MOREHEAD, Ky. –
Aidan Massey made some late moves in Saturday's Louisville Cross Country Classic and it paid off as the Morehead State graduate student placed 45th overall (43rd among collegiate runners), recording an 8K time of 24:41.0, and in the process moved onto the all-time top performers' list at MSU.
Massey was 131st after the first 2.1K, then moved up 47 spots by the 3.9K and finished the final 4.1K by passing an additional 39 runners, en route to posting a time that placed him 10th all-time at Morehead State.
"I'm happy with how the race went and it felt nice to run my fastest time," he said. "Coach (Clay) Dixon's training is really paying off for me. Before the race started, I knew I was in the best fitness I've ever been in in my life and just knew I had to go out and execute."
Massey's performance was one of the few highlights for the Blue and Gold men, which finished 32nd out of 32 teams in the Gold Division of the annual competition at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
The women's results were no better, claiming 30th out of 31 teams.
Part of the outcomes can be attributed to the long layoff between meets, with the Eagles shaking off some rust after not having raced in nearly a month. However, Dixon believes the long break may pay off in the long run, with the team being fresher at the end of the season.
But there were other factors at play as well.
"(The) results probably look weird cause we were in the gold (fastest) race as opposed to the blue race like we have been for the last few years," Dixon said. "I think the last time we were in gold was 2019.
"As usual, sickness is running through the team right now," he added.
Individually it was a different story, as several runners experienced improvement. Besides Massey, senior
Kaylyn Holman led MSU in her second straight women's race, finishing 133rd (131st) in 18:43.5 in the 5K.
"It felt great to get back out there on the course and race after the month of training. I think we have made a lot of progress in the past month, and we are going to start seeing that in the next few weeks leading up to (the) OVC (Championships)," said Holman. "Louisville is always really fast the first mile, so I knew to take that out with the pack and just keep working for the rest of the race. Bigger races tend to get me worked up, so I don't think I raced to the best of my abilities, but still coming away with a 'pr' was exciting and I'm just glad to keep the momentum going."
Morehead State's layoff lasted nearly a month. It was the longest span between meets in at least 15 years. It also was the team's 13th trip to the event in the last 16 years.
It was the first 5K for the Eagle women this year and Holman's time was over a minute faster than her previous "pr" of 19:44.70, which she set on October 11, 2024, at the Queens Cross Country Challenge.
Holman time bested the top MSU female the last time the Blue and Gold raced at the annual Louisville meet in 2023. Recent graduate
Lucy Singleton placed 37th in the Blue Division in 18:44.3. In that race, Holman was 356th in 22:16.1. In 2022, she was 254th in 20:22.1.
Holman was just one individual who made major strides over previous efforts at the meet. Senior
Christiana Brittian was 213th/210th in 19:30.1. In 2023, she was 193rd in 20:12.6. In 2022, she was 238th in 20:16.0. Senior
Casey Skaggs was 298th/294th in 21:20.0. In 2023, she was 348th in 22:07.1; and in 2022, she was 317th in 20:51.9.
Among the men, junior
Aidan Whitsell also made a major jump. On Saturday, he was 241st/235th in 26:35.9. Two years ago, he was 408th in 30:08.0. Whitsell was one of only a few Eagle men who dropped time from the team's last race at Eastern Illinois. At that meet, he crossed the line in 27:21.30.
Two others also improved in either time or placement. Junior
Keghan Thompson was 295th/289th in 27:26.5 on Saturday, after claiming 347th in 28:17.1 in 2023. Junior
Garrett West was 322nd/316th in 29:16.8. At the 2023 race, he was 400th in 29:43.9.
Massey's finish was the best for an Eagle male since Garrett Watts and Kyle Embry crossed the line back-to-back in 23rd (24:49.7) and 24th (24:50.3), respectively, in 2022. In 2023, MSU's top performer was
Kyler Stewart, who was 96th in 26:08.3.
"I wanted to get out good. The first mile was hectic (with) a lot of runners in the field, and I had to maneuver my way around a lot. There was a lot of slowing down at turns and the pace was inconsistent through 2.5 miles. I felt pretty good the first half of the race but still had a lot of runners ahead of me with two miles to go and I knew I could work my way up," Massey said. "I kept passing guys (in) the fourth and fifth mile. It felt great to see jerseys of big schools like Clemson and that motivated me to get around and ahead of them. I believe I moved up about 80 places from the 5K mark to the finish. At the end, I knew I was on track for a 'pr', so I sprinted the final straightaway."
After leading the squad at the team's last meet at Eastern Illinois, freshman
Josh Arnett was second on Saturday, placing 130th/124th in 25:32.1. Sophomore
Ryan Richendollar was the next across the line, taking 171st/165th in 25:47.5.
Rounding out the Eagles were sophomore
Preston Glassco, who was 250th/244th in 26:42.2; sophomore
Brody Coleman, who was 269th/263rd in 26:54.5; sophomore
Weston Blair, who was 282nd/276th in 27:10.3; sophomore
Liam Parido, who was 285th/279th in 27:12.7; sophomore
AJ Hawkins, who was 289th/283rd in 27:15.6; junior
Brady Baker, who was 297th/291st in 27:28.7; sophomore
Carter Lamb, who was 311th/305th in 28:01.9; freshman
Kyle Crady, who was 312nd/306th in 28:03.2; and freshman
Lance Garner, who was 321st/315th in 28:48.4. There was a total of 341 runners.
Baker and Lamb both dropped around 45 seconds off their times at EIU.
Among the women, junior
Taylor Allen was 198th/196th in 19:19.6, sophomore
Meredith Campbell was 217th/214th in 19:32.1, junior
Adi Fuller was 224th/221st in 19:36.8, freshman
Peyton Lunsford was 255th/251st in 20:10.5, junior
Lani Baskett was 293rd/289th in 21:14.5, freshman
Addison Hill was 300th/296th in 21:33.9, freshman
Josey Corbin was 301st/297th in 21:46.9 and redshirt junior
Lydia Bauer was tied for 306th/302nd. She did not finish. There were 309 total competitors.
Baskett was one of a small group of MSU ladies to post a 'pr'.
"We had a few 'pr's," Dixon said. "Adi ran a big 'pr' and so did Kaylyn."
Despite competing in the highest classification against the stiffest competition, MSU was still behind several familiar teams.
Middle Tennessee State won the men's division with 60 points. Eastern Kentucky was second with 62 points. Division II's West Texas A&M was third with 149 points, followed by Clemson (169) and Columbia (218). Other significant foes included Dayton in eighth with 290 points, Northern Kentucky in 10th with 337 points, Tennessee Tech in 11th with 342 points, Cumberlands (Ky.) in 14th in 432 points, East Tennessee State in 16th with 451 points, Marshall in 19th with 521 points, Xavier (Ohio) in 23rd with 562 points, Eastern Illinois in 24th with 570 points and Bellarmine in 25th with 649 points. In addition, Southern Illinois was 30th with 732 points. USC Upstate was 31st with 735 points. MSU finished with 742 points.
West Virginia was the women's champion with 34 points. Clemson was second with 42 points, followed by West Texas A&M with 102 points, Columbia with 133 points and Cedarville (Ohio) with 168 points. Xavier (Ohio) was sixth with 235 points. Tennessee Tech was eighth with 318 points. Murray State was 10th with 368 points. Marshall was 12th with 387 points. Butler was 13th with 403 points. Dayton was 14th also with 403 points. Eastern Illinois was 17th with 446 points. Louisville was 20th with 528 points. Cumberlands (Ky.) was 21st with 561 points. East Tennessee State was 24th with 632 points. Northern Kentucky was 26th with 667 points. MSU finished with 806 points. Bellarmine was 31st with 894 points.
"Big meets of 300-plus (runners) kinda skews the results. If you don't have a low stick, then it can look bad," Dixon admitted. "Smaller-to-medium-size(d) meets are usually more manageable. (It is) hard to know how you are doing and where the people you need to beat are in races this big."
In 2023, Morehead State's women finished 12th, while the men were 20th.
"We came away with six personal bests on the men's side and three on the women. Massey had a top-10 performance in time in school history. It was a solid day. The team standings don't mean too much since we got moved to the gold race for the first time in six years," summarized Dixon. "This group is looking strong and ready to race. We are hoping the layoff from racing keeps everyone fresh for this second half of the season."
The Eagles will be back in action one more time before the Ohio Valley Conference Championships on Halloween in Charleston, Ill. The team is slated to compete in the Angel Mounds Invitational on Friday, Oct. 17 in Evansville, Ind.
