MOREHEAD, Ky. — Behind the efforts of fifth-year runners
Laikin Tarlton and
Peyton Fairchild, Morehead State cross country had its best women's finish in five years and the best men's result since 2022 at Friday's NCAA Southeast Regional on the Winthrop Farm Course in Rock Hill, S.C.
MSU coach
Clay Dixon had three main objectives for his two clubs entering their races and he accomplished two of them.
"(It was a) good finish to the season. Some of our goals were (a) top-25 as a team or better than the previous year (and) both (the) men and women improved," he said. "(The) women had their best finish in five years. There are 50 teams in this region, which is the largest in the country, (and the) men finished in the top half. (The) men were projected for 34th place and (the) women were projected (for) 32nd place, so (those were) all big improvements for both teams."
Another of the team's goals was to beat several in-state foes. MSU's women led Bellarmine for the better part of the race, but the Knights eventually got the upper hand and claimed 27th. However, the Eagle ladies topped both Murray State (30th with 866 points) and Northern Kentucky (31st with 914 points). The MSU men accomplished the same feat surpassing Northern Kentucky (28th with 805 points) and Murray State (30th with 895 points).
"And both teams beat some Kentucky schools: Murray and NKU," said Dixon.
In addition to the aforementioned pair, MSU's men also toppled VMI, Radford, USC Upstate, Longwood, Winthrop and College of Charleston. The MSU women also bettered USCU, VMI and Winthrop.
Rain on Thursday made for some difficult conditions.
"It was a tough course, some hills but a lot of mud," Dixon said.
The men had a stronger overall outing, claiming 25th, one year after taking 28th. Two years ago, it was 23rd.
"(The) men worked that second half very well," Dixon said. "They progressed and saw good finishes from our top three."
Both the men's and women's teams had runners who traded leads.
In the early part of the race, Fairchild was very near the front, although still bunched together with a large pack. He stayed in a group with freshman
Ryan Richendollar and fifth-year
Jacob Vogelpohl for much of the morning. Richendollar topped the Eagles at the 1.6K mark, before surrendering it back to Fairchild. Richendollar moved back in front by 5K, before Vogelpohl took over and led for much of the last 5K, before eventually getting passed by Fairchild.
It was just the second time in his career, Fairchild was the top Eagle. He covered the 10K course in 32:38.3, 22 seconds slower than his 2023 time, but an improvement in placing by 31 spots. It was his best-ever finish at the meet.
"I thought the race went great although I did lose spots on the long straights. I managed to make up for them in the mud," he said. "The time wasn't bad. I was close to my 'pr' on a harder course. I managed to go out with a bang and I couldn't ask for a better end to my collegiate career."
Richendollar jockeyed among the team leaders, before eventually being the second Eagle across the line in 130th in 32:54.3. Fifth-year
Jacob Vogelpohl was third in 132nd. It was his best regional finish in his career, 33 spots ahead of 2023. He was just off last season's time of 32:30.4, crossing the line in 32:55.8.
Fifth-year
Kyler Stewart was MSU's top finisher last fall, but slipped to fourth on Friday. Overall, he was 177th in 34:12.5. Stewart stayed consistently in his spot throughout the race, although moved up a few spots in the final 2K.
A trio of first timers rounded out the Eagles. Sophomore
Keghan Thompson was 220th in 35:47.4, with sophomore
Aidan Whitsell in 227th in 36:12.9 and
Garrett West in 229th in 36:33.6. Like some of their teammates, the trio rotated positions throughout the race. West started out the fastest among the group, before tapering off. Conversely, Thompson started the slowest, but gradually moved his way up as the race went along. He was able to keep the most consistent pace among the group.
The women packed well, with five runners placing within 20 spots of each other. For the bulk of the race, that group was within eight seconds of each other.
The team claimed 29th with 861 points, just two behind Longwood. It was the Eagles' best performance since also taking 29th in 2019. The 2018 club finished 15th. The last two years, they were 32nd (2023) and 30th (2022).
"The women's race had lead changes throughout … our team," Dixon said. "At some point Laikin, Lucy, Taylor or Meredith were leading our team."
Tarlton started of the quickest, but senior
Lucy Singleton had moved in front by the 3.2K time check. Sophomore
Taylor Allen was slightly in the lead at the 5K point, before Tarlton finished first. Junior
Kaylyn Holman also remained remarkably consistent, holding her spot for much of the race.
Tarlton finished her final 6K race in 23:48.9 and in 173rd place, capping off a season in which she led the Blue and Gold in all seven events she entered.
"The race was very muddy, so I decided to not focus on time and focus on effort," she said. "I feel like I put in a good effort in the last half to end my season and career on a good note. We placed well and we were all very close throughout the race, which was cool."
Allen was one of two to MSU runners to improve over her 2023 performance. On Friday, she was second on the team and 180th overall in 23:55.2. It was the first time in her two years that she was the second Eagle across the line.
Singleton completed her cross country career with a 182nd-place finish. She crossed the line in 23:57.1. Junior
Abby Taylor improved by 55 spots and three minutes and 18.5 seconds over last year. She was 187th overall in 24:07.0. Freshman
Meredith Campbell claimed 193rd in her debut. She covered the course in 24:13.1.
Senior
Megan Bush also saw her career come to an end in 211th and 24 minutes and 47.2 seconds. It was a slight improvement in placing (10 spots) over last fall but just under three seconds slower. In all four of her career regional races, she stayed consistent, finishing between 203rd and 221st and 24:36.7 and 24:51.1. Holman placed 220th in 25:01.8 in her regional debut.
Virginia captured the men's crown after upending two-time defending champ North Carolina. The Cavaliers scored 79 points. UNC Chapel Hill with second with 85 points. Eastern Kentucky was third with 105 points.
Virginia Tech's George Couttie won the men's race in 29:41.7. EKU's Justin Kipkoech was second in 29:44.3.
North Carolina state maintained a stranglehold on the women's title, claiming its eighth. NC State's Grace Hartman edged out Clemson's Silvia Jelego by two-tenths of a second (20:04.2 to 20:04.4).
Morehead State has concluded its cross country campaign and will return to action for the indoor track and field season, which is expected to start in December.
