MOREHEAD, Ky. — It has been several years since the Morehead State men's and women's cross country teams had a male and a female contend for the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships, but this year's squad has that and they and the rest of the Eagle contingent will hit the Osage Centre course in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Friday for the league's marquee event. The women's 6K race will begin at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the men's 8K event at 11 a.m. ET. It will be MSU's fourth 8K for the men and second 6K for the women this year.
Doctoral student
Aidan Massey and freshmen
Shelby Lamb enter the meet with the third and fifth-fastest times, respectively, in the conference. Last year, Massey placed fifth, the highest finish for an MSU runner since Sierra Poppell captured third in 2018. Both Massey and Lamb have been named OVC Runners of the Week this season (Massey on Sept. 23 and Oct. 7, and Lamb on Sept. 23).
Despite having individuals with title aspirations, Eagle head coach
Clay Dixon is more focused on the success of his teams.
"I think we have had a good build up to (the) OVC. We have focused on the process of stacking good workouts and miles, and expect to see the results come Friday," he said. "The previous meet was a good replication of what we believe OVC should look like – (a) similar course and similar fields of competition. So, we are mentally prepared to handle what comes."
Dixon is referring to the 10-team Eagle/Knight Invitational, which MSU hosted two weeks ago. There, the men's team finished second and the women were fourth. Massey won that race in 24:51.35, his sixth straight sub-25-minute 8K. It also marked his first individual title and the third straight meet he led the Eagles. Lamb was second in the women's event and moved into third on the MSU top performers' list. Her time was 21:32.56, which is believed to be the second-fastest 6K debut in school history. Lamb has led the team in all four races this fall.
Friday will be the OVC's 66th championship for the men and 48th for the women and the third straight year the competition will take place on a Friday, mirroring the when the NCAA Southeast Regional will take place, which will follow in two weeks.
The OVC meet returns to Cape Girardeau after being last held there in 2018. In that championships, Morehead State's women finished fourth, while the women were fifth. Last year, the Blue and Gold collected seventh (men) and ninth (women) place finishes in Charleston, Ill.
Over the last 10 years, the Eagle men have placed ninth (2023), eighth (2024), seventh (2025, 2022 and 2021), fifth (2020, 2019, 2018 and 2015) and second (2017). The women were ninth (2025, 2017 and 2016), seventh (2024, 2022 and 2019), sixth (2023, 2021, 2020 and 2015) and fourth (2018) over that same period.
Both MSU squads have been crowned team champs twice, the men in 1988 and 1995, and the women in 1979 and 2000. In its history, Morehead State has finished among the top four men's teams 32 times, while the women have reached that mark on 16 occasions.
The Eagles also have had three individual winners: Jeff Faith (1996), Susie Anderson (2000) and Karen Lutes (2001).
Dixon has entered the maximum number of men and women (10 of each gender).
Massey; seniors
Brady Baker,
Keghan Thompson and
Aidan Whitsell; juniors
Brody Coleman,
Liam Parido and
Ryan Richendollar; sophomore
Lance Garner; and freshmen
Jake Hagan and
Lucas Simpson (Gabbard) will represent the MSU men. Senior
Adi Fuller; junior
Meredith Campbell; sophomores
Josey Corbin,
Sydney Filippazzo,
Addison Hill and
Isabelle Shearer; and freshmen
Audrey Adkins,
Emma Coakley, Lamb and
Parker Mentzer are MSU's women's entries.
Massey earned First-Team All-OVC honors for last year's performance. He is one of only four Eagles to earn that honor in the last 10 years. MSU has only had one female podium finisher since Poppell in 2018. Laikin Tarlton was 13th in 2024 and was named Second-Team All-OVC. Last year's top Eagle woman,
Kaylyn Holman (24th in 22:26.7), has graduated.
Among MSU's 2026 entries, only six men and four women have previously competed at the meet. Last year, besides Massey, Richendollar was 46th in 26:07.0, Whitsell was 61st in 26:37.5, Thompson was 67th in 26:51.9, Parido was 68th in 26:54.3 and Coleman was 74th in 27:18.7. Among the women, Fuller was 43rd in 23:03.0, Campbell was 52nd in 23:16.2, Corbin was 84th in 25:31.8 and Filippazzo was 92nd. She did not finish. Richendollar (39th in 25:45.6), Thompson (64th in 26:47.6), Whitsell (68th in 27:06.4) and Coleman (73rd in 27:38.6), as well as Campbell (38th in 23:12.1), all also ran in 2024.
Three of this year's Eagles rank among Morehead State's all-time best. Massey is fourth in the 8K and 12th in the 10K, while Lamb is third in the 6K and fifth in the 5K, and Campbell is 17th in the 6K and 19th in the 5K.
This fall, Massey has led the team in three races, while Hagan has done so once. Lamb has paced the women in all four meets.
Six of the men and seven of the women have set their "pr's" this year. That group includes: Garner (25:46.8), Hagan (26:06.7), Massey (24:20.7), Parido (26:36.8), Simpson (25:25.5), Whitsell (25:55.9), Adkins (25:03.9), Coakley (23:45.3), Filippazzo (24:39.2), Hill (26:21.0), Lamb (21:32.6), Mentzer (24:26.4) and Shearer (23:12.6). The others are (with "sb"/"pr"): Baker (28:34.9/27:28.7), Coleman (26:34.3/26:25.6), Campbell (23:54.1/22:33.46), Corbin (25:49.2/25:31.8), Fuller (25:25.7/23:03.0), Richendollar (25:53.3/25:42.4) and Thompson (27:41.0/26:34.9).
All nine OVC schools are entered in Friday's meet, with 80 men and 79 women expected to toe the starting line. UT Martin's men and Tennessee Tech's women captured the 2025 titles, the first in both programs' histories. However, TTU has moved to the Southern Conference for 2026.
Southern Indiana is the favorite in both events. The Screaming Eagles have the league's two fastest runners in Ellie Hall (20:39.4) and Alex Nolan (23:38.5). Both were named the OVC Runners of the Year on Thursday.
Other top women's individual contenders include: Western Illinois' Karson Oberender; Southeast Missouri's Nova Ojutkangas and Jocelyn Haynes; and Southern Indiana's Sierra Parks, Maddie Graber, Addison Applegate and Cordelia Hoover; and UT Martin's Danielle Mudd. Among the men, SIU's Jackson Nolan, Carson Brown, Griffen Wheeler and Layden Wagoner; SEMO's James House and Myles Thornburg; and UTM's Angus Munro and Keagan Enicks all rank among the top 10 at 8K. Southeast Missouri's Drew Upperman and Oberbender were named the OVC's Freshmen of the Year on Thursday.
Last year, UT Martin's Luke Johnson won the men's race in 24:18.9. Alex Nolan is the top returning male from that race. He was third in 24:26.0. Ojutkangas finished in 20:57.1 to claim the women's title. She also won in 2024 in 20:58.6. Hall finished fifth last year in 21:17.0. Only five of the top 14 men and four of the top 14 women from last year's meet return.
For the first time in five years, the OVC has a representative in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's regional rankings entering the championship meet. Southern Indiana's men are 14th and their women are 13th in the Great Lakes Region.
After both races, the Athletes of the Championships, Coaches of the Year and the First Team and Second-Team all-conference selections will be recognized during an awards presentation. The top seven finishers in each gender will be on the first team, with the next seven making the second team. The two individual winners will be recognized as the Athlete of the Championship.
To follow live results, click
MileSplit Live Results. For the OVC Championships Central page, click
2026 OVC Cross Country Championship - Ohio Valley Conference. There will be no live video.
Morehead State will likely conclude its season at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday, Nov. 13, in Spartanburg, S.C., at a time to be determined. If anyone advances to the NCAA Championships, they will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Terre Haute, Ind.
