The Morehead State men's cross country team finished second only by a five-point margin and topped three regionally-ranked teams, while the women's squad was sixth Saturday night (August 31) at the season-opening Memphis Twilight Invitational at Mike Rose Park. The men finished second only behind a regionally-ranked Mississippi State team by a 60-55 margin. The Eagles placed four racers in the top 20, including senior Zachariah Elliott in third place with a time of 21:33.00 on the 4.2-mile course. The women's top-seven finishers included five freshmen and two sophomores who finished within 21 seconds of each other. On the men's side, the Eagles topped regionally-ranked teams Mississippi, Central Arkansas and Memphis. Behind Elliott, fellow senior Chase Ratliff was second for the men, covering the course in 22:01.71 to finish 11th. Junior Gary Monroe crossed the tape in 16th place with a time of 22:08.70, and sophomore Jesse Moreno was 17th at 22:13.08. Sophomore Evan Childers just missed the top 20, coming in 21st and recording a 22:25.03. Junior Desmond Bell (22:45.75, 39th place) and freshman Jordan Whitehair (23:34.01, 72nd place) rounded out MSU's top seven finishers. Freshmen Jeremy Ruppert and Landon Meserve and sophomore Wes Morris also competed. Freshman MacKenzie Butler paced the Eagle women in her first collegiate race. She took 29th place in the 5K event with a time of 19:26.32. Fellow freshmen Karina Manz was 30th, covering the course in 19:31.29. Sophomore Lauren Tarovisky came across the finish next at 19:40.92, while freshmen Skyler Green (19:43.92), Haley Mullins (19:46.60), Alyssa Shifflett (19:48.17) and sophomore Erica Parks (19:49.58) joined the under-20 minute finishers. Both teams will return to action on September 14 at the Commodore Classic at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
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