MOREHEAD, Ky. — After two straight years in South Carolina and the two years before that in Louisville, Ky., the NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championships will return to Earlysville, Va., and Panorama Farms. The last time the meet was held there was 2019. It will be hosted by the University of Virginia.
Morehead State will hit the course Friday morning with the women's 6K race starting at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 10K event at 11 a.m. This is the only 2025 meet in which the men will run a 10K.
"This is my favorite regional course since it is probably the most challenging anyone gets to race on these days. The rolling hills makes it a true test of toughness," MSU head coach
Clay Dixon said. "We have been training for this meet all season. Rolling hills is our specialty at Morehead State."
Last year's Eagle squads posted some of their best regional performances in years.
The men finished 25th, their best outing since 2022, and the women were 29th, their highest placing since 2019.
The last time the two teams competed at Panorama Farms the men were 27th and the women were 29th.
Dixon believes this year's field will be its largest in years, with 40 complete women's squads and 35 men's clubs expected to enter. The event is open to all Division I schools in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carlina and Kentucky. A total of 52 teams are eligible to send representatives. It is anticipated that approximately 287 women and 266 men will toe the starting line.
The top two teams and four individuals not on those squads will qualify for the NCAA Championships, which will be held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday, Nov. 22. In addition to the automatic qualifiers, a total of 13 at-large teams and two individuals from the nation's nine regions will be selected for the NCAA finals.
The Eagle women originally entered senior
Kaylyn Holman, junior
Adi Fuller, sophomore
Meredith Campbell, junior
Taylor Allen, senior
Christiana Brittian, senior
Abby Taylor and freshman
Peyton Lunsford, with junior
Lani Baskett as the alternate.
However, injuries this week to Allen and Brittian will force Baskett into the lineup and result in just six MSU women in the race.
"We have been banged up with injuries the last few weeks, some avoidable and some just bad luck," said Dixon. "This time of year, pretty much every team is in the same boat. We won't let that hold us back, the girls are ready to go to battle."
Last year,
Laikin Tarlton led the way in 173rd in 23:48.9. Allen was 180th in 23:55.2, with
Lucy Singleton in 182nd in 23:57.1, Taylor in 187th in 24:07.0, Campbell in 193rd in 24:13.1,
Megan Bush in 211th in 24:47.2 and Holman in 220th in 25:01.8.
At the Ohio Valley Conference Championship meet two weeks ago, Holman finished 24th in 22:26.7, with Fuller in 43rd in 23:03.0, Campbell in 52nd in 23:16.2, Allen in 54th in 23:19.9, Brittian in 57th in 23:28.5, Taylor in 66th in 23:52.3, Lunsford in 77th in 24:35.9 and Baskett in 82nd in 25:08.0.
This season, Holman (22:26.7), Fuller (23:03.0) and Lunsford (24:35.9) each set their "sb's" at the OVC meet. Brittian (22:45.80), Campbell (22:51.70), Taylor (23:00.90), Allen (23:12.00) and Baskett (24:43.10) all registered theirs at the EIU Walt Crawford Open on September 5th.
Unlike the women, the men's team is healthy. Dixon has entered graduate assistant
Aidan Massey, freshman
Josh Arnett, sophomore
Ryan Richendollar, sophomore
Weston Blair, junior
Aidan Whitsell, sophomore
AJ Hawkins and sophomore
Preston Glassco.
"(The men have) been looking great the last few weeks," Dixon said.
Last year,
Peyton Fairchild was the Eagles' top finisher in 114th (32:38.3). Richendollar was 130th (32:54.3),
Jacob Vogelpohl was 132nd (32:55.8),
Kyler Stewart was 177th (34:12.5), junior
Keghan Thompson was 220th (35:47.4), Whitsell was 227th (36:12.9) and junior
Garrett West was 229th (36:33.6).
Two weeks ago, at the OVC Championships, Massey placed fifth, with Arnett 23rd, Richendollar 46th, Glassco 53rd, Blair 59th, Whitsell 61st and Hawkins 62nd. That race was an 8K.
Only Richendollar and Whitsell have previously run a 10K for MSU. Massey and Hawkins ran 10Ks at other schools. Massey's "pr" of 32:54.7 was set at the 2021 Division I Central Region Championships. He finished 113th at that event. The last two years, he competed in the NAIA, which only runs an 8K in its championship races. Hawkins was 185th in 2024 at the NCAA Division I Great Lakes Region Championships, crossing the line in 33:28.2.
Only six Eagle individuals have run in the regionals for MSU in previous seasons. Campbell, Holman, Richendollar and Whitsell each competed last fall. Allen also ran in 2023, when she placed 246th (did not finish). Taylor has crossed the line in two previous iterations of the event, claiming 242nd (27:25.5) in 2023 and 225th (26:13.5) in 2022.
In school history, 15 of the top 24 men's 10K times were achieved on the Panorama Farms course.
Since 2012, MSU's best finishes have been by Farah Abdulkarim (18th in the 2016 men's race) and Sierra Poppell (27th in the 2018 women's race). During that span in the team standings, the men's top result was 10th in 2017, with the women's highest placing at 15th in 2018. Since the turn of the century, 27 MSU men have finished within the top 100. Over that same period, 11 women have placed in the top 100.
Last November, North Carolina State's Grace Hartman captured the women's individual 6K crown with a time of 20:04.2, a two-hundredths-of-a-second edge over Clemson's Silvia Jelego. N.C. State claimed the women's team title for the eighth straight year. Virginia Tech's George Couttie won last year's men's 10K race in 29:41.7. Virginia usurped two-time defending champs North Carolina, to win the team title.
The Atlantic Coast Conference dominates the current U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional rankings, with Virginia, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and North Carolina holding the top men's spots; and N.C. State, North Carolina and Virginia leading the women's pack. The ACC has eight of the top nine women's teams and eight of the top 14 men's squads. On the national scene, Virginia's men are No. 4, followed by Wake Forest at No. 12, Virginia Tech at No. 24, North Carolina at No. 27 and Eastern Kentucky at No. 30. As for the women, N.C. State is second, with North Carolina at No. 13, Virginia at No. 16, South Carolina at No. 20 and Duke at No. 29.
For live results from the meet, click the link:
https://flashresults.com/2026_Meets/xc/NCAASE/index.htm.
If no one qualifies for the NCAA Championships, the group will reconvene for the beginning of the indoor track and field season, which is expected to start in early to mid-December.
