MOREHEAD, Ky. – Behind the efforts of
Aidan Massey and
Shelby Lamb, the Morehead State men's and women's cross country teams put together outstanding performances at Friday morning's Southern Showcase Presented by Jacksonville State.
Massey placed 33rd overall and Lamb finished 36th among collegians at the competition held at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala. Both races had well over 300 competitors.
"I'm pleased. We competed and showed out well. We got some spots we can improve upon, but I think we can address those over the next few weeks," MSU head coach
Clay Dixon said. "It's still incredibly hot and that took its toll on a few of our runners today. We can make some adjustments and be better prepared."
According to the race broadcaster, temperatures had a "feels like (temperature) of 81 (degrees)" for the men's invitational 8K race that began at 7:30 a.m. local time.
"The race was great and the heat was definitely a big factor. It ended up heating up by about five degrees throughout the race if I had a guess, and the humidity was also a pretty big factor," Lamb said.
The Eagle freshman moved into fifth on the MSU all-time performers' list by clocking a 17:39.1 in the 5K women's invitational race to place 37th overall (36th among collegiate runners), the fastest MSU female at that distance since Sierra Poppell ran a 17:28.8 at the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Championships.
"I knew going into the race it was gonna be a quick start and be super competitive, so I wanted to be sure I had a good spot," Lamb said. "I also knew that there was a big hill right at the two-mile mark and that's where I planned to pass a lot of the girls. I executed the plan pretty well; I am just excited to get some congestion out and feel 110% for the next race!"
In two trips to the meet, it was the best individual women's finish by an Eagle by 80 spots.
"Despite (the heat) our girls' team performed extremely well and we kicked off our season very strong," Lamb added. "I am so proud of everyone, and I am really looking forward to keep on putting in work and making more progress with the ladies!"
Massey's performance was equally noteworthy, although he was not as impressed with his time (24:44.2). Yet, it was a strong bounce back from two weeks ago at Eastern Kentucky, when he withdrew from the race before finishing.
"It wasn't the time I had in mind, but I got after it. It was real hot outside – definitely some moments of mental toughness in there trying to keep ripping it," he said. "Talking to (Coach) Dixon after helped put it in perspective, too. It was a good opportunity and I'm thankful for it. Just staying dialed in now and ready to go rip a faster one at Louisville. Got to see my folks for the first time since leaving KC (Kansas City) too, which was sweet. Thankful for all the support from teammates and the Morehead family, too. Some good conversations after the race."
As a team, MSU's men finished 22nd out of 29 squads with 619 points. The Eagle ladies tallied 635 points and were 23rd out of 31. Alabama dominated both genders, winning the men's competition with a perfect score of 15, while recording 28 points on the women's side. Appalachian State was a distant second in the men's event, finishing with 118 points. Georgia Tech was third with 124 points, followed by Clemson (169 points) and the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) with 194 points.
"(The) men had a solid pack with (Jake) Hagan, (Lucas) Gabbard (Simpson), and (Lance) Garner," Dixon said. "They pushed each other to solid races. Massey looked strong. Our No. 5 man can be different every meet, but it should tighten up here over the next few weeks."
Like Lamb, Massey's finish was the team's best at the meet by a male by a wide margin.
Jacob Vogelpohl was 174th in 2024. Massey beat that mark 141 places.
On Friday, the Eagle doctoral student ran his fourth sub-25-minute time in the Blue and Gold, the only team member to accomplish that feat since Garrett Watts (24:49.7) and Kyle Embry (24:50.3) both set career bests on October 1, 2022. It also was Massey's fourth straight 8K that he completed in less than 25 minutes.
Massey made his biggest move between the 1.6K and 4.6K mark, when he jumped up 47 places, before finishing 33rd both overall and collegiately in 24:44.2, the fourth-fastest time of his career. He edged Arkansas State's Carlo Martinez-Jaramil by four hundredths of a second at the line.
Freshman
Lucas Simpson was next among the Eagles by placing 146th in 26:05.8 in his first collegiate 8K. Freshman
Jake Hagan was not far back, taking 150th in 26:06.7. He actually notched the same time as the University of the Cumberlands' Caleb Burton, but Burton was awarded 149th. Hagan moved up 13 spots over the final half of the race.
Sophomore
Lance Garner continued his breakout season by finishing 197th in 26:42.6. Although it was a significant "pr", it could have been better. He fell 45 places over the last 1.8K of the race. In his previous three 8Ks, he never ran faster than 28 minutes.
Senior
Aidan Whitsell gradually moved up throughout the race. He started in 281st, then jumped 30 spots at the first marker and another 20 at the second time check, before adding nine more spots to place 222nd in 27:01.1. Junior
Liam Parido followed in 224th in 27:02.9 Parido improved 11 places in the final 1.8K.
Junior
Ryan Richendollar started strong but faded over the duration of the race. He was 156th at the 1.6K mark but finished 265th in 27:43.9. Junior
Brody Coleman was next at 279th in 28:12.3, followed by seniors
Brady Baker and
Keghan Thompson. Both started faster but had trouble maintaining their placing, before finishing in 287th (28:35.0) and 291st (28:50.6), respectively.
Clemson finished second in the women's team standings with 69 points, followed by Auburn (99 points), Mercer (151 points) and Mississippi State (163 points).
"Lamb looked smooth throughout. She had a great first challenge of the season," Dixon said. "Emma (Coakley) and Parker (Mentzer) looked strong and made some solid moves throughout the race."
Lamb came off the starting line and sat 53rd after the first 1.6K, before gradually moving up over the remainder of the race. Her biggest jump came when she moved 13 spots to 40th between the 1.6K and 3.2K marks.
Sophomore
Isabelle Shearer was the second Eagle across the line. She began in 180th but moved up 27 spots in each of the next two sections to tie for 126th overall in 18:41.27, which is her collegiate "pr". Jacksonville State's Naum Kibiwott had the same exact time.
Likewise,
Emma Coakley also made some nice jumps. She finished 173rd in 19:13.4, moving up 33 places in the second 1.6K segment and another 19 in the final 1.8K.
Junior
Meredith Campbell finished 212th in 19:38.5, with freshman
Parker Mentzer claiming 227th in 19:47.5. Mentzer moved up 34 spots over the final third of the race. Freshman
Audrey Adkins was the sixth Eagle finisher. She placed 280th in 20:36.4. Sophomore
Josey Corbin rounded out the top seven, taking 290th in 20:56.9, which was her "pr" by 50 seconds. Three others started but did not finish: freshmen
Abby Bastin and
Kaitlyn Bradshaw, and sophomore
Sydney Filippazzo.
Alabama's Rodgers Minatum led virtually the entire men's race before getting passed at the end by teammate Dismus Lokira, who won by one second in 23:08.8. Alabama's Carn Kiplagat obliterated the course record, finishing in 15:41.4 to win the women's event.
Morehead State will be off for two weeks before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 3 for the Swags Louisville Cross Country Classic in Louisville, Ky. It will be MSU's lone Saturday competition of the year.
