MOREHEAD, Ky. – If Friday's results are any indication, the Morehead State men's and women's cross country teams are going to be contenders for Ohio Valley Conference titles in October.
Both Eagle squads placed second at the seven-team EIU Walt Crawford Open. The event, which took place on the EIU Tom Woodall Panther Trail in Charleston, Ill., the same course that will host the OVC Championship meet, included five conference schools and MSU finished ahead of all of them except host Eastern Illinois.
Led by freshman
Josh Arnett and graduate student
Aidan Massey, Morehead State's men placed just seven points behind the Panthers. Both schools had three top-nine finishers, but Eastern Illinois runners claimed 10th and 11th place to surge ahead in the final standings.
"It was fun watching Aidan and Josh lead the guys for the first 6K," said MSU coach
Clay Dixon. "They sat in a big pack and it broke open with 2K to go. They battled and ran well. (Sophomore) Ryan (Richendollar) moved up well through the race. We got some good (number) four and five runners. It can change on any given day."
Arnett covered the 8K course in 25:13.80, a number that falls just outside the top-20 all-time performers at MSU. He finished in third.
"We started out pretty slow, but me and my fellow teammate
Aidan Massey were in the front of the race pretty much the whole time," Arnett said. "It was pretty dusty, but with 7K to go, I knew I had to go. Coach told me I had to go. I trusted my training and what my coach drilled into my head and just went for it. It was a learning experience for sure, and I can't wait to see what our team can do in the upcoming meets."
According to coach Dixon, Arnett's time might be the fastest opening-race 8K for a freshman in the school's recorded history.
Arnett and Massey stayed in the front pack for the entire race. Lindenwood sophomore Isaac Ndiwa (25:07.10) and SIU Edwardsville sophomore Tanner Emerson (25:08.80) broke away with only about a kilometer to go, eventually finishing first and second, respectively.
Massey ended in sixth in 25:22.40, with Richendollar in eighth in 25:42.40. Sophomore transfer
AJ Hawkins was 14th in 26:24.10, with sophomore
Weston Blair in 19th in 26:36.50 and freshman
Kyle Crady in 20th in 26:39.90 to round out the top Eagle performers.
Sophomore
Preston Glassco (26th in 26:52.30), junior
Keghan Thompson (28th in 26:56.90), sophomore
Liam Parido (31st in 27:01.50), sophomore
Brody Coleman (33rd in 27:08.40), junior
Aidan Whitsell (40th in 27:21.30), freshman
Lance Garner (49th in 28:06.10), junior
Brady Baker (50th in 28:13.60) and sophomore
Carter Lamb (55th in 28:46.60) rounded out the Eagle contingent. There were 61 total runners in the race.
Richendollar, Blair, Parido and Baker each set new "pr's".
For the first time in her cross country career, senior
Kaylyn Holman led the Eagle women. She finished the 6K course in eighth (22:41.50). Right behind her was senior
Christiana Brittian (10th in 22:45.80) and sophomore
Meredith Campbell (11th in 22:51.70).
Holman and Brittian moved into MSU's list of top 25 all-time performers. Holman's 22:41.50 now sits 19th, with Brittian's 22:45.80 21st. Campbell's time also would have made the list, except she is already on it. Consequently, it was a "pr' for both Holman and Brittian.
"(The) ladies looked strong and moved up," Dixon said. "Kaylyn went for it and came away with a big 'pr'. Christiana was moving that last mile and nearly caught Kaylyn. We had a ton of 'pr's and are excited to build on that come (the next meet at) Louisville."
It was Holman's fastest 6K time by over a minute. Her previous "pr" was a 23:50.8, which she achieved at last year's OVC Championship.
"I was really excited to get the first race of the year done! I am proud of where the whole team is (at) this point in the season," Holman said. "For the race though, I went out a bit quicker than what I preferred but went with it and felt strong through the 5K. Having a big 'pr' on a 'rust buster' is a confidence boost and (I) can't wait to see where the season takes me. Running the course preview is nice to know what to expect come OVC and we were able to see how we stack up against some teams as well."
Senior
Abby Taylor was 13th in 23:00.90, with junior
Taylor Allen in 15th in 23:12.00, junior
Adi Fuller in 36th in 24:06.40, junior
Lani Baskett in 43rd in 24:43.10, freshman
Peyton Lunsford in 45th in 24:51.90, redshirt junior
Lydia Bauer in 47th in 25:10.30 and freshman
Josey Corbin in 52nd in 26:10.40. A total of 65 runners toed the starting line. Eastern Illinois junior Brenda Torres won the race in 21:33.90. EIU had five of the top six finishers.
It was a "pr" for Bauer.
It was the first race for most of the Eagles. Coach Dixon held out several of his top athletes at last Friday's Eastern Kentucky Invitational so that they could focus on this race.
"It gave them a chance to work out and save some bullets for other races," he said.
Eastern Illinois' men finished with 42 points, followed by Morehead State with 49 points, SIU Edwardsville with 72 points, Southeast Missouri with 95 points and Lindenwood with 127 points.
The women's competition featured two additional teams. EIU won the meet with a near-perfect 17 points. MSU was second with 57 points, SIUE was third with 60 points, Southeast Missouri was fourth with 90 points, Lindenwood was fifth with 152 points, Lake Land (Ill.) College was sixth with 165 points and Parkland (Ill.) College was seventh with 206 points.
Morehead State will take off nearly a month before competing in the Live in Lou Classic, which will be Saturday, Oct. 4 in Louisville, Ky.
