Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Walt Crawford Invite
Robertson, Ellis Lead Racers in Season Opener
9/5/2026 10:44:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Men sweep top six positions for team title while Molly Robertson claims individual women's title.
The Murray State men's and women's cross country teams put together strong performances Friday evening in the season opener at the Walt Crawford Invitational, hosted by Eastern Illinois. The men's squad took first place with a perfect team score of 15 points, while the women placed second overall with 29 points.
The Murray State men swept the top six positions, with Gabe Russell leading the Racers for the first half of the race, and teammates Noah Gray, Dylan Ellis, and Nick Schmitz close behind. Dylan Ellis took over before 3k and charged ahead to a victory, winning by eight seconds with a time of 15:55.3. Schmitz finished second with a time of 16:03.3, while freshman August Anderson finished third in his MSU debut with a time of 16:10.7. Russell placed fourth (16:15.6), and Jackson Lafser, another freshman, finished fifth (16:18.7). Noah Gray placed sixth with a time of 16:26.4, and Tedros Henderson placed 14th with a time of 16:46.6.
"Every cross country course is different and has its own challenges," said coach Jordan Johnston. "So it's hard to compare a personal best from one season to another, so we like to compare average times from the year prior. We are focused on raising the floor rather than raising the ceiling. Two of our freshmen, August Anderson and Jackson Lafser, ran 29 seconds and 13 seconds faster, respectively, than their average times from last year. That amount of improvement in the season opener is very encouraging for the rest of the fall. Our third freshman, Noah Gray, rounded out our top 6 sweep for us. Given what I've seen from Noah in practice, I am confident he will also handle the 8k transition well."
Molly Robertson paced the field in the women's 5k, taking a 15-second lead by the one-mile mark and winning by a whopping 44 seconds with a time of 18:13.7. Alyssa Moore and Autumn Egleston both chipped in top-five finishes as well, with times of 19:10.8 and 19:13.8. Another pair of Racers, Morgan Bissonnette and Abigail Crask, took ninth and tenth with times of 19:53.6 and 19:58.0. Hallie Mosier finished 12th (20:16.7), Emma Kendall finished 13th (20:30.9), and Hannah Oppy (20:50.7) finished 16th.
"The team worked great together," said Coach Johnston. "It was incredibly hot, but just like how some courses are hilly or muddy, this is just another opportunity for us to practice handling adversity and showing who is the toughest under harsh conditions. I was happy to see people working together in pairs. Autumn and Alyssa finished 4th and 5th overall, and you could see them feeding off each other throughout the race. Abigail Crask and Morgan Bissonnette worked very well together, too. I saw a lot of confidence in Abigail, which is big, and I think Morgan was able to prove something to herself today as a middle-distance specialist. Emma and Hallie were another great duo throughout. Overall, I think it's a great starting point for the ladies."
Up Next
The Racers travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the OVC Preview on Sept. 18.
