MOREHEAD, Ky. — It is 2001 all over again.
At least that's the case for the top two individuals on the Morehead State cross country teams at Friday's Ohio Valley Conference Championships at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
That is the last time the Eagle men and women matched what they did on Friday as freshman
Shelby Lamb and doctoral student
Aidan Massey recorded the best individual finishes since that year.
Lamb won the race in a 6K school-record time of 20:36.80, beating her closest competitor, the OVC Runner of the Year, Ellie Hall of Southern Indiana, by 49.87 seconds. Hall entered the meet with a top time that was nearly 44 seconds faster than the rest of the field, including a stunning 53.16-second margin over Lamb.
Lamb's time obliterated her previous "pr" of 21:32.56, set just two weeks ago, and surpassed the school record of 20:49.50 held by Sierra Poppell, who posted that mark in 2018. Lamb became just the second runner to go under 21 minutes ever at MSU.
"Going into the race, my biggest goal was to enjoy the experience and have fun competing in my first OVC Championship. I felt really good from the start and about a third of the way into the race, I was able to separate myself from the pack and just focus on continuing to push all the way to the finish," she said. "I wanted to go out there, give everything I had and enjoy every moment of it. I'm incredibly grateful for how the race turned out, but even more grateful for the opportunity to represent Morehead State and be part of such a special team."
Since going to a 6K for the women's race in 2022, no one in OVC Championship history has run faster than Lamb did on Friday.
Despite it just being the second 6K of her collegiate career, people took notice of her talent.
"Shelby sat in the lead pack for the first of three laps and effortlessly took the lead on lap two. She grew her lead from 40 meters to over 150 meters," MSU coach
Clay Dixon said. "She was clearly the best in the field. The crowd whispered, 'who's that Morehead runner?'"
Lamb was one-hundredth of a second behind Hall in second place after 2,000 meters, but after that, it was all Lamb. She led Hall by nearly two seconds after 2,550 meters. She had more than a 10-second advantage over two-time defending champion Nova Ojutkangas of Southeast Missouri and nearly a 12-second edge over OVC Freshman of the Year Karson Oberender of Western Illinois.
By 4,110 meters, Lamb's opposition was nowhere to be found, extending her lead to more than 30 seconds. At the 4,660-meter mark, she stretched it to nearly 38 seconds, before turning on the jets for the final 340 meters to win by the largest margin in OVC women's championship history since 2005, when Samford's Lauren Blankenship captured the title by 1:15.29 seconds.
"I was running for my team, for God and for those who don't have the opportunity to run, which gave me an even bigger purpose throughout the race," Lamb added. "I'm blessed to have had this experience and excited to keep working toward what's ahead!"
Massey, who finished fifth last year, bettered his 2025 8K result by two places and 14.54 seconds. He, too, moved up the MSU all-time list, where he now sits third. His Friday time of 24:14.56 was a "pr" by 6.14 seconds. That time would have won the OVC Championships last fall, as well as 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
The top three places went in order of seeding entering the race, with Massey trailing only eventual winner Alex Nolan and brother Jackson Nolan of Southern Indiana. Massey was the only one of the three to set a "pr". Alex Nolan crossed the line in 24:05.40, with Jackson Nolan next at 24:10.70. Massey bested last year's fourth-place finisher, UT Martin's Angus Monro, who again took fourth, this time in 24:26.84.
Massey's performance was the best for an MSU male since Paul Gilvin placed second in 2001. Like Lamb, Massey's time was the fastest ever 8K for an Eagle at the OVC Championship meet, bettering the previous best mark of Justin Moakler of 24:20.82 in 2017.
"Going into the race, I just wanted to sit on Alex Nolan and see how tough I could be. We got out really quick at a 4:36 mile and I think I went through the 5K at 15:05," Massey said. "Definitely some pain after that, but I never allowed myself to fall back closer to Angus Monro in fourth. I knew he had that mile speed, so I knew I couldn't let him get close. I'd be lying if I said those last two miles weren't painful, but I got it done."
Unfortunately, Massey's time did not register at each checkpoint. So, no records exist where he stood relative to the field timewise at each stage of the race.
"Massey was in that lead group, and they broke away and grew their lead," Dixon said. "He had a solid 50-meter gap on fourth place by lap three."
"I just wanted to have a good race with this being my last 8K. I hadn't seen my folks since the Huntsville race and really I just wanted to put on a great performance for them" he said. "All the support I've gotten from them over the years and (their) encouragement (and) this was a special moment. I don't know where I'd be without them. First team all-conference parents. Before the race my Uncle Derek came out too that was a cool surprise.
"I love Morehead state and I'll forever be grateful for Coach Dixon giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to come here. I always wanted to be a DI athlete and this was as great as I could have imagined," he continued. "All the support from (Ryan) Rich(endollar), (Aidan) Whitsell, (Weston) Blair and several other teammates is awesome, as well as all the parents yelling cheering me on in the race."
With the performances of Lamb and Massey, it would be easy to classify the day as a success for the Blue and Gold. However, there was more.
Three other Eagles set likely top-25 times in MSU history. Sophomore
Isabelle Shearer went into the books in 18th place after finishing 26th in 22:35.3 and freshman
Emma Coakley slid into 22nd with a 28th-place result and a time of 22:43.46. After running with the leaders for the first part of the race, freshman
Lucas Simpson crossed the line in 16th in 25:10.49, likely moving him into 23rd all-time on the Eagle 8K performers' list.
In addition, junior
Meredith Campbell clocked a 22:40.06 to finish 27th. It was her best finish by double-digit places in three trips to the OVC Championships and just seven seconds off her "pr".
In total, 10 Eagles set "pr's", with virtually every MSU female bettering their mark by over a minute.
The result was a fourth-place team finish for the men and fifth place for the women, the best marks for both teams in nine and eight years, respectively, when they were second and fourth. Last year, the men finished seventh and the women were ninth.
Massey was both proud and grateful for the experience.
"I'm proud of what this team accomplished today. We went from seventh to fourth in the conference and weren't far from finishing second. That's a huge improvement. Everyone bought into Coach Dixon's plan and we went out there and executed," Massey said. "Coming to Morehead State was the smartest decision I've ever made. I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to finish my collegiate career. We've got one more race this season and I can't wait to see what we can do at regionals."
"I told the team to let the hilly section in the back to do the work for them," Dixon said. "It's our strength and we were able to naturally break people there due to it."
Dixon singled out the second, third, fourth and fifth runners for both squads.
"Our two through five runners all looked strong and slowly moved up as the race went all. The hills really played to our strength. Super proud of this group," he said of the women's quartet of Shearer, Campbell, Coakley and freshman
Audrey Adkins (who finished 47th in 23:36.8, an improvement of her "pr" by over a minute and 47 seconds).
He was equally proud of the men's pack of Simpson, junior
Ryan Richendollar, sophomore
Lance Garner and junior
Brody Coleman. Richendollar was 25th in 25:46.1, with Garner 28th in 25:49.5 and Coleman 29th in 25:55.2. Richendollar's best finish in two previous OVC Championship races was 39th, while his time was a season-best by just over seven seconds. Coleman also made massive strides over prior OVC meets, in which he placed 73rd and 74th. He also set a "pr" by 30.4 seconds. Garner was running in his first career league cross country race.
"The men replicated the same plan (as the women) but just for four laps," Dixon said. "Lucas went for it and held on for a solid top-20 finish. Ryan, Lance and Brody really progressed well and picked guys off throughout. (It was a) great day for the men. We were on the heels of a second-place finish. (It is) exciting to see the direction this program is heading."
All 18 Eagles who started finished the race and defeated at least 10 opposing runners. Sophomore
Addison Hill was entered but pulled out before the day of the race due to an illness. Junior
Liam Parido traveled to Cape Girardeau but was held out because is still recovering from having been unable to finish at the Eagle/Knight Invitational two weeks ago.
Freshman
Parker Mentzer was 48th in 23:37.9, with senior
Adi Fuller in 56th in 24:08.6, sophomore
Sydney Filippazzo in 61st in 24:33.1 and sophomore
Josey Corbin was 62nd in 24:52.8.
Mentzer bested her "pr" by 48.5 seconds, while Filippazzo improved by 6.1 seconds and Corbin dropped 37 seconds. Both Filippazzo and Corbin rose significantly in the standings. Last year, they finished 92nd and 84th, respectively.
Senior Aidan Whitesell was 26th in 26:27.5, with freshman
Jake Hagan in 44th in 27:07.3, senior
Brady Baker in 60th in 28:15.4 and senior
Keghan Thompson in 64th in 28:50.0.
Virtually every Eagle made notable progress after past races. Whitsell finished in the 60s in both of his previous OVC appearances, while Thompson tied his best result, which he achieved in 2024.
Unless Morehead State has qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, it will conclude its season at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday, Nov. 13, in Spartanburg, S.C. If anyone advances to the NCAA Championships, they will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Terre Haute, Ind.
