The Morehead State cross country teams each fared well in the 2016 season opener Friday night as the program hosted the Eagle Opener 5K races at the former Sunnybrook Golf Course.
The men finished second, highlighted by an overall second-place showing from freshman Farah Abdulkarim. The women came in third place.
Abdulkarim, who enrolled last spring and ran track, crossed the line in 15:46.3, just five ticks behind individual winner Fredrick Kanda of Eastern Kentucky.
"Overall we ran well, and with the first meet of the season you never know what will happen, but the athletes ran hard today," said head coach Stephen Picucci. "We are excited for the rest of the season. Tonight was a great opportunity for these athletes to run a meet at home in front of their friends and family."
On the women's side, sophomore Kansas Greenwell paced the Eagle contingent with a time of 19:46.3 and a ninth-place finish.
In the men's race, the Eagles also placed two more runners in the top 15. Freshman Justin Moakler was eighth at 16:00.2, and junior Dylan Rich was 14th at 16:18.1. Rounding out the top 20 across the finish line, sophomore Corey Tooke (16th - 16:18.6), freshman Aaron Weir (17th - 16:20.3) and sophomore Jordan Carrington (20th - 16:30.2) represented Morehead State.
The women also placed three more in the top 15 as senior Mackenzie Butler (12th - 20:23.2), sophomore Gloria Corona-Luna (14th - 20:11.2) and freshman Alison Chinn (15th - 20:19.2) fared well.
Eastern Kentucky won both races. Marshall was second in the women's race and third in the men's, and Campbellsville (Ky.) and Charleston (W.Va.) also competed.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tenn.