MEN'S RESULTS (GOLD RACE) | WOMEN'S RESULTS (GOLD RACE | OPEN RACE)
BOONE, N.C. – Sophomore Jesse Moreno turned in the Morehead State men's cross country program's fourth-best all-time finish and led the Eagles to a fourth place showing in the gold race, while the MSU women took seventh place out of 27 teams in the gold race at the Blue Ridge Open Saturday at the Don Kennedy Trails.
Moreno and Eagle men finished ahead of two regionally-ranked teams (East Tennessee State and High Point). Morehead State had three runners in the top 30. The Eagles were third among the 18 Division I squads.
On the women's side, freshman Mackenzie Butler crossed the finish line in 25th place. In the women's open race, MSU placed four runners in the top 10 and claimed first place as a unit.
Moreno covered the 8K course in 24:57.14 and took ninth place among the 229 racers. Senior Zachariah Elliott was only seven seconds behind at 25:04.66, and senior Chase Ratliff's time of 25:24.02 placed him 27th. His time also earned a spot on the school's top performance list at ninth.
Junior Gary Monroe was next on the squad, finishing in 25:48.91. Sophomore Evan Childers (26:22.50), freshman Jeremy Ruppert (27:10.77), junior Desmond Bell (27:23.14), freshman Landon Meserve (27:40.54) and freshman Jordan Whitehair (28:47.19) rounded out the Eagles' contingent.
Butler led the Eagle women for the second consecutive race, turning in an 18:59.30 time on the 5K course. Sophomore Lauren Tarovisky was next with a 19:21.76 clocking.
Sophomore Erica Parks came across the finish line right behind Tarovisky, notching a 19:22.08. Freshman Skyler Green was just spots behind her, covering the course in 19:22.70.
Junior Krystal Williams (19:49.05), freshman Hannah Bailey (19:51.26), freshman Haley Mullins (19:57.50), her twin sister Hannah (20:06.42), freshman Alyssa Shifflett (20:29.68), and senior Parker Winters (20:58.74) finished the Morehead State lineup.
The Eagles saw two freshmen and a pair of sophomores lead the other corps to a win.
Freshman Taylor Montgomery finished fifth among 52 runners with a time of 20:16.11. Sophomores Alex Morris (20:30.56) and Jasmyn Andrews (20:42.97) and freshman Katie Bamberger (20:57.36) were in the top 10. Junior Lindsay Marcum (21:43.23) closed out the Eagle competitors in 17th place.
Morehead State's next action is the Ohio Valley Conference Championships. MSU is hosting the event on Nov. 2. The league teams will run the course at Eagle Trace Golf Course. The event features free admission.
