MOREHEAD, Ky. – Tuesday's Day One of the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships featured a mix of successes for Morehead State, which had hoped to make a bigger impact at this year's meet than it had in a long time.
The meet took place on the 200-meter banked track inside the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, Ky.
In most years, the Eagles rarely rack up points on the first day, which usually features most finals coming from field events. However, this season, that was not the case.
The MSU men, which finished the 2025 meet with two points and the 2024 competition with three, have already eclipsed both of those totals having tallied four points on Day One.
The Eagle women are in sixth place. It is the highest they have ever been after the meet's first day in head coach
Clay Dixon's tenure. The team did not score on Day One of 2025.
Only 10 of the 34 events were scored on Tuesday. Southeast Missouri leads the men's competition with 59 points, followed by Southern Indiana with 31, Western Illinois with 25.50, Eastern Illinois with 25, Little Rock with 20.50, UT Martin with 15, SIU Edwardsville with 14, MSU with four and Tennessee State with one. Morehead State did not score on Day One of the 2025 meet.
On the women's side, two-time reigning champion Southeast Missouri leads the field with 70 points, followed by Eastern Illinois with 31, Tennessee Tech with 29, SIU Edwardsville with 21, Little Rock with 17, Morehead State with 10, Western Illinois with eight, Southern Indiana with six, UT Martin with two, Tennessee State with one and Lindenwood did not score.
In its first competition of the afternoon, Morehead State's women scored eight points in the long jump as freshman
Kalynn Pease finished third with a 5.68m/18'07.50" and junior
Ginger Hayden took seventh at 5.40m/17'08.50".
"It went well enough," said Pease, who became MSU's highest-scoring long jumper since the Eagles resumed competing in field events three years ago. "I executed as well as I could. It being conference didn't change how I competed, I just went out and did what I needed to do. My goal was to take home a medal and I did just that."
Hayden was making her first indoor OVC appearance and nearly matched her "pr", which she achieved in her last outing at Marshall 18 days ago. Sophomore
Brooklyn Boyce also competed and finished 17th in 4.99m/16'04.50". Both finished higher than their initial seed (Hayden was eighth and Boyce was 18th).
"(It was) good seeing Ginger get seventh and a podium for Kalynn," MSU coach
Clay Dixon said.
On the men's side, the Eagles scored four points on Tuesday, which surpassed their two-day total from both the 2024 and 2025 meets when the Blue and Gold guys returned to indoor track competition.
MSU scored in both the 5,000-meter run and the distance medley relay.
Graduate student
Aidan Massey finished where he was seeded, seventh, crossing the line in 14:59.67. He sat among the leaders for the bulk of his race before gradually falling back to eighth with 1,000 meters remaining and then settled into seventh at the end.
"Today's race was all right, (it) just didn't live up to Balboni's expectations," he said referring to a individual he said was "a local legend in Morehead."
Massey will return to race in the 3,000-meter run on Wednesday.
"I'm going to get after it tomorrow and redeem myself," he added. "I'm going to rabbit the 3K. It'll be rowdy. (I'm) grateful to wear the Morehead (State) jersey and compete for the great Coach Dixon. All glory to God."
Massey was joined in the event by teammates, sophomore
AJ Hawkins and junior
Aidan Whitsell. Hawkins finished 16th in 16:02.31, while Whitsell was 19th in 16:17.73.
Like Massey, sophomore
Meredith Campbell is scheduled to do the 5,000m-3,000m double. In her race, Campbell matched Massey by placing seventh and collecting two more points for the Blue and Gold ladies. Campbell, who missed last year's meet due to illness, also ran among the leaders through the early part of the race and crossed the line in 18:09.26. Senior
Abby Taylor, the lone MSU athlete to run in four OVC Indoor Championships, placed 12th in 18:47.78. Taylor improved her placing but ran a much slower time than her 2025 race in which she finished 17th in 18:19.70, the only other time she competed in the event at the meet.
"Meredith and Massey both went with the group and did the tactical race," Dixon said. "It made it dicey, but they looked strong on the finish and caught a couple (of other runners). Real Balboni efforts; they went for it."
The Eagles' other men's points came in the DMR, where the quartet of sophomore
Liam Parido, freshman
Jayce Stewart, sophomore
Weston Blair and freshman
Josh Arnett, covered the 4,000-meter course to claim seventh in 10:36.73.
It was more than a five-second improvement for the crew over last year's group, which placed ninth in 10:41.98. Parido was the lone runner to return from that 2025 relay.
The women's DMR replicated last year's ninth-place finish. The foursome of junior
Lani Baskett, sophomore
Olivia Miles, freshman
Sydney Filippazzo and junior
Adi Fuller were clocked in 13:10.84, nearly 27 seconds behind the 2025 quartet.
"DMR was a little tough," Dixon said. "(We were) hoping for more, but this year it was really competitive."
The remainder of the events were all prelims, with the top finishers qualifying for Wednesday's finals.
Only two individuals advanced though their trials, with sophomore
Maryah Counts winning her heat and placing sixth overall in a "pr" of 58.37. Counts was seeded seventh with an entry time of 58.75.
Freshman
Kennedi Alford finished where she was seeded and with nearly an identical time in the 200-meter dash. She easily won her heat and covered the distance in 24.87. Her top time this season is 24.79.
Alford was one of two who missed qualifying for the finals by one place. She was ninth in the 60-meter dash in 7.73. Eighth place went to Southeast Missouri's Jasmine McClelland, who was clocked in 7.67.
In the men's 60m, freshman
Kyle Stepteau was one-hundredth of a second off his "pr" and finished in 12th in 7.01. Sophomore
Mark Whitener was the lone Eagle to set a "pr" on Tuesday, clocking a 7.03 to claim 13th. He was seeded 16th and finished in 19th in 7.19 last year. Freshman
Luke Kelly was 23rd in 7.22.
The other Eagle ninth-place finisher was freshman
Sam Afari in the 200m. He crossed the line in 21.80. Eastern Illinois' Maliek Bush was eighth in 21.74. Stepteau was 20th in the event in 22.92.
"Sprints were tough with two ninth-place finishes. Kennedi rebounded with qualifying in the 200m," Dixon said. "Great for Maryah getting into finals in the 400m."
Sophomore
Weston Blair led early in his 800-meter run heat but eventually fell back by the end and finished in sixth in his heat and 17th overall in 1:57.50. He as 21st last year. Freshman
Jesus Mendoza-Solis was 20th in 2:02.72.
Senior
Kaylyn Holman finished where she was seeded in 13th, crossing the line in 2:21.21.
Freshman
Kyler Witt was forced to withdraw because of an injury and consequently will need to be replaced in the 4x400-meter relay.
Day two will feature the bulk of the Eagle contingent in action. The women'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 (including Counts) 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 (including Alford) at 2:30 p.m. and 2:35 p.m.
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 either Blair, Kelly, Mendoza-Solis or Parido replacing Witt. 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 the link:
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.
