MOREHEAD, Ky. — Fifth-year runner
Laikin Tarlton and the Eagle men's team highlighted the Morehead State cross country squads' performances Friday morning at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships at UT Martin in Martin, Tenn.
Tarlton became the first MSU woman to be named All-OVC in six years after finishing 13th in 22:28.3. She was recognized on the conference's Second Team, the first time in her career she was so recognized. The top seven runners earn first-team honors and the next seven are named to the Second Team.
Tarlton's 13th place was the Eagles' best since Sierra Poppell took third in 2018.
"It was definitely a bittersweet race today! I'm really happy to be able to make the All-OVC team finally, so that was very exciting," she said. "The course was slower than I expected, so I'm excited that we're heading to regions for one last race. (I'm) looking forward to seeing what we can do there!"
The MSU men moved up a spot from its finish at the 2023 meet by placing eighth. It matched the squad's results in 2021 and 2022.
"(The) men were unfortunately out of the race after about 100 meters. They started our poorly and while the pace was right, the front pack was too far away and they just had too much ground to make up," Morehead State coach
Clay Dixon said. "We moved well after lap two of three, but the course was too tight to make up the ground we lost early in the race. We did come back with an improvement from last year's performance, so we will take that and build."
The Eagle women placed seventh, a drop of one place from last fall, despite Tarlton's individual performance. The team equaled its 2022 finish.
"(The) women went for it and came (up) short. I told them a few weeks ago it was going to be a dogfight at OVC and fourth to eighth place could be decided by just a few points. Clearly, we were in the fight but just came short," Dixon said. "Taylor (Allen), Laikin, and Kaylyn (Holman) had some standout performances. They went for it and paid off in a medal and two personal bests."
Southern Indiana won its first OVC women's title after scoring 41 points. Two-time defending champion Eastern Illinois was second with 73 points, followed by Tennessee Tech with 86 points, Little Rock with 114 points, and Western Illinois and Southeast Missouri tied with 136 points. The Leathernecks won more head-to-head battles with the Redhawks (first runner from one team versus first runner from other team, etc.) to earn fifth place.
MSU was seventh with 153 points, UT Martin was eighth with 169 points, SIU Edwardsville was ninth with 215 points, Lindenwood was 10th with 316 points and Tennessee State was 11th with 348 points.
OVC Female Athlete of the Year Nova Ojutkangas won the 5K race in 20:58.6. Tennessee Tech's Rylee Wells was second in 21:37.1; Eastern Illinois' Mackenzie Aldridge was third in 21:39.1; Southern Indiana's Audrey Comastri (21:41.6), Ellie Hall (21:44.8) and Zoe Seward (21:49.3) were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Eastern Illinois' Brenda Torres rounded out the first-team honorees by taking seventh in 21:53.4.
Southern Indiana's Hadessah Austin (21:56.2), Little Rock's Aaliyah Joshua (21:56.7), Western Illinois' Madison Trevena (22:00.4), Tennessee Tech's Helen Pacurariu-Nagy (22:16.1), Eastern Illinois' Kylie Haacke (22:19.2), Tarlton and Tennessee Tech's Makaleigh Jessee (22:28.4) were on the Second Team. Tarlton bested Jessee by one-tenth of a second.
Tarlton's best previous finish at the event was 24th, which she did both last year and in the spring of 2021. She has led the team in each meet this season and made the top 25 for the fourth time.
Senior
Lucy Singleton was 26th in 22:57.9. It was the fourth time this season she has been second on the team and the fourth meet in which she placed in the top 50. In 2023, she was the Eagles' top overall finisher, claiming 21st in 22:35.68.
"The race itself wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but still am pleased given the course," Singleton said. "I'm looking forward to regions with the girls and for one last shot at a cross country race!"
Sophomore
Taylor Allen made a big jump over last year, when she struggled physically during the race. She was 29th in 23:01.8. Last fall, she finished 70th in 24:22.50.
Freshman
Meredith Campbell took fourth on the team and 38th overall in 23:12.1, followed by junior
Abby Taylor in 52nd in 23:43.4, junior
Kaylyn Holman in 54th in 23:50.8, senior
Megan Bush in 66th in 24:20.0, junior
Christiana Brittian in 76th in 25:05.5, redshirt sophomore
Lydia Bauer in 82nd in 26:09.6 and sophomore
Lani Baskett in 84th in 27:00.2. A total of 95 racers started the race.
For the second time this year, Holman dropped significant time off her "pr". On Friday, her mark improved by 26.52 seconds. Brittian knocked more than a minute off her season's best time but fell short of a "pr". Bauer also set a season's best. Taylor moved up three spots from last fall's 55th place.
Southern Indiana also won its first OVC men's championship after edging four-time defending title-holder Eastern Illinois by one point (56 to 57). It was the closest finish for the top spot since 2002.
UT Martin was third with 70 points, Southeast Missouri was fourth with 108 points, Little Rock was fifth with 151 points, Western Illinois was sixth with 157 points, Tennessee Tech was seventh with 160 points, MSU was eighth with 188 points, SIU Edwardsville was ninth with 219 points and Tennessee State was 10th with 286 points. Lindenwood cut its men's cross country program after last season, but did have one individual running on Friday.
OVC Male Athlete of the Year Brady Terry of Southern Indiana won the men's 8K race in 24:10.3. Eastern Illinois' Joseph Stoddard was second in 24:11.8, Western Illinois' Logan Lommel was third in 24:22.6, Southeast Missouri's Noah Little was fourth in 24:23.6, UT Martin's Sam Shuman was fifth in 24:27.0, Eastern Illinois' Richie Jacobo was sixth in 24:27.0 and Tennessee Tech's Miceal McCaul was seventh in 24:33.6.
The All-OVC Second-Team included Southern Indiana's Alex Nolan (24:35.6), UT Martin's Angus Monro (24:36.7), UT Martin's Keagan Enicks (24:38.8), Southern Indiana's Isaac Stanford (24:40.5), UT Martin's Brady Millikin (24:41.3), Eastern Illinois' Michael Atkins (24:45.2) and Little Rock's Zach McPhee (24:47.0).
Fifth-year runner
Jacob Vogelpohl placed 27th to lead MSU for the fourth time this year. Last fall, he was 51st in 25:34.31. In his only other appearance at the meet, he was 91st in 2022. On Friday, he covered the course in 25:26.7.
"(We) came up short of our full potential as a team and (I) as an individual. It's part of the sport. Gotta have respect for the competition because they are fast and tough. There's always things that we can look back on for improvement, but I know one of the things we wanted as a team was to toe that line with no regrets on how we approached the season and for the most part I think we met that goal," an introspective Vogelpohl said. "If we measure our success by the effort we put in from June to November, we can hold our heads a little bit higher than if we just measure our success on the outcome of one day."
Fifth-year
Peyton Fairchild was 31st in 25:35.5. Last year, he also finished second on the team and 26th overall in 25:04.86.
"It was a good race. I ran close to my season best I think and I raced aggressive(ly)," Fairchild said. "I managed to pass eight to 10 people in the last mile to make up some points."
Freshman
Ryan Richendollar was 39th in 25:45.6, followed by fifth-year
Kyler Stewart who was 46th in 26:07.8. Sophomore
Garrett West was 61st in 26:36.5, sophomore
Keghan Thompson was 64th in 26:47.6, sophomore
Aidan Whitsell was 68th in 27:06.4, freshman
Preston Glassco was 72nd in 27:20.7, freshman
Brody Coleman was 73rd in 27:38.6 and senior
Austin Montgomery was 74th in 27:41.3.
Four Eagles set new season's-best times. Richendollar dropped close to nine seconds off his previous mark, while Stewart cut off 8.5 seconds, West sliced out more than 13 seconds and Whitsell chopped down 10 seconds. Compared to last year's race, Stewart also improved by two places.
Eighty-seven men competed in the race.
It was the final OVC race for Tarlton, Singleton, Bush, Vogelpohl, Fairchild, Stewart and Montgomery, and each was feeling nostalgic about the moment.
Vogelpohl summarized the group's sentiment.
"You always want the fairy tale story of winning big on championship day, but it doesn't always happen. Win or lose, we are still a team and a family that has grown tremendously over the course of the season and over the course of my five years," he said. "(It) may not be as exciting to talk about as an OVC medal, but it's definitely more fulfilling to focus on how far we've come."
Ojutkangas and Terry were recognized as the Athletes of the Championship.
MSU returns to the course in two weeks at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday, Nov. 15, in Rock Hill, S.C. Qualifiers from the regional will compete in the NCAA Championships that will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Verona, Wisc.
