Vanderbilt Set to Showcase Indoor Track Challenge

MOREHEAD, Ky. — This Friday, Morehead State is set to dispatch six athletes to Nashville for a two-day indoor track & field event, the Vanderbilt Invitational. It marks the Eagles’ inaugural participation in this competition, which will occur at the David Williams II Recreation & Wellness Center at Vanderbilt University.

This event is significant, featuring numerous prominent challengers, providing the Eagle competitors with an opportunity to test their skills against an elite lineup.

Alongside MSU and the hosting Vanderbilt, the 38-team competition will feature Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Belmont, Campbellsville, Centre College, Cleveland High School, Cumberland (Tenn.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Furman, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Kentucky, Lee (Tenn.), Lincoln Memorial, Lipscomb, Marshall, Memphis, MTSU, Mississippi State, Murray State, NYAC, Oakland, Ole Miss, Refuge Training Center, Rhodes, SCAD Atlanta, SCAD Savannah, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee, Tennessee Running Club, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT-Martin, Tulane, Tusculum and Louisiana-Monroe.

This event follows MSU’s remarkable showing at the Marshall Alumni Classic the previous Saturday, where the teams achieved 13 top-eight placements and recorded 27 season bests.

“(We’re) aiming to perform well and see what we can accomplish early in the indoor season,” said coach Clay Dixon. “This is a highly-competitive event, so the competition will be present; it all hinges on how we manage it.”

The meet is scheduled to commence at 10:20 a.m. ET on Friday with the pentathlon. Additional field events are set to start at noon ET, while the track events are planned for 6:30 p.m. ET.

On Friday, Morehead State will field four athletes in the 5,000-meter race, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (women) and 7:30 p.m. ET (men), respectively.

Junior Abby Taylor, sophomore Taylor Allen, and freshman Meredith Campbell will participate in the initial race. Redshirt senior Jacob Vogelpohl will compete in the second event.

Activities will continue on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET with the concluding three events of the heptathlon. The other field events will commence at 11 a.m. ET, with the track races starting at 12:45 p.m.

The Eagles will take part in one event on Saturday, the mile. Senior Lucy Singleton and redshirt senior Wes Grogan will represent the Eagles. The women’s race is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET, while the men’s race follows at 3:10 p.m.

This will be the second competition of the season for Allen, Campbell, Grogan, Taylor, and Vogelpohl; Singleton will be competing for the first time.

Only Grogan, who placed 10th last Saturday with a time of 4:25.75, will be contesting an event for the second time. The other four participated in the 3,000-meter race at the Marshall Alumni Classic.

Both days will be broadcast live on the SEC Network+. The action on Friday can be accessed at this link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/e6c8d3b7-44f9-4f54-9b8d-5826f3957ede?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults, while Saturday’s event can be found at this link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/2ea540be-f118-4b24-bc6e-638f6d8a1b58?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults.

Live results are also accessible at this link: https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=7611.

MSU will compete for the third consecutive weekend when the entire team heads to the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic on Friday, January 24.