Morehead, Ky. — Morehead State's men's cross country team completed its season on a high note at the Southeastern Regionals by bettering its last regional performance with a 25th-place finish on Friday at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Anchorage, Ky.

The Eagle women finished 30th with 867 points in their 6K race.

Sophomores Jarrett Forrest (134th in 32:19.9) and Isabella Copher (149th in 23:11.9) paced their respective squads.

Unlike the Ohio Valley Conference Championship and despite concerns about the forecast, Friday's weather proved not to be an issue.

"It rained a lot last night, but dried up quite a bit," said MSU head coach Clay Dixon. "There were some muddy spots and puddles, but nothing like we experienced two weeks ago."

The Morehead State men compiled 743 points in the 10K event, just 11 behind 24th-place Murray State and 16 back of 23rd place USC Upstate. The Eagles topped in-state foe Northern Kentucky, which tallied 856 points to place 28th. Overall, 30 complete teams with 228 total runners competed at the event.

"I was pretty pleased with how today ended. (The guys) rebounded from the conference meet. We attained several of our goals. We were just a handful of points away from 23rd. … It just came down to a couple of seconds," Dixon said. "We finally had good weather and it showed our times (all season) didn't reflect the condition we were in. They showed they had it in them.

"We showed we are really good at running the longer distances. Courses and times will vary, but you can compare progress by how you place. Northern Kentucky beat us by 100 points six weeks ago and today we beat them by 100 points," he added. "(Comparing how fast they ran over the first 8K to what they did this season) virtually everybody 'pr'd' by the 8K mark, so I think that was a big plus."

Kyle Embry followed Forrest in 154th in 32:43.1, with Peyton Fairchild 169th in 33:25.1, Michael Dunagan 175th in 33:37.8, Justin Bland 177th in 33:39.0, Toby Cook 193rd in 34:29.6 and Justin Chavez 202nd in 34:47.0.

Forrest was the team's biggest mover. He sat in 138th after 1,000 meters, passed 12 runners over the next 2,000m and eight more by the 5,000-meter mark. He started to slow down in the early parts of the second half of the race, but recovered and moved up nine spots between 8,000m and 9,000m. Fairchild (improving by 11 spots) and Bland (rising by four places) also passed several runners over the final 6,000 meters.

"I was really pleased (with Forrest). He had a breakout race. He is good with stepping it up in championship races. At (his previous school, the University of the) Cumberland(s) he qualified for nationals, so I'm glad to see he finally had that kind of race (here)," Dixon said. "He showed the type of cross country runner he is. It was fun to see him go out there risking it and having that reward."

Both Embry (174th in 33:44.5) and Dunagan (235th in 36:08.3) improved dramatically over their previous regional performances, which came at the 2019 race in Earlysville, Va.

Copher also moved up throughout her race. Sitting in 188th after 1,000 meters, she passed 21 runners between 1,000m and 3,000m, then four more in the next 1,000m, six in the fifth 1,000m and then eight others before the finish. Over the final 5,000 meters, Copher improved by 39 places.

"She ran very well. She just kept on picking off people at every single marker. She executed the game plan perfectly," Dixon said. "In six meets, we've had the same three runners lead the team twice each (Copher, Singleton and Tarlton). … It shows the team's dynamic, that they are able to work together well, and some courses work better for different kinds of athletes."

Lucy Singleton was second on the MSU women's team in 177th in 23:38.3. Laikin Tarlton placed 190th in 24:04.6, with Cloe Copas 202nd in 24:32.1, Megan Bush 203rd in 24:36.7, Riliegh Owens 208th 25:00.3 and Carrie Staviski 223rd in 27:05.5.

Just ahead of Copher at the 1,000m mark, Singleton also made a surge, improving by 19 spots over the next 2,000 meters. She continued to pick runners off over the next 2,000m, before tapering off in the end. Both Copher and Singleton improved their placing over the final 5,000 meters. The other five Eagles made small moves throughout their race, but finished around the spot where they sat after 1,000 meters.

"Our goal was to perform better than we did in (the) 2019 (regional). I know they were a little disappointed. Sometimes its not the best runner who will win, but they executed their plan," Dixon said. "There were some positives. Isabella ran real well and pulled away at the end. Our top three girls ran together through 3K, Isabella just had a solid kick. … Maybe they were juiced from the conference meet."

Copher was the lone Eagle female to better her time from the only other 6K race this season — the Evansville Invitational. She clocked a 23:35.5 at that meet.

Wake Forest was the men's team champion with 47 points, followed by Furman with 66 points and North Carolina with 99 points. Kentucky was ninth with 246 points. Louisville was 13th with 349 points. Eastern Kentucky did not field a complete team and therefore did not factor into the final standings.

Athanas Kioko of Campbell won the men's race in 28:58.1. Wake Forest's Aaron Las Heras was second in 29:17.9, with Charleston Southern's Fearghal Curtin third in 29:19.0.

North Carolina State's Kelsey Chmiel was the women's winner in 19:58.4 and the lone sub 20-minute finisher. Her teammate, Katelyn Tuohy, was second in 20:06.2, with Kentucky's Tori Herman in third at 20:09.4.

N.C. State's women were the team champions in the day's opening event. The Wolfpack scored 34 points. North Carolina was second with 73 points, with Kentucky third at 103 points. Elsewhere among state schools, Eastern Kentucky finished 12th, Louisville was 23rd, Northern Kentucky was 25th and Murray State was 28th. A total of 229 runners with 31 full teams started the race.

The NCAA Championship takes place on Nov. 20 at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. Thirty-one teams and 38 additional runners will qualify for the two national meets. The top two squads at the regionals will earn automatic bids for the NCAAs.

Morehead State will next be in action when it opens the indoor track and field season on Dec. 2 at Marshall.