MOREHEAD, Ky. – It is becoming so commonplace for Morehead State track and field freshman
Kalynn Pease to earn Ohio Valley Conference Athlete of the Week honors, it barely registers on the radar anymore. However, here we are again as Pease picked up the league's Female Field Athlete of the Week and Female Freshman of the Week accolade, which was announced by the OVC office on Thursday.
For the record, her number of OVC weekly honors is now up to nine.
"I'm really grateful to be recognized again by the OVC," she said. "It's been a great season so far, and I'm thankful for my coaches and teammates who help push me to stay consistent and keep improving."
This time her awards were for being a part of breaking three school records that she already held after obliterating her long jump mark by over a foot, as well as running legs of the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays with teammates sophomores
Maryah Counts and
Olivia Miles, and freshman
Kennedi Alford at the Jim Freeman/Clark Wood Invitational from Thursday through Saturday in Louisville, Ky.
"Considering the time of year, this is where athletes begin to dial up big marks and fast times and this is a result of that!" said MSU sprints and jumps coach Rob Springfield. "The ascend into peak physical condition paired with elite competition is exactly what worked for her this weekend!"
Pease leaped 21'05.25" on Thursday to notch Division I's seventh-best mark, bettering her old school record of 20'05.00". She won the "A" Flight competition, although her distance tied the "B" Flight winner, with the two sections held on different days.
The two relays also set school records. She ran the first leg of the 4x100m event that crossed the line in 46.81, beating the old mark by six hundredths of a second. The 4x400m made a bigger move with Pease again in the leadoff leg. That foursome covered the course in 3:51.08, nearly a two-second improvement over the previous record. Both relays finished 12th.
In the OVC, her long jump leads the league by an astronomical distance of one foot and 7.75 inches. The 4x400m relay ranks second in the conference, while the 4x100m is fifth.
Since the start of the indoor season in December, Pease has won nine OVC Athlete of the Week honors, while the team has registered 14. Collectively, MSU has had more track and field Athlete of the Week honors than it had combined over the last 12 seasons.
In the outdoor season, Pease was the OVC Female co-Track Athlete of the Week on March 25, the Female Field Athlete of the Week on March 25, Female co-Field Athlete of the Week on April 1, and Female Freshman of the Week on March 25, Female co-Freshman of the Week on April 1 and Female Freshman of the Week on April 15. During the indoor season, she was the Female Freshman of the Week on December 17.
This week's other winners included SIU-Edwardsville's Simon McClaine (Male Track Athlete of the Week), SIUE's Mia Jackson (Female Track Athlete of the Week), Eastern Illinois' Maliek Bush (Male Field Athlete of the Week) and Eastern Illinois' Machi Nelson (Male Freshman of the Week).
The Eagles will compete in their final meet in advance of the OVC Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Jim Green Invitational in Lexington, Ky.
