Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
OVC Preview
Kendall, Crask PR in Strong Performance at OVC Preview
9/19/2026 12:11:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Racers return Friday at Gans Creek Classic
The Murray State men's and women's cross country teams put together a strong performance Friday evening at the OVC Preview, hosted by SEMO in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Full Results
Molly Robertson was the top overall performer for the Racers, placing second in the women's 6K with a time of 22:08.3. She was joined in the top 10 by Autumn Egleston, with a fifth-place time of 22:58.9, and Abigail Crask, who finished sixth with a personal-best time of 23:07.7. Alyssa Moore rounded out the top 10 with a time of 23:27.9, while Morgan Bissonnette (23:56.6) placed 12th, and Hannah Crain (24:13.0) placed 16th. Emma Kendall was the second Racer to set a personal best, placing 19th with a time of 24:32.6, and Hallie Mosier (25:01.7) placed 22nd.
"Overall, I think this was a really good starting point for the women as a whole," said coach Jordan Johnston. "Specifically for Abigail and Emma, I watched them work so hard their freshman year, and it is great to see that work start to pay off now. I think this will be encouraging for them and hopefully motivate them throughout the season. I give Hannah Crain a lot of credit—she had a later start to the season than everyone else, and she asked to compete to see where she's at. I appreciate how competitive she is; she wanted to put herself out there even when she wasn't 100% ready. I think that competitive mindset is going to take her far in her career."
Dylan Ellis highlighted the Murray State effort in the men's 8K, placing fourth with a time of 25:59.3. Nick Schmitz joined him in the top 10 with a time of 26:22.5, good for 10th place. Gabe Russell (26:25.2) placed 12th, and Noah Gray (26:41.3) was close behind in 15th, while Tedros Henderson (26:54.9), and Jackson Lafser (27:02.4) placed 18th and 19th. August Anderson placed 27th with a time of 27:58.5.
"We knew that heat was going to play a big factor in today's race—so rather than a time goal, the strategy was having a more conservative start with lots of mini goals set throughout the second half of the race," said Johnston. "I'm really happy with the level of patience the men had for the first 4K and how they executed the second half. You could see them all making intentional choices throughout the race to move up, stick with someone, or take a risk. That is an aspect of competing that is very difficult to coach. I think they're walking away from today's race having learned a lot about their current fitness and hopefully applied similar strategies to the next meet and know where to make tweaks. I think all three freshmen handled their first 8K very well, because it can be a very intimidating transition. I want to specifically commend Nick for trying out a new racing strategy—he made some really difficult changes and took risks throughout the race, which is very hard to do physically and mentally."
Up Next
The Racers are back in action on Friday, Sept. 25, at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo.
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