.
It was her second time racing the 800m at the OVC Outdoor Championships, having previously finished seventh in 2023 in 2:18.15.
Junior
Kaylyn Holman had a disappointing 15th-place finish in 2:23.10, coming in fifth in her heat. She had a "pr" of 2:17.04, which she set a week ago at the Billy Hayes Invitational. She entered as the 12th seed. She ran the event last spring and finished 14th with a time of 2:24.95.
There were a total of 24 runners in the event. UT Martin's Maggie Roy had the top overall time of 2:13.93, with Southern Indiana's Audrey Comastri second at 2:14.94.
"Lucy ran the 800m in a painful fashion, but she qualified," said Dixon. "She'll be ready for the finals."
Freshman
Brody Coleman represented MSU in the men's steeplechase, placing 10th in a field of 13. He crossed the line in 10:17.27, just shy of his "pr" (10:16.46). It was just the third steeplechase race of his career.
After two days, the MSU women have moved into seventh place in the team standings. Host and defending champion Southeast Missouri leads with 72 points. Eastern Illinois is second with 39 points, followed by Little Rock (30), Southern Indiana (27), Western Illinois (21), SIU Edwardsville (20), Morehead State (8), Tennessee Tech and Lindenwood (6), UT Martin (5) and Tennessee State (0).
Southeast Missouri also leads the men's competition with 92 points. Eastern Illinois is next (51), with Little Rock (50), Western Illinois (38), SIU Edwardsville (14), UT Martin (10), Southern Indiana (8), Tennessee State (4) and Morehead State (2) rounding out the field.
The Eagles will return on the final day with the meet having reshuffled its schedule. Three events which were to be held on Friday, but were postponed due to the weather, will start off the competition at 11 a.m. ET. Among those is the women's long jump, which will include sophomore
Ginger Hayden. She will return later in the afternoon to participate in the triple jump at 2 p.m. ET.
Hayden is ranked 17th in the triple jump with a mark of 10.53m/34'06.75". She is seeded 29th in the long jump after clearing 5.07m/16'07.75". Last year, she was 24th at 5.09m/16'08.50" in that event. She did not compete in the triple jump last spring.
The rest of the day features only finals, with the lineup for most of the events determined by qualifying performances on Thursday and Friday.
"Lucy, Kaylyn, Abby and the 4x1(00-meter relay) should have the ability to get points," Dixon said.
Dixon is entering his first men's 4x100m relay since 2011, when the team finished fifth in 45.43. Saturday's group will include Sullivan, Whitener, sophomore
Derril Carr and freshman
Tate Glass. Dixon has not designated any alternates. Their race will start at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The women's 4x100m relay will also be making a return after a layoff. The group of Grace Lopez, Tayla Lee, Sierra Kelley and Dallas Jones represented MSU in 2022 and placed ninth in 50.39.
The Eagle combination is expected to be Hayden, Rodgers, Counts and Miles. That race is scheduled to begin at 1:40 p.m.
Most of the day's events feature a revised schedule. The men's 4x100m relay starts the track portion at 1:30 p.m. ET. The women's race follows at 1:40 p.m. ET. The men's 1,500-meter run will start at 1:50 p.m. ET, with the women at 2 p.m. ET. The rest of the lineup includes the men's 110-meter hurdles (2:15 p.m. ET), the women's 100-meter hurdles (2:25 p.m. ET), the men's 400m (2:35 p.m. ET), the women's 400m (2:45 p.m. ET), the men's 100m (2:55 p.m. ET), the women's 100m (3 p.m. ET), the men's 800m (3:10 p.m. ET), the women's 800m (3:15 p.m. ET), the men's 400m hurdles (3:30 p.m. ET), the women's 400m hurdles (3:35 p.m. ET), the men's 200-meter dash (3:45 p.m. ET) and the women's 200m (3:50 p.m. ET).
The Eagles qualified for the finals in the women's 1,500m (Singleton and Holman) and 800m (Singleton).
The 1,500m will be the team's best chance at an individual title. In Friday's prelims, Singleton placed third in 4:38.11, with Holman taking fifth in 4:39.42. Tennessee Tech's Rylee Wells has the top overall time of 4:37.74 after edging Southern Indiana's Audrey Comastri by four-hundredths of a second.
Singleton entered the meet seeded third with a top time of 4:32.28. Holman was ranked 10th with a 4:39.68. On Friday, Holman recorded a "pr" for the seventh consecutive meet. She has already guaranteed her best finish at the OVC Outdoor Championships, having placed 17th in 5:04.69 last spring. Singleton will advance to the finals for the fourth straight year. She was third in 4:34.17 in 2024. She was sixth in 2023 when there were no preliminary races and seventh in 2022 as a freshman. She also qualified for the finals in the 800m in 2023.
According to Dixon, it is the first time MSU will have two women in the finals of the 1,500m since 2019.
The final individual event will be the 5,000m. The men's race will be at 4 p.m. ET, with the women to follow at 4:20 p.m. ET.
Again this year, the Eagles will have the maximum number of entries. Freshman
Ryan Richendollar leads the way for the guys, seeded 15th with a 15:09.14. Redshirt senior
Jacob Vogelpohl is next in 22nd at 15:19.45, sophomore
Aidan Whitsell is 25th with a time of 15:36.66 and redshirt senior
Wes Grogan is 29th at 15:44.33. It will be the longest distance Grogan has run at the meet in his five-year career.
Last spring, Vogelpohl was 14th in 15:24.30, with graduates
Kyler Stewart in 21st in 15:44.28 and
Kyle Embry in 25th in 16:03.89.
The women's race will feature freshman
Meredith Campbell as MSU's top entry. She is seeded 27th in 18:25.88. Redshirt sophomore
Christiana Brittian is next at 31st in 18:32.29. Taylor is right behind in 32nd in 18:32.75, with sophomore
Taylor Allen 40th in 19:07.63. Allen was the team's top finisher last year, placing 17th in 18:45.53. Also in 2024, December graduate
Laikin Tarlton took 21st in 19:10.86, Singleton was 22nd in 19:13.75 and redshirt junior
Megan Bush was 24th in 19:42.28.
The meet's final event is the 4x400-meter relay. The Eagles will have representatives in both the men's race at 5:05 p.m. ET and the women's competition at 5:20 p.m. ET.
The men's foursome is expected to be Carr, Glass, Sullivan and Hurley. They are seeded eighth. However, this combination has never run together. Whitener and Grogan are the likely alternates. Last year, Carr, West,
Armando Montes and 2024 graduate
Toby Cook placed ninth in 3:27.52.
The women's quartet will include Rodgers, freshman
Maryah Counts, Miles and either Holman or Singleton. The last time MSU entered a women's 4x400m relay, the group of Kelley, Keana Meriwether, Singleton and Jones placed 10th in 4:16.69 in 2022.
"We have both teams doing a 4x1 which will be fun. The 4x4 relays have good shots at scoring as well," Dixon said. "At this point, we'll just see what everyone else has in the tank since most would have competed multiple days. The 5K's will be brutal. I think with the heat, it could really change what the entries say based on their previous performances."
The competition will conclude with a recognition of graduates at 5:40 p.m. ET and then an award ceremony at 5:55 p.m. ET.
Live results will be available at the link:
http://cfpitiming.com/2025_Outdoor_Season/OVC_2025/OVC_2025.html throughout the meet.
ESPN+ will broadcast each day's action. Saturday's competition can be seen at the link:
https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/d9eee0f0-d67a-410b-846c-4bbebc08a632.
All other information will be available on the OVC's Championship central webpage. The link for it is:
https://ovcsports.com/tournaments/?id=53.
