Led by all-conference performances from sophomore Jesse Moreno and senior Zachariah Elliott, the Morehead State men's cross country team finished third out of 12 teams at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship at Eagle Trace Golf Course.
The Eagle women finished in ninth place. The men's team tallied its highest finish in the OVC meet since 2008.
Moreno and Elliott were each tabbed Second-Team All-OVC. Moreno crossed the finish line in eighth place, missing a first-team all-conference nod by only seven seconds. He ran the course in 25:06.81. Running his final league championship race, Elliott was 11th place with a time of 25:26.17.
On the women's side, sophomore Lauren Tarovisky led the Eagles with a 23rd place finish and a time of 19:09.51.
Two other MSU men finished in the top 20. Senior Chase Ratliff covered the 8K course, which featured four loops, in 25:35.29 for 15th place. He missed an all-conference selection by less than a second. Junior Gary Monroe was 17th at 25:37.88.
Sophomore Evan Childers came in fourth in the lineup with a time of 26:17.83 and a 32nd place finish. Junior Desmond Bell was next with a time of 26:51.42, while freshmen Landon Meserve (27:54.27) and Jeremy Ruppert (27:55.03) closed out the MSU contingent.
Behind Tarovisky for the women was freshman Skyler Green in 38th place with a time of 19:33.51. Freshman Karina Manz crossed the line in 20:01.50, and sophomore Erica parks was close behind at 20:08.55.
Twin sisters Hannah and Haley Mullins finished within a second of each other. Hannah notched a 20:15.41, while Haley's time was 20:16.64. Freshman Mackenzie Butler rounded out the MSU crew with a time of 20:32.62.
Eastern Kentucy claimed both men's and women's titles. SoufianeBouchikhi won the men;s race for the fourth straight year, running a 24:14.06, while EKU'sUna Britton came in first with a time of 17:42.61.
MSU will be in action next for the season finale at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Earlysville, Va., on Nov. 15.
