MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State indoor track and field team is poised to put together its best series of results in nearly 20 years when it heads to the Ohio Valley Conference Championships Tuesday and Wednesday at the 200-meter banked track inside the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, Ky. It will be the first time the meet will be held at the venue and the first time it will be back in Kentucky since Morehead State hosted it in the early 80s.
Competition will open on Tuesday and Wednesday beginning at 9 a.m.
Last year, MSU's women scored 16 points, which equaled its combined total from 2018-24, was their highest in 22 seasons and the third straight OVC meet in which they raised their total from the previous campaign.
The men, which returned to competing at the meet in 2024, have tallied five points over the last two championships (including two last winter). In 2025, the Morehead State men finished ninth, while the women placed 11th.
Little Rock is the two-time defending men's champion, having scored 183 points last February. Southeast Missouri has won the last three women's titles, tallying 163 points in 2025.
The Eagles hold one team title in their history, courtesy of the 1977 men's squad. The two squads have combined for 21 individual titles, 11 from the men and 10 from the women, including
Lucy Singleton capturing the crown in the mile last season, for the ladies first individual championship since 2003.
With six Eagles ranked among the top 10 in the conference in 10 individual events this winter, plus sitting in scoring position in two relays, all signs point to this being a banner year for the Blue and Gold at the event.
"We are looking to score more points than we have in the last few years. I think if things pan out, we could score more points than we did the last two years combined," said Morehead State head coach
Clay Dixon. "We('ve) got high hopes in the sprints, distance and jumps events. Our relays have chances to score big. It will be an exciting two days of competition. It's gonna be fun to see how everything pans out."
MSU has already competed at the Norton Center twice this season, including the January 23rd PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic, where it had 22 top-10 performances and set or equaled 17 "pr's" against a talented field.
The entire Eagle entourage last competed 17-18 days ago at the Marshall Jewel City Invitational. Individually, senior
Kaylyn Holman ran at the Centre Indoor Invite & Multis on Valentine's Day in an effort to improve her seeding in the mile.
Dixon will send what is likely his largest contingent to the meet in his seven-year tenure, a group that includes 15 men and 12 women, spread across 20 events, with 38 total entries. In comparison, there were 19 total Eagles represented 26 times at the 2025 meet.
It will largely be a new group for the Blue and Gold. Only seven of the 27 participated last year, and only Holman and classmate
Abby Taylor, have competed at the meet more than once. It will be the fourth OVC indoor competition for Taylor, while Holman also ran in 2024.
"OVC is always a dog fight. People will bring their A-game and nothing is guaranteed. Looking at the entries. it looks like every team has some strategies in mind to best put their athletes and teams in good positions," Dixon said. "There's a handful of events that have people with top-five marks that look to be focusing on different events. That's gonna open up points for us and other teams."
The heptathlon kicks off the competition at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, but the Eagles won't be in action until 3:30 p.m. with the women's long jump and the men's 400-meter dash.
Morehead State could be a player right from the start as freshman
Kalynn Pease is the second ranked entrant of 22 in the long jump. Pease, who holds the school record, has a top mark of 5.89/19'04.00". She is ranked 200th nationally. Junior
Ginger Hayden also could score. She is ranked eighth in the field with a "pr" of 5.48/17'11.75". Sophomore Brookly Boyce is seeded 18th at 5.21m/17'01.25", also her "pr". It will be the first OVC indoor championships for all three. Boyce will be in the first flight, with Hayden and Pease in the second.
The day's first five track events will be prelims. Only the field events, the 5,000-meter run and the distance medley relay will have their finals on Tuesday. The top eight finishers in Tuesday's other sprint races will advance to the finals. In the 800-meter run, the top two in each heat plus the next two overall fastest will qualify for Wednesday's finals.
Freshman
Kyler Witt will represent the Blue and Gold in the 400m. He is seeded 15th with a 50.51 and will be in the first of four heats. One individual who will not be entered is freshman
Sam Afari, who is ranked fourth in the league and has the third-fastest mark all-time at Morehead State. Afari is being held out so that he can concentrate on his other events.
The women's 400m will follow at 3:40 p.m. It will be the first appearance for sophomore
Maryah Counts, who enters with a "pr" of 58.75, which is fifth in MSU history and seventh in Tuesday's field. Counts, who did not compete at last year's meet after missing the entire indoor season while recovering from offseason surgery. She will be in heat four of five.
The men's and women's 60-meter dash follows at 4 p.m. and 4:10 p.m., respectively. Headlining the group are a pair of freshmen,
Kyle Stepteau and
Kennedi Alford. Stepteau is seeded 11th with a 7.00, which ranks third in MSU history. Sophomore
Mark Whitener is not far behind in 16th with a 7.04, a mark that is fourth best at Morehead State. Last year, Whitener finished 19th in 7.19. Stepteau and Whitener are in heat two. Kelly is in heat four.
Alford is the lone Eagle woman in the event. She set the MSU school record on January 23rd with a 7.64 and is one of three with the same time, although she is seeded seventh, the lowest of that group. Alford is in the first of three heats.
The men's 800-meter run follows at 4:25 p.m. Sophomore
Weston Blair and freshman
Jesus Mendoza-Solis will toe the line. Blair, who finished 21st last year in 2:06.51, has a "pr" of 1:54.37 and has improved his time in the race in each of the last three meets. He is seeded 10th. Mendoza-Solis is seeded 19th in 1:59.54. Blair is in heat two, with Mendoza-Solis in number three.
Holman will make her first appearance at 4:35 p.m. for the women's 800m. This will be her first indoor 800m at the OVC meet, but she finished 15th at the 2025 outdoor championships. She is seeded 13th with the exact same time as Eastern Illinois' Anna Bieber (2:19.75). Holman is in the second of the three heats.
The men's 200-meter dash begins at 4:50 p.m. Afari and Stepteau will represent the Eagles. Afari is seeded seventh with a 21.69, which is believed to be an MSU indoor school record. That mark also ranks 430th nationally. Stepteau's top time is 22.29. He is seeded 15th. Afari will race in the first heat, and Stepteau in the sixth and last one.
Alford will be back for her second race at 5 p.m. She is seeded seventh. Her top time of 24.79 is second fastest in MSU history. She is in the sixth and final heat.
The first final on the track will be the 5,000m. The men's race will begin at 5:10 p.m. The Eagles have three entries: graduate student
Aidan Massey, sophomore A.J. Hawkins and junior
Aidan Whitsell. Massey is seeded seventh with a 14:49.39, the 480th best mark in Division I. Hawkins enters ranked 13th with a 15:30.31, while Whitsell is 17th at 15:45.03. All 20 entries will race together.
The women's 5,000m starts at 5:30 p.m. and will include sophomore
Meredith Campbell and Taylor. Campbell missed last year's meet with an illness that caused her to withdraw at the last minute. She enters Tuesday with a top time of 17:56.46, which is fifth best in the league this year. Taylor, who ran the event last winter and finished 17th in 18:19.70, has a top 2025 mark of 18:21.00, which places her 10th. There are 20 racers and will compete in the same heat.
This will be the fourth straight year MSU will have its first distance medley relay race at the conference championships. The men's race will start at 5:55 p.m., followed by the women at 6:10 p.m. The Eagle men will enter sophomore
Liam Parido to run the opening 1,200-meter leg, with freshman
Jayce Stewart in the 400m, Blair third in the 800m and freshman
Josh Arnett in the anchor 1,600-meter leg. Freshmanb
Luke Kelly, sophomore
Carter Lamb, Mendoza-Solis and Witt make up the alternates. Parido, sophomore
Tate Glass, Lamb and
Wes Grogan placed ninth last year in 10:41.98. It was Lamb's only race at the 2025 meet.
The women's quartet of junior
Lani Baskett (1,200m), Miles (400m), freshman
Sydney Filippazzo (800m) and junior
Adi Fuller (1,600m) will begin their race at 6:10 p.m. Boyce, Counts, Holman and Pease are the alternates. Junior
Taylor Allen,
Mia Underwood, sophomore
Olivia Miles and Holman competed last year and finished ninth in 12:57.74. Only Miles and Holman have previously competed in the event at a prior OVC meet, with Holman and Taylor part of a group that finished sixth in 12:43.88 in 2024.
There is only one heat of both DMR races. The men will start in last six, with the women in the ninth slot.
Day two will feature the bulk of the Eagle contingent in action. The men's pentathlon starts the competition at 9 a.m. MSU's first event will be the women's triple jump at noon. The men's mile starts the races on the track at 12:30 p.m.
Hayden set the school record in the triple jump at the 2025 Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She will try to improve on that mark of 10.97/36'00.00", which is seeded 15th. She is in Flight 1.
The mile will begin at 12:30 p.m. for the men and 12:45 p.m. for the women. MSU has four entries in each race. Arnett is seeded 11th with a top time of 4:19.39. Parido is slotted into 14th at 4:21.75, with Lamb 17th at 4:33.40 and junior
Brady Baker in 19th at 4:36.33. Parido is the only repeat male entry for 2026, finishing 21st in 4:32.86 last year. Baker, Lamb and Parido are in Section One. Arnett is in Section Two.
Holman returns for the women and will be joined by Fuller, Baskett and Filippazzo. Holman is seeded 10th at 5:08.08, which is seventh in MSU history. She finished 11th last year in 5:18.60. Fuller is seeded 20th in 5:25.09, with Baskett 24th in 5:34.97 and Filippazzo 26th in 5:36.44. Baskett, Filippazzo and Fuller are in Section One. Holman is in Section Two.
The next 10 races will be finals from events that had prelims on Tuesday. In each case, the men will race first. That group begins with the men's and women's 60-meter hurdles at 1:05 p.m. and 1:15 p.m., the men's and women's 400m at 1:30 p.m. and 1:35 p.m., the men's and women's 60m at 1:50 p.m. and 1:55 p.m., the men's and women's 800m at 2:10 p.m. and 2:20 p.m., and the men's and women's 200m at 2:30 p.m. and 2:35 p.m. The Eagles will compete in those events if they qualify out of Tuesday's races.
At 2:45 p.m., the men's 3,000-meter run will begin the first of two heats. There are 23 entries. Massey and Hawkins will represent MSU. Massey is seeded sixth with a time of 8:24.28. He also has the sixth-best mark ever at Morehead State. He will run in the second section. Hawkins is seeded 19th at 8:57.09 and is in the first section.
Like the men, the women's 3,000m will have two heats, the first of which will start at 3:10 p.m. Campbell and Taylor are both entered. Campbell is ranked sixth with a top time of 10:12.44, while Taylor is 20th at 10:44.84. Campbell has the sixth-fastest time in MSU history. Taylor finished 17th at the meet two years ago with a time of 10:44.14. Taylor is in Section One and Campbell is in Section Two.
The meet will conclude with the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays. The men will race at 3:40 p.m. and include a lineup of Afari, Stepteau, Stewart and Witt; with Blair, Kelly, Mendoza-Solis and Parido serving as alternates. The Eagle quartet is seeded seventh with a time of 3:22.21 and will be in the first heat. Last year's group of junior
Derril Carr, sophomore
Tate Glass, Whitener and junior
Cade Sullivan finished seventh in 3:31.36.
The women's race will begin at 3:55 p.m., and feature a foursome of Alford, Pease, Miles and Counts. Boyce and Holman are the reserves. The group is seeded eighth with a mark of 3:59.40 and will race in the first heat. Last year, the team of
Aaliyah Rodgers, Singleton, Underwood and Miles placed ninth in 4:04.58.
There will be an award ceremony at 4:15 p.m.
Live results are available at the sites
http://www.cfpitiming.com/liveresults/2026_Indoor/OVC_2026/ and
https://www.milesplit.live/meets/731447. The competition will also be streamed through ESPN+ and available at
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f876a841-8904-4ffa-8cfc-831bae26c80a#bucketId=2 on Day 1. The link for day two's video is
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/15a23fe4-d8ba-4e11-a7f1-97caa5880f99#bucketId=2.
Morehead State will begin the outdoor season on March 20-21 at the Eastern Kentucky Springtime Invitational.
