MOREHEAD, Ky. – Coming off one of its best performances in ages, the Morehead State track and field team will head in two directions, with one group going to Bellarmine's Jim Vargo Invitational in Louisville, Ky., and the other going to North Carolina State's Raleigh Relays. MSU will be in competition at the two meets on Friday and Saturday.
The Raleigh Relays begin on Thursday, but the Eagles will not be in action until Friday. Competition will take place at the Paul Derr Track Facility in Raleigh, N.C. It will be the team's first trip there since three men took part in the 1,500-meter run in 2019, when Aaron Weir set the school record of 3:45.34, although the Blue and Gold were supposed to race in the 2020 meet before it was canceled due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The men also participated in the 2018 and 2017 meets. The last time both squads were there was in 2016.
The competition will feature thousands of athletes from over 100 schools.
The Eagles will be making their fifth consecutive trip to the Jim Vargo Invitational, which will take place at the Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville. Like the Raleigh Relays, the meet will start a day earlier than MSU's first event. Last year's meet was rained out after the first of two days of competition. Morehead State set five "pr's", six "sb's" and seven podium finishes out of 14 competitors in just seven events.
At least 14 teams, primarily from Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana are expected to compete, and the meet is not expected to be scored. Bellarmine will hold its Senior Day festivities at 12:05 p.m.
"We've got two great meets this weekend," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "We get to compete against some high-caliber competition in Raleigh and get a chance to make some statements and get some 'pr's'. We are looking to continue our strides forward at Bellarmine and get some good marks before we have a week off from competing."
Five individuals will run at N.C. State. Freshmen
Kennedi Alford will be in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Freshman
Kalynn Pease will be in the 100m and long jump. Sophomore
Maryah Counts will be in the 400-meter dash, freshman
Sam Afari will be in the 200m and 400m, and freshman
Kyle Stepteau will be in the 100m and 200m.
All of the running events will take place in timed sections with all marks being final. On Friday, the first heat of the 100m starts at noon for the women and 12:45 p.m. The 400m will follow at 1:30 p.m. for the women and 2:25 pm. for the men. On Saturday, the 200m will operate the same as the 100m, with the women's heat starting at 2:10 p.m., followed by the men at 3:05 p.m. The long jump will be Saturday at 10 a.m. Pease will be in Flight 4 of the long jump.
Alford enters with "pr's" of 11.84 in the 100m and 24.79 in the 200m. This past weekend at Eastern Kentucky, she finished third in the 100m (11.84) and second in the 200m (25.28). She will be in Section 6 of the 100m.
Pease broke three school records at EKU, including the 100m (11.75) and the long jump (19'10.25"), and consequently won three Ohio Valley Conference Athlete of the Week honors. At EKU, she won the latter event and was second in the former. She will be in Section 4 of the 100m.
Counts did not run the 400m at EKU. Her "pr" is 57.46. She is in Section 13. Afari won the 200m at EKU with a time of 22.09. He did not run the 400m in that meet. His "pr's" are 21.69 in the 200m and 48.74 in the 400m. He will be in Section TBA of the 200m and Section 7 of the 400. Stepteau false started in the 100m last weekend in his only collegiate 100m. He was eighth in the 200m in 22.737. His "pr" is 22.29. He will be in Section 9 of the 100m and Section TBA of the 200m.
The rest of the Eagle contingent will be at Bellarmine on Saturday, except for junior
Erin Pease, who will contest the javelin on Friday at the University of Louisville at 5 p.m. Her "pr" is 113'05"/34.58m, which she threw while competing for Union Commonwealth. Last weekend, she recorded a toss of 98'07"/30.04m to place fourth. There are just seven collegiate entries.
A total of 15 women are entered in 17 events. They will be joined by 20 men in 27 races.
Saturday's first event will start at 9:30 a.m. with the women's hammer throw. MSU will first see action at 10 a.m. with the women's long jump. Junior
Ginger Hayden and sophomore
Brooklyn Boyce are entered. Last weekend, Hayden finished third tying her "pr" of 17'11.75"/5.48m. Boyce placed seventh with a 16'03.00"/4.95m. Her "pr" is 17'01.25"/5.21m. Both are in Flight two.
Hayden will return at 2 p.m. for the triple jump. She owns the school record, which she set last weekend, with a mark of 37'05.25"/11.41m. She finished second at EKU. There is only one flight in the event.
The Eagles' first track event is the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore
Brody Coleman will race at 12:25 p.m. Senior
Abby Taylor and junior
Adi Fuller are entered in the women's event at 12:40 p.m. Coleman's "pr" is 10:16.46, Taylor's "pr" is 11:17.61. Fuller has only run the event in junior college, where her top time was 11:45.67. There are six men and five women scheduled to compete.
Six men will toe the starting line for the 1,500-meter run at 1:15 p.m. That group will include junior
Brady Baker and
Garrett West; sophomores
Preston Glassco,
Carter Lamb and
Liam Parido; and freshman
Josh Arnett. Only Arnett ran the event last weekend. He finished in 14th in 4:08.59. Baker's "pr" is 4:22.73, West's "pr" is 4:10.07, Glassco's "pr" is 4:11.64, Lamb's "pr" is 4:18.75 and Parido's "pr" is 4:05.29. Arnett is in the first heat. Glassco, Lamb, Parido and West are in heat two. Baker is in heat three.
The women's 1,500m will include junior
Lani Baskett and freshman
Sydney Filippazzo at 1:35 p.m. Neither ran in the event last weekend. Baskett's "pr" is 5:35.72. Filippazzo will be running it for the first time. Both are in heat two.
At 2 p.m., freshmen
Kyler Witt and
Jayce Stewart hit the track for the 400m. At EKU, Witt was fourth in 50.50, with Stewart 11th in 52.18. Witt's "pr" is 50.50. Stewart's "pr" is 52.15. Witt is in heat two, Stewart is in heat three.
At 2:30 p.m., the men's 100m will take place. Junior
Cade Sullivan, sophomore
Mark Whitener, Sophomore
Tate Glass and freshman
Luke Kelly will suit up for the Blue and Gold. In the last meet, Whitener was 4th in 10.82, Kelly was 5th in 10.84, Glass was 22nd in 11.36 and
Cade Sullivan was 25th in 11.47. Whitener's "pr" is 10.82. Kelly's is 10.84. Glass' is 11.36 and Sullivan's is 11.06. Whitener is in the first section. Kelly and Sullivan are in the second section. Glass is in section three.
There is only one woman running the 100m. Boyce, who was 12th last weekend in a "pr" of 12.87, will toe the line at 2:40 p.m. She is in the second section.
The Eagles have eight entrants in the 800-meter run. The men will go first at 2:50 p.m. and include sophomore
Weston Blair and freshman
Jesus Mendoza-Solis. Neither ran the distance at EKU. Blair's "pr" is 1:54.37 and Mendoza-Solis' is 1:59.54. At 3 p.m. seniors
Kaylyn Holman and
Casey Skaggs will be joined by four freshmen:
Josey Corbin,
Addison Hill,
Lauren Jones and
Peyton Lunsford. The only one of the group who ran last week was Jones, who finished 17th in 2:43.48. Holman's "pr" is 2:17.04, Skaggs' is 2:52.27. Jones' is 2:34.77 and Lunsford's is 2:38.54. Corbin and Hill have yet to run a collegiate 800m.
Blair is in heat one. Mendoza-Solis is in heat two. Holman is in heat one. Hill is in heat two. Jones and Lunsford are in heat three. Skaggs and Corbin are in heat four.
Another event with one of the Eagles' largest contingents is the men's 200m at 3:50 p.m. Sullivan, Glass, Whitener, Kelly, Witt and Stewart are MSU's representatives. Last weekend, Kelly was sixth in 22.65, Witt was 13th in 23.23, Glass was 16th in 23.42, Sullivan was 18th in 23.46, Stewart was 20th in 23.529 and Whitener was 23rd in 23.71. Their "pr's" are 22.65 (Kelly), 23.23 (Witt), 22.90 (Glass), 22.66 (Sullivan), 23.53 (Stewart) and 22.58 (Whitener).
Whitener is in heat two. Sullivan and Kelly are in heat three. Glass and Witt are in heat four. Stewart is in heat five.
The longest race of the meet will be the 5,000-meter run. It will be the first time this spring anyone will have competed at that distance. The men will start at 4:25 p.m. and include graduate student
Aidan Massey, juniors
Aidan Whitsell and
Keghan Thompson, sophomore
AJ Hawkins and freshman
Lance Garner. Their "pr's" are 16:32.15 (Garner), 15:30.31 (Hawkins), 14:49.39 (Massey), 15:54.12 (Thompson) and 15:36.66 (Whitsell). Massey is in section one. The other four are in section two.
The women's version will begin at 5:05 p.m. Redshirt junior
Christiana Brittian and sophomore
Meredith Campbell are the Eagle entries. Brittian's "pr" is 18:32.29. Campbell's is 17:56.46. There are 23 women entered and all will run in the same section.
MSU will only have one relay competing at the meet. The men's 4x400-meter event will take place at 5:35 p.m. and include four of the following individuals: Glass, Kelly, Stewart, Sullivan and Witt. Last week, the combination of Stewart, Sullivan, Glass and Witt was eighth in 3:31.77. There are eight entries in the meet.
Among those who are competing this weekend, several have run at the meet in previous seasons. Last year, Brittian was 16th in the 5,000m in 18:32.29. In the 100m, Whitener was eighth in 11.12, Sullivan was 12th in 11.39, with Glass in 13th in 11.41.
In 2024, Sullivan was 23rd in the 100m in 11.44. Taylor was fourth in the steeplechase in 11:20.43, while Hayden was 16th in the long jump in 4.85m/15'11.00", Baker was 42nd in the 800m in 2:04.30, Baskett was 52nd in the 1,500m in 5:35.72, West was 33rd in the 1,500m in 4:11.23, Whitsell was 36th in the 5,000m in 16:03.74 and Thompson was 37th in the 5,000m in 16:09.60. The 4x400m, which included Sullivan, was ninth in 3:41.02.
Live stats for N.C. State can be found at the link
https://flashresults.com/2026_Meets/Outdoor/03-26_RaleighRelays/index.htm. Live stats for Bellarmine are available at the link
https://milesplit.live/meets/742413.
Morehead State will take a week off before returning to competition. The Blue and Gold are next scheduled to participate in the Lee Fast Break Invitational April 10-11 in Cleveland, Tenn.
