MOREHEAD, Ky. – With 10 newcomers, most of which are on the women's side, the Morehead State cross country teams began a new era when the Eagles began practicing on August 10 for the 2026 season.
MSU Coach
Clay Dixon likes what he has seen from this group that will heavily rely on several of those newcomers.
"We've had a solid training block the first few weeks," he said. "We have a solid group of returners and newcomers, so it was pretty quick getting everyone in and acclimated to the Morehead way."
Three individuals were highlighted by the Ohio Valley Conference as "Runners to Watch". One of those is returning All-OVC selection
Aidan Massey, who is now in his second year of graduate school and is pursuing his doctorate. He has the eighth-best 8K time on MSU's career top performer's list. He led the Eagles in four of six races last season, including finishing fifth overall at the OVCs, the top place for an MSU runner in eight years.
The other two "Runners to Watch" are freshmen, Louisville's
Jake Hagan and Richmond's
Shelby Lamb. Hagan finished 14th last fall at Kentucky's Class AAA State Championship, while his high school team, Trinity, placed second overall. Lamb also fared well at the AA State Championship, crossing the line in seventh. It was the third time in her career that she recorded a top-10 finish at the meet. She is a two-time regional title holder, has earned six all-region honors and holds the Madison Central High School record in cross country.
"Massey is looking better than ever. His workouts have been very promising. Jake has been looking very consistent with his workouts and should be able to transition well to the longer cross country distance. Shelby has been our top girl in workouts the last couple weeks and is primed for a solid freshman season this fall," Dixon said of the trio.
Lamb will be an anchor for the women's group that has seen most of the top performers from 2025 graduate. In total, the team will need to replace 10 team members from last year, including
Kaylyn Holman,
Abby Taylor,
Taylor Allen and
Christiana Brittian, who have been the core of the squad for several seasons.
Junior
Meredith Campbell is the top returning Eagle female. In four of her five meets in 2025, she was the team's third finisher. She was 11th overall in the EIU Walt Crawford Open and 52nd at the OVC Championships.
Senior
Adi Fuller also returns having made a strong impression in her first season with the club after transferring from Vincennes University. Fuller came on strong at the end of 2025. Twice she finished second on the team, including placing 43rd at the OVC meet.
The team's lone transfer is sophomore
Isabelle Shearer, who is coming from Eastern Kentucky. She ran against the Eagles at last year's EKU Invitational, where she placed ahead of every MSU finisher. As a high school runner at Jackson County in McKee, Ky., she had three top-10 finishes at the KHSAA State Championships.
Freshman
Emma Coakley is also expected to contribute immediately. A native of Ona, W.Va., her high school team, Cabell Midland, won its first state championship in 2025. Individually, she was 10th in the Class AAAA state meet and earned all-state honors. As a junior at the state championships, she finished 12th and as a sophomore, she was 19th.
There is one wild card on the women's side. Freshman
Abby Bastin was second in the KHSAA Class AA State Championships as a freshman in 2022. However, due to injury concerns, she did not run her final three years of high school. If she is healthy and can regain her early form, Bastin could give the squad a massive jolt.
Coakley's high school teammate and classmate,
Audrey Adkins, also enters with an impressive resume. At the state competition, she was 17th as a senior, 37th as a sophomore and 44th as a freshman. She did not run in the meet as a junior. She also earned second-team all-state honors as a senior, first-team all-region accolades as a senior and sophomore, and first-team all-conference awards as a senior and a sophomore.
Freshmen
Parker Mentzer and
Kaitlyn Bradshaw also join the team this year. Mentzer comes to MSU from Loveland, Ohio, and Loveland High School. She qualified for the Ohio state championship meet three times in cross country, placing 189th in the Division 2 competition last fall and 106th in the Division I meet as a freshman. She also was 16th in her 2025 conference championship. Bradshaw is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and a graduate of Worthington Kilbourne High School. She finished 35th in her conference championships and 114th in the regionals this past fall.
Five other returnees also factor into the mix. Senior
Natalie Curry returns to the club after redshirting the entire 2025-26 year with a knee injury. In her career, she has four top-100 performances. Her best finish came at the 2024 Thundering Herd Invitational and the 2022 Eastern Kentucky Tri-Meet, when she placed 31st.
Four sophomores,
Josey Corbin,
Peyton Lunsford,
Addison Hill and
Sydney Filippazzo all return looking to improve on their 2025 performances. Corbin was among the team's top 10 in all five of her meets last year. Her best finish was 16th at the EKU Invitational. Lunsford competed in all six meets last fall and was among the Eagles top eight in each. She was eighth at the EKU Invitational. Hill ran three times, with her top race also coming at the EKU Invitational when she was 18th. Filippazzo struggled with health issues and although she entered three races, she did not finish any of them.
Besides Massey and Hagan, Dixon expects junior returnees
Ryan Richendollar and
Liam Parido, plus freshmen
Lucas Simpson and
Tyler Lynch-Goff, to help pace the men's side. They will need to replace the contributions of
Josh Arnett and
AJ Hawkins, who were both among the top five last year and have since transferred. In total, four men do not return from last year's squad.
Richendollar finished the 2025 campaign by placing second on the team at the Southeast Regional. He also was the team's top performer at the EKU Invitational and finished third on the squad in every other race last fall.
Dixon expects Parido to make a big jump this year. Although he only placed among the team's top five in one race last year, his summer training has impressed Dixon. Last fall, he was third on the team and 11th overall at the EKU Invitational, which was his top finish in both categories.
Simpson, who recently changed his name from Gabbard since graduating from East Jessamine High School, helped EJHS win three regional cross country titles in his career. He finished 20th at the KHSAA Class AAA State Championship last year.
Lynch-Goff comes to MSU after running for a talented and highly successful Downers Grove North High School squad. The Downers Grove, Ill., product was seventh at the regional, 36th at the sectional and 123rd at the state last fall.
Senior
Aidan Whitsell and junior
Weston Blair highlight the other returning men. Whitsell was fourth on the team three times in 2025. His top finish last year was 40th at the EIU Walt Crawford Open. Blair, who has made a bigger impact during the track season, ran in five meets last fall, with his top finish of 19th coming at the EIU Walt Crawford Open.
Seniors
Brady Baker and
Keghan Thompson; juniors
Brody Coleman,
Preston Glassco and
Carter Lamb; and sophomore
Lance Garner will all look to make the jump into the top seven this season. Baker was the fourth Eagle across the line at the EKU Invitational for his best performance of 2025. Thompson placed 28th at the EIU Walt Crawford Open for the top result of his junior campaign. Coleman finished among the top 35 twice last fall, including claiming 15th at the EKU Invitational. Glassco was the second Eagle to break the tape at the 2025 EKU Invitational for his top performance of the season. Lamb had two top-55 finishes last year, with the best of 17th coming at the EKU Invitational. Garner ran in three meets, placing 49th in his first outing, the EIU Walt Crawford Open.
The Eagle track and field teams began training on August 31 looking to build off their historic campaigns of 2025. The two squads will have their largest contingent since sprints and jumps were added to the lineup three years ago.
The group includes returnees: seniors
Derril Carr,
Erin Pease,
Cheyenne Stark and
Cade Sullivan; juniors
Brooklyn Boyce,
Maryah Counts,
Tate Glass,
Olivia Miles and
Mark Whitener; sophomores
Sam Afari,
Kennedy Alford,
Ava Claggett,
Luke Kelly,
Kalynn Pease,
Jesus Mendoza-Solis,
Kyle Stepteau and
Jayce Stewart.
The newcomers are redshirt sophomore
Joey Hill (Winchester, Ky./Lindsey Wilson Univ.); plus freshmen
Sean Anderson (Louisville, Male Traditional HS),
Ray Enwa (Georgetown, Ky./Great Crossing HS),
Jon Moore (Harrodsburg, Ky./Mercer County HS),
Evan Owens (Louisville/Dupont Manual HS),
Timmy Vessels (Brandenburg, Ky./Meade County HS),
Addison Felty (Paris, Ky./Bourbon County HS),
Dani Johnson (Louisville, Ky./Central HS),
Cami Samples (Buffalo, W.Va./Buffalo HS) and
Ralasia Piazza (Harrodsburg, Ky./Mercer County HS); and redshirt freshman
Addison Poole (Brandenburg, Ky./Meade County HS).
The cross country season will begin on September 4, when the teams head to the EKU Invitational for the first of six meets. The year will culminate with the Ohio Valley Conference Championships on October 30 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and then the NCAA Southeast Regional two weeks later in Spartanburg, S.C. Last year at the OVC Championships, the Eagle men placed seventh and the Eagle women were ninth.
