MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State coach
Clay Dixon has bolstered his track and field roster with some mid-year transfers, while also gaining a member of the football team and adding another assistant coach.
Lani Baskett,
Derril Carr,
Cheyenne Stark and
Cade Sullivan all will suit up as freshmen this spring. Baskett comes to MSU from Vincennes University (Ind.), while Carr and Stark transfer in from Kentucky Wesleyan. Sullivan already attended MSU and redshirted this fall as a member of the Eagle football team. Carr, Stark and Sullivan are all sprinters. Baskett is a distance runner.
Additionally, former Morehead State cross country and track and field team member
Grayson Brookshire is rejoining the squad as an assistant distance running coach. He is both a former high school and college teammate of Dixon.
"We're excited to have Derril, Cheyenne, Delani and Cade joining us. The last few weeks I've gotten to know them a little better and all three have been working hard and are excited to get to racing for MSU," Dixon said. "Grayson brings in experience coaching at the high school level and, as a former athlete at MSU, he is familiar with the area and my coaching style."
Baskett ran cross country for Vincennes this fall, finishing in the top three on the team in every race, including the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championships and the NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships. She led the Trailblazers at the John McNichols Invite and collected top-50 overall finishes at the NJCAA Region 24 Championships (11th), Eastern Illinois Walt Crawford Open (27th) and NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships (49th). Vincennes ended the campaign ranked 21st in the country and placed second at its regional meet, 10th at the NJCAA Half Marathon and 18th at the NJCAA nationals.
A native of Sebree, Ky., Baskett graduated from Webster County High School in the top 15 percent of her class and maintained at least a 3.5 grade-point average each semester.
In athletics, she advanced to the Class 2A State Cross Country Championships every year from eighth through 12th grade and the Class 2A Track and Field State Championships as a senior. On the track, she ran the leadoff leg of the 4x800-meter relay team that was second at its regional championship and 15th at the state championship. Her final year, she also was third at the regional meet in the 3,200-meter run and sixth in the 800-meter run, as well as 11th at the cross country regionals. Webster County cross country placed second in the region in her final three years and never lower than fourth in her six seasons on the team.
"I chose Morehead because I wanted a place that felt like my home away from home. I fell more in love with the campus each time I visited! The people here really know how to make you feel included and known, and that's exactly what I wanted," she said. "Morehead is very academically oriented and I value that. I feel I will be very prepared for my future career! I wanted to be a part of a team that rooted for each other's success. In my short time here, the girls have already fulfilled that dream."
Carr ran track and played football for Ryle High School, before enrolling at Kentucky Wesleyan this fall. He did not compete for the Panthers.
A native of Union, Ky., he helped Ryle to a regional team title as a senior, after finishing second in the 100-meter dash, tied for fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the 200-meter dash. Additionally, as the anchor runner, his 4x100-meter relay team won the regional crown and placed 10th at the Class 3A State Championships. Individually, he also finished 20th in the 100m at the state meet, with Ryle claiming seventh in the team standings. As a junior at state, he placed 20th in the 100m, while as a sophomore, he was 17th in the triple jump and 19th as the anchor leg of the 4x200-meter relay squad. His junior year, he was third at the regional in both the 100m and triple jump, and fourth in the 200m, while the Raiders placed second as a team. As a sophomore, he took second in the triple jump at the regional meet.
In football, Carr was a three-year varsity member, who played both running back and defensive back.
"I chose MSU because it was closer to (my) home and (had) better academics," he said.
Like Carr, Stark comes to MSU after a semester at KWC. She did not compete for the Panthers. A Bowling Green, Ky., native, she participated in soccer and ran track for Warren East High School. There she earned four academic all-state honors and served as the team captain in both sports as a senior. She also completed her time at WEHS with a 4.0 GPA.
Stark was a two-time state champion as the leadoff runner on the 4x200m relay, with the Raiders finishing seventh (2022) and eighth (2023) in the team standings. Her 4x100m relay squad also reached the podium after placing fourth both years. Her relay teams won a total of three regional crowns in her final two years. In the 200m at the regional meet, she also placed seventh as a senior, eighth as a freshman and ninth as a junior. Warren East claimed two region titles and finished in the top four every season from 2018-2023.
Stark also played every game during her two years with the Raider soccer team, primarily as a defender. Warren East won its district and finished 18-4 in her senior season.
"The reason I chose MSU is because of the welcoming environment and dedication, not only on the track, but also in school," she said. "I felt like it was a place I could succeed in both areas."
Sullivan spent the fall semester as a wide receiver on MSU's football team. The Somerset, Ky., native graduated from Madison Southern High School after also attending Pulaski County High. He was recognized as all-state in football by two organizations – Kentucky Prep Gridiron and Red Zone Prep – and played in all 33 varsity games his final three seasons.
At Madison Southern, he gained 666 yards and scored seven touchdowns as a running back. Defensively, he was credited with 40 tackles, including 5.5 for a loss, while forcing three fumbles and recovering one as a defensive back. He also returned a kickoff for a touchdown. In track, he ran in two relays at the state meet, finishing 10th in the 4x100m and 19th in the 4x200m. At the regional championships that year, he also helped the Eagles place fourth in the team standings, while running the leadoff leg of the victorious 4x100m team and second-place 4x200m squad. In addition, he was sixth at the meet in the 200m and seventh in the 100m.
As a junior at Pulaski County, he scored twice off kickoff returns, ran 12 times for 174 yards with one touchdown, made 22 tackles and added an interception. PCHS finished second at the regional track meet after he placed third in the 100m, fifth in the 200m, third as the anchor on the 4x200m relay and second as a member of the 4x100m relay. In his sophomore year, he made 49 tackles and had an interception for the 8-2 Maroons, and ran the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay team that placed 17th at the state championships. Pulaski County finished sixth at the regional track meet that season with Sullivan capturing fifth in the 100m, second as the anchor of the 4x100m relay and fifth as the anchor of the 4x200m relay.
"For me, MSU always felt like home, and it gave me a chance to play football and run track at the collegiate level," he said. "I've always been a dual-sport athlete and wanted to be that way all through college."
Brookshire is a 2018 Morehead State graduate who majored in exercise science and minored in biology. He currently works at Lockheed Martin as a manufacturing planner.
In just a short time, he has carved out a decorated coaching career, mentoring nine individual state champions, seven national qualifiers, 22 individual region champions and 22 individual all-state honorees. Additionally, he has coached 19 athletes who have gone on to compete in cross country and track and field in college.
The last two years, Brookshire was the head track and field coach and the assistant cross country coach at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. While there, his athletes set three school records, won two regional titles and two city championships. In 2023, his girls' team placed third at the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships after having finished fourth the previous year.
From 2018-21, he served as an assistant track and field and cross country coach at his alma maters, George Rogers Clark High School and Robert D. Campbell Junior High School. White there, he guided the sixth-grade girls' cross country squad to a state title, tutored a middle school state cross country champion, set four school records and was named the area Coach of the Year three times.
During his tenure with the Eagles, Brookshire ran in 17 cross country meets and earned a spot on the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll in four semesters. As a senior, he set a "pr" of 25:27.0 in the 8K, after placing 69th in a field of nearly 400, while helping the Eagles to a third-place finish.
On the track, he competed in distances from 800 meters to 5,000 meters, and even did the high jump. His best performances came as a freshman at the Redhawk Invitational, where he finished ninth in the 1,500-meter run in 4:08.66, and at the Centre Invitational, where he placed 10th in the 800m in 2:00.20. As a senior, he was 11th in the 3,000-meter run, with a time of 9:01.11, at the Hilltopper Relays.
At GRC, Brookshire earned two all-region honors and four all-conference accolades, while helping the Cardinals to three berths at the Class 3A State Cross Country Championships. He won the Kentucky River Conference cross country title as a senior, after finishing as the runner-up the previous two years. He also was named academic all-state three times.
He is certified as a United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Sprints, Hurdles and Relay Event Specialist. He also is a USA Track & Field Level 1 Coach and is accredited by the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) as a Coach Level 1.
"Morehead played a big part in the person I am today. The people I met and memories I made while I was here are priceless," he said. "This school, this community and this team all have something special (to offer), and I want to help provide that for the next group of student-athletes. We are putting together all the tools needed to take this program to the next level of success."
