DAY 1 STORY
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State track and field closed out its two-day stay at the 44-team Lee Fast Break Invitational on Saturday with seven more top-10 all-time school-best marks, highlighted by a program record, at the Ray Conn Sports Complex in Cleveland, Tenn.
Sophomore
Maryah Counts broke a record that stood since 1975, with her 400-meter dash time of 56.97. It surpassed Julie Rice's 57.30 and Counts' previous "pr" of 57.46.
"My goal today was just to run a sub-57. All the conditions at the meet (were) good and it was a fast track, so I (knew) I could do it," she said. "Coming into this meet, we pushed it hard to get some speed work and that definitely helped me a lot. (I) felt like I had my footing with me and got faster. (The) next thing I need to do is just break 56 (seconds)."
In total, MSU finished the meet with 14 top-10 all-time performances, plus five more that would have ranked in the top 10 but were slower than their "pr's". The teams combined for 13 top-10 finishes, set 21 "pr's" and another seven season's-bests as the women finished fifth our of 40 teams and the men were 14th out of 40.
"It was a great meet all around," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "We had some big 'pr's' and the team is progressing well."
In addition to Counts, freshman
Kalynn Pease set a school record and tied a meet record in the 200-meter dash on Friday, while freshman
Sam Afari was one of three to break the meet record in Friday's men's 200m.
Host Lee University swept the team titles, winning the men's meet with 146 points and the women's competition with 182. In both cases, Saginaw Valley was the runner-up. The Cardinal men recorded 103 points, while the school's ladies tallied 69 points.
Among the teams the Eagles defeated were Chattanooga, Lincoln Memorial, Murray State, Wright State, the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.), Dayton, Lipscomb, Georgia Tech and Eastern Kentucky on the women's side. The men bettered Cumberlands (Ky.), Lipscomb, Rio Grande, Alabama-Huntsville and Dayton.
Pease set her fourth school record of the year with a 24.07 to win the 200m. 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 (the) 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.
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.
"I had a great day running. I got a new 'pr' … and I am so happy about it. I thank God for helping me get this 'pr', and I know I have even bigger 'pr's' coming soon," Afari said. "I didn't have any goals in my head this time. I felt like any time I did (in the past), I would stress too much about it, so I just wanted to complete and the times would come."
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 Morehead State "pr".
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.
The team's next meet will be Louisville's Lenny Lyles Invitational on Friday, Apr. 24 and Saturday, Apr. 25.
