MOREHEAD, Ky. – A familiar destination will once again serve as the site of the first meet of the year for the Morehead State men's and women's cross country teams. For the third consecutive campaign and the sixth time since the spring of 2021, that site will be Eastern Kentucky.
On Friday, the two Eagle squads will compete at the EKU Invitational, with the women's 5K at 9 a.m., followed by the men's 5K at 9:30 a.m. For the third time in the meet's recent history, the site will be at the Elmwood Mansion in Richmond, Ky. The competition was also held there in 2022 and 2021. Last year's races took place at the University Club at Arlington.
The two MSU squads have been practicing for nearly four weeks and are ready to get after it.
"It's basically a dress rehearsal," said MSU head coach
Clay Dixon. "Get the routine of meet day down for the newcomers; get a feel of the spikes and (the) cross country course. (It's) really low key. Quick, easy, fun."
Dixon is entering 12 women and 11 men in the two-team competition that will only include archrival and defending champions Eastern Kentucky.
Last year, MSU's men finished second with junior
Ryan Richendollar leading the way. He placed seventh. The Eagle women took third. Senior
Adi Fuller was the team's top finisher. She was sixth. However, she will not run on Friday. In previous EKU Invitationals, both Morehead State teams finished third in 2022. In both the fall and spring of 2021, Morehead State's men and women were second.
Eight of the Eagle runners will be in their first career meet.
Last year's races were 4K for the women and 6K for the men. Among the returnees from that meet, Richendollar finished seventh in 19:24, junior
Liam Parido was 11th in 20:15, senior
Brady Baker was 14th in 20:33 and junior
Brody Coleman was 15th in 20:43.
Doctoral student
Aidan Massey, seniors
Keghan Thompson and
Aidan Whitsell, junior
Weston Blair, and freshmen
Jake Hagan and
Lucas Simpson will round out the Eagle men in Friday's race.
It will be the first collegiate 5K for Garner, Hagan, Massey and Simpson.
All of the men's team's 5K "pr's" came at the 2024 Thundering Herd Invitational. Richendollar was the fastest of the group at 16:01.29, followed by Thompson 16:41.12, Baker 17:00.48, Coleman 17:05.37, Blair 17:21.43, Whitsell 17:29.83 and Parido 17:43.24.
Only sophomore
Peyton Lunsford (eighth in 16:09), sophomore
Josey Corbin (16th in 16:54), sophomore
Addison Hill (18th in 17:14) and sophomore
Sydney Filippazzo (20th, did not finish) represented MSU at last year's meet. However, the Eagle women will have another entry who ran for EKU in 2025, sophomore
Isabelle Shearer, who finished fifth in 15:45.
Freshmen
Audrey Adkins,
Abby Bastin,
Kaitlyn Bradshaw,
Emma Coakley,
Shelby Lamb and
Parker Mentzer will all have their debut. Junior
Meredith Campbell did not run at last year's meet. Her career best 5K is 18:26.60, which came in the Queens Cross Country Challenge in October of 2024. The other 5K "pr's" are all from the 2025 Louisville Cross Country Classic. Lunsford had the top time of that group at 20:11.6, with Hill at 21:33.9 and Corbin at 21:46.9 23.
Adkins, Bastin, Bradshaw, Coakley, Filippazzo, Lamb, Mentzer and Shearer will all be running their first collegiate 5K.
The Eagles will be off until Friday, Sept. 18, when they travel to Huntsville, Ala., for their next competition, the Southern Showcase.
