MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State cross country teams are ready to begin their 2017 seasons Friday night when they host the Eagle Opener at the Eagle Cross Country Course, formerly known as the Sunnybrook Golf Course.

The women's 5K will begin at 6:45 p.m. ET with the men's 5K to follow.

The field is set with three other schools, including OVC rival Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky and Marshall.

"We are very excited to open the season this Friday at home," said head coach Stephen Picucci. "It should be a great competition, and our athletes are looking forward to getting their uniforms on for the first time this season and race in front of our fans at home."

Picucci enters his fourth season leading both squads. The Eagles will run in seven meets this season, including the Ohio Valley Conference Championships (Oct. 28) and the NCAA Southeast Regionals (Nov. 10).

"We have a lot of new faces on both teams," Picucci added. "Our goal for both teams will be to improve on team performances from last fall in the championship season."

The men return 15 runners and have added six newcomers. Among the returnees is sophomore Farah Abdulkarim. Last season he was named USTFCCCA All-Region and earned First-Team All-OVC accolades. Abdulkarim notched the best 10K time at MSU with a time of 29:51.80 at the NCAA Southeast Regional last season. Junior Justin Moakler, who is ranked second in school history for best 10K time (30:14.90) at the NCAA Southeast Regional, is also returning. 

The women return 13 runners, while adding seven newcomers. Sophomore Caitlin Cunningham carded the 10th fastest 6K time in MSU history at the NCAA Cross Country Southeast Regional last season, finishing in 23:00.80. Also back is junior Kansas Greenwell, who paced the Eagles in a majority of the events last fall. 

Results will be available on MSUEagles.com following the completion of both races.