MOREHEAD, Ky. — Outside of a few individual performances, things did not go as well as Coach
Clay Dixon had hoped at Friday's NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championships at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. Despite graduate student
Aidan Massey posting the 12th-best 10K time in school history, the Morehead State men's team finished in 31st and the women placed 36th.
In a season of outstanding performances, this was not one of them.
It was the lowest result at the meet for the men since 2011 and the women since 2010.
Dixon admitted his disappointment.
"The men underperformed and women did about as expected considering we were missing two of our top five," he said. "Hills must have gotten to some of them (or) maybe just being tired at this point in the season. We had some solid points in the season and some improvements but today was not our day."
The course at Panorama Farms was in the mode of what was common a decade ago with lots of hills and challenging terrain instead of just flat ground.
"Many improved through the season but today was not our A-game," he added. "(It) also doesn't help that no meet we ran this season was as hilly as this one."
Still, it was not all doom and gloom for the Blue and Gold.
Massey's 87th-place finish was the best for an Eagle in seven years, when two runners crossed the line sooner. Massey's time of 31:40.4 was the fastest since Justin Moakler clocked a 31:06.5 in 2018 in Rock Hill, S.C.
It was a "pr" for Massey, but his only other 10K race came back in his freshman year while attending Division II Emporia State. That time of 32:54.7 was set at the 2021 Division I Central Region Championships
"It was a tough (race). I definitely wanted to run a little faster, but I'm still satisfied with the season overall. The course was challenging with lots of hills, but I tried to stay dialed in," he said. "(The hills) definitely made the race harder. It slowed the pace down overall, but I was able to pick off some guys on a couple of the hills."
As has been the case in previous meets, Massey has done well when family was in town to watch him race.
"It was great talking with my Uncle Ryan before and after, too," he said. "He actually flew in from Florida to watch me run."
It has been a stellar season for Massey, who entered with tremendous promise after two-year stops at a pair of Kansas schools: Baker University and Emporia State.
"Massey had a great season," Dixon said. "Training has really been clicking for him at Morehead and we are excited to carry that momentum over to track season."
Senior
Kaylyn Holman concluded her career on Friday with another strong performance in the 6K. Although it was not her fastest this year, she led the team for the fifth straight meet. Last fall, she was seventh on the team at the regional.
"It's crazy to think that I just finished up four seasons of cross country here. The race itself was good, I felt strong and (was) able to attack the hills properly. I obviously wasn't able to end on a 'pr' but the improvement alone this season has been more than enough!" she said.
"We weren't able to compete as well as we had wanted due to Christiana (Brittian) and Taylor (Allen) being out, but I am proud of the team we were able to take and compete with top schools in the nation on a difficult course," she added.
"I am sad to see cross country be over but also very ecstatic about the track season coming up!" she concluded.
Holman finished in 200th in 23:05.9. Last year, she was 220th in 25:01.8.
Sophomore
Ryan Richendollar was the second Eagle male across the line in 193rd in 34:00.5. Freshman
Josh Arnett was two spots back in 195th in 34:09.0. Junior
Aidan Whitsell was 214th in 34:43.3, with sophomores
Weston Blair (35:27.8),
Preston Glassco (35:36.8) and
AJ Hawkins (35:40.4) finishing back-to-back-to-back in 225th, 226th and 227th, respectively.
Last year, Richendollar was 130th, with Whitsell in 227th. The other five were running in their first regional meet as Eagles.
Injuries this week forced the MSU women to be without a pair of its top runners: Brittian, a senior, and Allen, a junior.
Junior
Adi Fuller was the second Morehead State lady over the finish line, placing 210th in 23:35.4, with sophomore
Meredith Campbell in 214th in 23:39.0, senior
Abby Taylor in 222nd in 23:55.4, freshman
Peyton Lunsford in 234th in 25:18.7 and junior Lani Basket (originally an alternate) in 239th in 26:12.4.
None of the MSU women set a "pr" and only Holman moved up from her 2024 finish. However, Campbell and Taylor did run faster than last year when Taylor covered the course in Rock Hill, S.C., in 24:07.0 and Campbell did so in 24:13.1.
Wake Forest captured the men's team title with 55 points, topping runner-up Eastern Kentucky by 13 points. Host Virginia was third with 95 points. Demon Deacon junior Rocky Hanson was the first male across the finish line, covering the course in 29:10.4, more than nine seconds faster than second-place finisher Elsingi Kipruto of Louisville. Defending champ George Couttie of Virginia Tech was fourth.
North Carolina State claimed its ninth straight women's crown, collecting 55 points. South Carolina was second with 100 points. North Carolina took third with 108 points. South Carolina freshman Salma Elbadra was the individual champ, finishing in 19:03.1. N.C. State's Hannah Gapes was second in 19:08.3. The 2024 women's winner was not in the field.
It was the final cross country meet for at least two Eagles: Holman and Taylor. Brittian and
Casey Skaggs have also exhausted their eligibility. All of the men are eligible to return.
Morehead State will return for the indoor track and field season in early-to-mid December.
