MOREHEAD, Ky. — The Morehead State men's and women's cross country teams made history in Saturday's Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic at the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. Doctoral student
Aidan Massey moved into fourth on the school's all-time performers' list, while freshman
Shelby Lamb and the women's team finished in 17th and 12th, respectively. The former mark is the best in 19 trips to the meet since 2005, while the latter ties for top honors.
"It was great all around. (It is the) fastest we have done in years and (we) moved deeper into the pack. (We had) many 'pr's'," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "(It) would have been perfect if Jake (Hagan) didn't twist his ankle before the race. I think we could have been about five places better as a (men's) team. Regardless, both teams are in great places right now."
The Eagle women claimed 12th in the team standings, tying their 2023 result and moving one spot higher than in 2018, when they were 13th. The men also put together one of their best all-time finishes, placing 18th, their top performance since taking ninth in 2018. In comparison, last year's clubs were 32nd out of 32 (men) and 30th of 31 (women). In Saturday's meet, there were 24 teams in the both races.
"Overall, (it was) really good. (The) men made huge steps forward. (The) same with women (finishing) in that 5-7 pack," Dixon said. "I tried emphasizing team placement this year and we came away beating more than we have in years past. (It is the) fastest average team times at this meet in years."
What makes the accomplishment even more impressive, both MSU squads competed in the highest group (the Gold Division).
The top seven members of the women's team averaged 18 minutes and 52 seconds. Last year, the group sat at 19:20. The scoring men's runners also made a significant jump over 2025, 25:32 versus 25:51.
"I'm definitely proud of the team today," Lamb said of the women's performance. "The girls raced so well and seeing everyone pack up and work together was really special."
Individually, half of the Eagle entrants set "pr's", led by Massey, who finished 19th overall in 24:20.7, an improvement over his career-best time by 8.4 seconds over the 8K course in the Gold Division. It was the fastest an Eagle male has run since Jarrett Mattingly recorded a 24:17.30 the Oct. 5, 2019, Greater Louisville Classic, which was also held on the E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park course. In school history, only Mattingly, Farah Abdulkarim and Justin Moakler have run faster than Massey.
"Last year I had a pretty good race, but I moved up from around 113th to 43rd. So, this year I really wanted to get out quicker and put myself in a position to compete with the front group from the start," Massey said. "I was dialed in from when the gun shot off. I got out fast, put myself right behind the leaders and was sitting around the top ten for most of the race."
At the 2.1K mark, Massey was in the middle of a tight bunch of 23 guys who were within 1.6 seconds of the leader. By the 3.9K point, the pack had started to separate, with Massey sitting in seventh 3.4 seconds out of first. By 6K, he was still near the front, essentially tied for 11th. However, over the last 2K, he dropped eight spots.
"The last three quarters of a mile got pretty tough. My back started locking up, I was breathing pretty hard, and (I had) just a moment of mental weakness in there where I wasn't able to rip it," he said. "I ended up falling back to 19th, so that's really the only part of my race I wasn't excited with. But I've got more opportunities to improve on that and finish stronger."
It was a 23.7 second improvement over his time two weeks ago at the Southern Showcase, a result that earned him Ohio Valley Conference Runner of the Week honors. Saturday marked the fifth straight meet he went under 25 minutes.
However, he still thinks he has more in him.
"My hamstring tightened up earlier in the week, but I put some extra work into recovery and had it feeling a lot better by Saturday," he said. "Overall, I'm glad to come away with a 'pr' and find out I'm fourth on the all-time list at Morehead State, but I know there's still more there. I'm thankful for the people around me and all the support I've gotten. … Coach Dixon's been hitting it 'Balboni style', getting the training right. … I'm ready to keep training and get after what's ahead."
Dixon also praised Massey's performance.
"It was good. He went for it," he said.
Lamb covered the 5K course in 18:01.0 for 17th place. It was the best individual finish by an Eagle woman, one spot better than Anya Martinez, who placed 18th in 18:38.92 in 2011.
Although her placing was high, her time was notably slower than two weeks ago, when she notched a
17:39.07. It was a fact not lost on Lamb.
"Personally, I didn't have the race I wanted, and my legs were pretty beat up," she said. "The first two miles went by really quickly, but the last mile was definitely a grind, and I felt like I was fighting a lot of lactic (acid) throughout the race."
Through the first 2.1K, Lamb sat safely in 16th place. She slipped back two spots at the next marker (3.9K), before jumping back into 17th over the last 1.1K.
Still, it was the third consecutive meet where Lamb has led the Blue and Gold.
"I'm definitely disappointed with how I felt individually, but I'm really proud of how the team competed and how much we've grown together," she said. "I'm excited to learn from today and keep working!"
One of the biggest movers on the women's side was freshman
Emma Coakley, who MSU's second runner across the line in 79th collegiately and 81st overall. She finished in 18:57.4, about 16 seconds faster than two weeks ago. Junior
Meredith Campbell was third on the team, 84th collegiately and 86th overall in 19:01.9, an improvement of more than 36 seconds. Sophomore
Isabelle Shearer crossed the line in 92nd collegiately and 94th overall in 19:06.8.
Arguably, the most noteworthy finisher among the MSU women was that of sophomore
Sydney Filippazzo, who was unable to complete any of her four career 5K races. Yet, on Saturday, she was the fifth Eagle, claiming 110th and 112th in 19:16.1.
Freshman
Audrey Adkins also made a sizable improvement in time, chopping nearly a minute off her result at the September 18th Southern Showcase. Adkins recorded a 19:35.6 and collected 139th and 141st places. Freshman
Parker Mentzer rounded out the scoring Eagles, placing 166th/168th in 19:49.2.
Senior
Adi Fuller, making her first appearance this season, captured 197th/200th in 20:30.6. Last year, she was 221st/224th. Freshman
Kaitlyn Bradshaw also completed her first collegiate 5K, claiming 198th/201st in 20:33.9. A trio of sophomores rounded out the Eagles.
Josey Corbin was 204th/207th in 20:41.4, with
Addison Hill in 214th/217th in 21:08.7 and
Peyton Lunsford was 220th/223rd in 21:25.2. All were season bests and improvements over last year's finishes. Corbin made the biggest jump of the group, placing 301st overall in 21:46.9 in 2025. A total of 241 runners toed the starting line.
Freshman
Lucas Simpson was the second Eagle male across the line, taking 80th/81st in 25:25.5. It was an improvement by over 40 seconds.
Lance Garner continues to cut massive clumps of time off his races this year. The sophomore recorded a 25:46.8, approximately 56 seconds faster than two weeks ago and more than three minutes quicker than his 2025 Louisville meet time, when he finished 321st overall. On Saturday, he was 119th/120th.
Senior
Aidan Whitsell continues his strong fall, placing 138th/139th in 25:55.9. It was his first sub 26-minute time, a "pr" of nearly 28 seconds. It was his third trip to the meet as an Eagle, finishing in 241st overall (26:35.9) in 2025 and 408th (30:08.0) in 2023.
Junior
Ryan Richendollar captured 163rd/164th in 26:15.5. It was a few spots better than his 2025 result of 171st overall. It also was a season-best time by more than a minute and 28 seconds. Juniors
Brody Coleman and
Liam Parido also notched "sb's". Coleman was 185th/186th in 26:34.3, an improvement of 83 places and 20 seconds over last year. Parido was 188th/189th in 26:36.8. Last year, he was 285th in 27:12.7. Saturday, Parido also set a "pr", improving by nearly eight seconds.
Freshman
Jake Hagan started strong and sat 67th at the first time marker (2.1K), before his ankle injury caused him to fall in the standings throughout the remainder of the race. He finished in 26:50.7 and claimed 200th/201st.
Senior
Keghan Thompson covered the distance in 27:41.0 to take 227th/228th. He was 295th last year and 347th three years ago. Senior
Brady Baker was 239th/240th in 28:34.9. He registered nearly the exact same time as he did two weeks ago at the Southern Showcase (28:34.91). Baker was 297th at last year's meet. There were 251 runners in the men's race.
The MSU women were 12th with 356 points, topping Northern Kentucky (13th, 368 points), South Florida (14th, 379 points), Duquesne (15th, 380 points) and Evansville (18th, 445 points) among others.
West Texas A&M was the winner with 34 points, while Lee (Tenn.) was next with 100. East Tennessee State (168); Marshall (189); Xavier, Ohio (198); IU Indianapolis (223); Wayne State, Mich. (237); Harding, Ark. (264); Western Kentucky (274); Loyola, Md. (342) and Mississippi College (356) finished ahead of the Eagles.
Marshall's Rachael Withrow blistered the field, winning in 16:26.4, more than 42 seconds ahead of runner-up Lola Sarthou of West Texas A&M (17:08.7).
The MSU men placed 18th with 453 points, edging Evansville by one point. West Texas A&M won with 36 points, followed by Lee, Tenn. (47); North Central, Ill. (159); the University of the Cumberlands, Ky. (160); Western Kentucky (212); Harding, Ark. (215); Marshall (257); Mississippi College (274); Detroit Mercy (291); with Auburn Montgomery, Ala. (313) rounding out the top 10.
West Texas A&M's Meshack Keter won in 23:33.4. Lee's Pierre Chauveau was second in 23:42.2.
Morehead State will serve as co-host of its next meet, the Eagle/Knight Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16. The women will run at 9 a.m., followed by the men at 9:50 a.m. It will be the final tune-up before the OVC Championships on Oct. 30.
