MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State track and field team had 31 entries in action on Friday in Day 1 of the 46-team Lee Bast Break Invitational at the Ray Conn Sports Complex in Cleveland, Tenn. Seven of individuals went on to post performances that rank among the program's top-five marks ever, with another four moving into the top 10.
As has been the case throughout the outdoor season, leading the way was freshman
Kalynn Pease, who set her fourth school record of the year by running a school, meet and facility record of 24.07 to win the 200-meter dash. The previous record was 24.12, set in 2021. Pease's "pr" entering the race was 25.47.
Chattanooga's Ryleigh Simmons finished second overall in 24.56. Pease cruised to win her heat by 1.42 seconds over Murray State's Insiya Magee.
However, as is the norm for Pease, she was not satisfied.
"So today went well. I woke up not feeling the best, but I knew there was work to be done. Based on practice I was expecting to run in the 23s (seconds), so seeing the 24 hurt me a bit but I also have to remember that that is, number one, a huge step from how I ran indoor and, number two, it was over a second 'pr' from high school," she said. "So overall, I'm not mad about the performance, but I also know I can do much better. Next time I run the 200m, I know what I need to fix to make sure I get into 23s. I'm very proud that I ended up getting another school record in a different event and I also got the facility record, which is exciting."
Pease was not the only standout. Sophomore
Maryah Counts registered the eighth-best time in the 200m by crossing the line in 25.90 to place ninth. Counts also won her heat by 13-hundredths of a second.
Freshman
Sam Afari recorded the second-fastest mark in the men's 200m, with a 21.31. He placed third. Freshman
Kyle Stepteau finished in 22.03 to place 14th and move into seventh in MSU history.
In the 1,500-meter run, senior
Kaylyn Holman was seventh in 4:38.55, notching the fourth-best time ever at MSU. Senior
Abby Taylor and junior
Adi Fuller both moved up the top-10 list in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by covering the distance in 11:13.56 and 11:38.71, respectively. Taylor finished sixth, while Fuller won her heat, edging out North Georgia's Aubrey Dishman by 88-hundredths of a second, and was 11th overall. Taylor now sits fourth in MSU history, while Fuller is seventh.
In the 10,000-meter run, sophomore
Meredith Campbell crossed the line in 37:18.07, to move into fifth all-time at MSU. It was the first 10K of her collegiate career. In the men's race, graduate student
Aidan Massey finished in 31:22.69 and now sits ninth on the school's all-time list. Only the first heat of the 10,000m was run on Friday, with the remainder of the competition to conclude on Saturday.
In field events, junior
Ginger Hayden moved up to fourth all-time after placing third with a top mark of 18'01.75"/5.53m. Junior
Erin Pease also threw her way into 10th with a toss of 99'01"/30.20m and now ranks third on MSU's list.
In 10 cases, the Eagles set a "pr". The lone exception was
Erin Pease, who's "pr" was set as a member of the team at Union Commonwealth.
In addition, redshirt junior
Christiana Brittian had the top time among the first two heats of the 5,000-meter run but eventually finished 33rd with an 18:38.71. She won her section by more than five seconds.
Eight other Eagles set either personal records or season's bests on Friday.
MSU had seven individuals in the men's 200m. Following Afari and Stepteau were freshman
Kyler Witt (19th in 22.52), junior
Cade Sullivan (25th in 22.77), freshman
Luke Kelly (26th in 22.78), freshman
Jayce Stewart (34th in 23.09) and sophomore
Tate Glass (38th in 23.24). Witt and Stewart, who were both second in their respective heats, set "pr's".
In the women's race, sophomore
Brooklyn Boyce crossed the line in 24th in 26.76, with junior
Cheyenne Stark in 43rd in 28.29. It was a "pr" for Boyce, who was the third Eagle to win her heat of the 200m. She won the section by 46-hundredths of a second.
Boyce also competed in the long jump, where she finished 14th in 16'06.00"/5.03m.
In the 1,500m, Baskett was 63rd in 5:16.91, which is her "pr". Freshman
Sydney Filippazzo was scheduled to run but withdrew.
On the men's side, freshman
Josh Arnett set his "pr" by finishing 23rd in 3:59.05. Sophomore
Carter Lamb was 39th in 4:05.37, with junior
Brady Baker in 48th in 4:08.01, sophomore
Liam Parido in 52nd in 4:09.57 and junior
Garrett West in 71st in 4:22.07. Baker, who was second in his heat, bettered his "pr" by more than seven seconds.
The remainder of the Eagle contingent were in the 5,000m. Sophomore
Brody Coleman led the way among the group, placing 52nd in 15:52.96. Sophomore
Ryan Richendollar was 61st in 16:13.72, while junior
Keghan Thompson was 63rd in 16:15.25, sophomore
Preston Glassco was 65th in 16:25.21 and freshman
Lance Garner was 66th in 16:25.46. Glassco had the biggest "pr" jump of the day for the Blue and Gold, cutting nearly 20 seconds off his previous best of 16:55.17.
Competition will resume on Saturday at 9 a.m. with the men's javelin and then at 10 a.m. for the second heat of the 10,000m. The final section of the 10K will include sophomore
AJ Hawkins and junior
Aidan Whitsell. Both will be running the distance for the first time collegiately.
Hayden will return for the triple jump at 10:30 a.m. Her "pr" is 37'05.25"/11.41m, which is also the school record.
The Eagles are entered in the next seven events, beginning with the men's 400-meter dash at 12:20 p.m. That group will include Afari in heat one, Witt in heat four and Stewart in heat five. Afari's "pr" is 48.51. Witt's is 50.50 and Stewart's is 52.15. The women's race will follow at 12:35 p.m. and include Counts. Her "pr" is 57.46.
The 800-meter run will have MSU's largest contingent of athletes -- seven men and four women. The men's race gets things started at 1:30 p.m. Sophomore
Weston Blair is in heat three. His "pr" is 1:54.37. Heat seven will include Arnett and Parido. Arnett's "pr" is 2:02.81, while Parido's is 1:58.10. Heat eight will feature Baker, Lamb and freshman
Jesus Mendoza-Solis. Baker's "pr" is 2:00.22. Lamb's "pr" is 1:59.70 and Mendoza-Solis' is 1:59.54. West is the lone Eagle in heat nine. His "pr" is 1:57.70.
The women's competition will begin at 2:10 p.m. Holman is in heat two. Her "pr" is 2:17.04. Baskett is in heat seven. Her "pr" is 2:33.28. Freshman
Lauren Jones is in heat eight. Her "pr" is 2:34.77. Freshman
Josey Corbin has not been assigned a heat. Her "pr" is 2:35.97.
The 100-meter dash is the final individual event on the track. The men's competition will begin at 2:40 p.m. That group will include Stepteau in heat one, Kelly and Sullivan in heat two, and Glass in heat three. Stepteau has the top "pr" of 10.68, with Kelly next at 10.84, Sullivan third at 11.06 and Glass fourth at 11.36.
The women's 100m starts at 2:55 p.m. Pease, Boyce and Stark will be MSU's entries. Pease will be in heat one. She is currently ranked 189th nationally with a school-record time of 11.67. Boyce and Stark will be in heat number three. Boyce's "pr" is 12.87, with Stark's at 13.32.
The Eagles' top 4x400-meter relay team will make its outdoor debut. It will feature Afari, Stepteau, Stewart and Witt. Their top time is 3:22.05.
Live results are available through the link
https://live.xpresstiming.com/meets/66315.
The team's next meet will be Louisville's Lenny Lyles Invitational on Friday, Apr. 24 and Saturday, Apr. 25.
