MOREHEAD, Ky. – Fresh off one of its best performances in ages, the Morehead State indoor track and field team will return to the Norton Heathcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, Ky., for the two-day PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational.
Just seven days ago at the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic, also held at the Norton Center in Louisville, MSU set a school record, had at least one top-seven finish in 12 of its 15 events, recorded 22 top-10 performances out of 48 total entries, notched 16 "pr's" (and tied another) and won 12 heats.
This time the competition ratches up a notch as the Friday-Saturday competition hosted by the University of Louisville will feature approximately 58 colleges, including: Alabama, Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Ball State, Bellarmine, Belmont, Butler, Chicago State, Cincinnati, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky, Grand Valley State, Indiana, IU Indy, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, Lipscomb, Marshall, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky, Ohio State, South Florida, Southern Illinois, Texas A&M, Tulane, Western Kentucky, Wofford and Youngstown State, among others. In addition, Ohio Valley Conference foes Lindenwood, SIUE, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State and UT Martin will also be in attendance.
It will be the second straight year the Eagles will participate at the meet. Last year it was not scored.
"It's gonna be a very competitive weekend and we are ready for it," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "Our week of training required us to change of few plans on our workouts leading up to it (due to the weather), but we think we are in a good place to do well."
Dixon has entered 29 Eagles 35 times in 16 events. It will be the first time this year, Morehead State will compete in the triple jump and the 5,000-meter run.
Competition begins on Friday at 9:50 a.m. with the women's open long jump. There will be five flights. Freshman
Brooklyn Boyce will be in the first flight. Last week, she was ninth collegiately in 4.86m/15'11.50". Her "pr" is 5.12m/16'09.75". Junior
Ginger Hayden is in Flight 2. At the Bellarmine meet, she was fourth collegiately in 5.17m/16'11.50". Her "pr" is 5.34m/17'06.25". Freshman
Kalynn Pease is making her return to the event after setting the school record in the opening meet of the year. There, she measured a top leap of 5.89m/19'04.00". If anyone qualifies, the finals will be held at 2:50 p.m.
The Eagles' first competition on the track will be the women's "C" Division 400-meter dash at 10:50 a.m. There will be 10 heats and include sophomores
Maryah Counts and
Olivia Miles. The pair has not been assigned to a heat. Last weekend, Counts finished third collegiately in 58.89, tying her "pr", while Miles was 10th collegiately in 1:01.23. Miles' "pr" is 59.78.
The women's open 800-meter run will take place at 1:10 p.m. and include sophomore
Emily Spradlin in Heat 1, junior
Adi Fuller in Heat 2 and senior
Kaylyn Holman in Heat 5. This past weekend, Spradlin finished 20th in 2:32.09. Fuller and Holman have yet to run the distance this winter. Spradlin's "pr" is 2:31.06, Fuller's is 2:26.86 and Holman's is 2:17.04.
The men's Open Division race will follow at 1:45 p.m. Sophomore
Weston Blair is in Heat 5 and freshman
Jesus Mendoza-Solis is in Heat 8. Both ran last weekend, with Blair finishing sixth collegiately in 1:55.73 and Mendoza-Solis in 21st collegiately in 2:02.43. It was the collegiate "pr" for both runners.
At 3:25 p.m., senior
Abby Taylor will take to the track in the women's open 3,000-meter run. Last week, she was 16th in 10:57.34. Her "pr" is 10:38.24. She will be in Heat 2.
The men's open 3,000m will begin at 4 p.m. and include graduate student
Aidan Massey, junior
Aidan Whitsell, sophomore
Ryan Richendollar and freshman
Lance Garner. All four ran at Friday's Bellarmine Classic, with Massey placing second in 8:24.28, Whitsell taking 32nd collegiately in 9:08.84, Garner claiming 35th collegiately in 9:10.93 and Richendollar crossing the line in 36th collegiately in 9:11.70. All four set "pr's" at that meet.
Massey will be in Heat 3, with the other three in Heat 6.
Reigning OVC Female Track Athlete and Freshman of the Week
Kennedi Alford will make her debut at 5:05 p.m. in the 200-meter run's "C" Division. Pease will also compete in the event. There are 80 entries, which will be split into 17 heats, but the assignments have not been determined. At Bellarmine, Alford won the event with a "pr" of 24.79, while Pease finished in eighth in 26.28. Her "pr" is 25.47.
OVC Male Freshman of the Week
Sam Afari will make his first appearance in the "C" Division 200m at 5:50 p.m. Freshmen
Luke Kelly and
Kyle Stepteau will join him. Like with the women's race, heats have not been assigned. However, there are 72 entries and 15 heats are scheduled. Last weekend, Afari won the race in 21.91, with Stepteau in third with a "pr" of 22.29 and Kelly in ninth with a "pr" of 22.88. Afari's "pr" is 21.75.
On Saturday, the Eagles return at 10:30 a.m. for the women's triple jump. Hayden is the team's lone entry and she has not competed in the event since setting the school record at the 2025 OVC Outdoor Championships last May. At that meet, she cleared 11.10m/36'05.00". There will be four flights and Hayden is in the second. The finals will take place after the conclusion of the last flight.
The men's open 60-meter dash begins at 10:55 a.m. There will be 12 heats. The finals will be later at 2:45 p.m. The Eagles will have four competitors. Afari and sophomore
Mark Whitener will be in Heat 8. It will be Afari's first collegiate venture in the event. Whitener finished 11th collegiately last Friday in 7.203. Stepteau is in Heat 9. At Bellarmine, he was second with a "pr" of 7.06. Kelly will be in Heat 10. Seven days ago, he tied for seventh collegiately in 7.174. Whitener's "pr" is 7.04, with Kelly owning a top time of 7.11, respectively.
The women's open 60m will take place at 11:20 a.m. The team's lone entry is Alford, who set the school record of 7.64 last Friday in winning the Bellarmine meet. She will be in Heat 4.
The women hit the track for the open mile at 11:55 a.m. Three Eagles are entered. Freshman
Sydney Filippazzo will be in Heat 1, with junior
Lani Baskett in Heat 2 and Holman in Heat 7. Last week, Holman finished ninth with a "pr" of 5:09.80, with Baskett taking 27th in a "pr" of 5:34.97 and Filippazzo in 29th with a "pr" of 5:39.42
The men's open mile begins at 1 p.m. There are 11 heats. Sophomore
AJ Hawkins will be in Heat 7, with sophomore
Liam Parido and freshman
Josh Arnett in Heat 9. Parido and Arnett ran at Bellarmine, with Parido finishing 24th collegiately in 4:23.45 and Arnett placing 25th collegiately in 4:23.61. It was a "pr" for both runners. Hawkins set his "pr" of 4:23.06 last year at Eastern Michigan.
The lone entry in the open 5,000m is sophomore
Meredith Campbell. She will run in Heat 1, which begins at 2:55 p.m. Her "pr" is 18:23.30.
The 4x400-meter relays will conclude the day for the Eagles. The first race begins at 3:40 p.m. The women's foursome of Miles, Alford, Pease and Counts will be in Heat 9. The combination (albeit a slightly different order) placed second in 3:59.40 last weekend. It was their "pr".
The men's event begins at 4:20 p.m. and include 10 heats. The Eagle team of Afari, Stepteau, Stewart and Witt will be in Heat 10. Last weekend, it finished second in 3:22.21, the fastest mark for the program in 46 years and second quickest of all time.
Last year, the milers stood out for the Blue and Gold. The group was highlighted by
Lucy Singleton, who was eighth overall in 4:55.04. Among those who will be in action this weekend, Campbell (48th in 5:19.79) and Baskett (64th in 5:48.02) also competed in the event.
Others who ran last year include: Whitener (33rd in the 60m in 7.25 and 53rd in the 200m in 23.63), Miles (29th in the 400m in 1:01.30), Taylor (27th in the 3,000m in 10:44.50), Whitsell (71st in the 3,000m in 9:15.60), Blair (47th in the 800m in 1:59.99), Parido (48th in 800m in 2:00.11), Holman (39th in the 800m in 2:27.39) and Hayden (25th in the long jump in 4.68m/15'04.25").
In total, MSU had 13 season or personal bests at that meet.
Live results for the meet can be found at the link:
https://live.dcracetiming.com/meets/60820.
Morehead State will have its third meet in three weeks next weekend when the team travels to Marshal for the third time this season. The Marshall Jewel City Invitational will take place on Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7 in Huntington, W.Va.
