Complete Results: Va. Tech/Roanoke College Twilight I Cardinal Twilight

RICHMOND, Ky. – Members of the Eastern Kentucky University track and field team competed at a pair of final qualifier meets this weekend, as senior Ben Cheruiyot and sophomore Ben Toroitich likely punched their tickets to the NCAA East Region Championships with top-40 times in the men’s 10,000 meters and 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively.

On Friday night, Cheruiyot, who already ran a regional-qualifying time in the men’s 5,000 meters (13:47.62, ninth-fastest time in the East Region) at the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational in April, won the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 29:37.46 at the Virginia Tech/Roanoke College Twilight Qualifier in Roanoke, Va. That time is the third-fastest in EKU history, and it currently ranks 31st in the East Region.

Cheruiyot is not the only EKU runner to run regional-qualifying times in the men’s 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters this spring. Junior Soufiane Bouchikhi is currently ranked first in the region in the 10,000 meters (28:35.91) and 18th in the 5,000 meters (13:50.64), and will join Cheruiyot in one or both of those races at the regional meet in Jacksonville, Fla. two weeks from now.

Toroitch, meanwhile, won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:50.50 at the Cardinal Twilight Classic in Louisville on Friday night. That time is currently ranked 13th in the East Region, and it is just six seconds off the 42-year old school record of 8:44.7 set by Ken Silvious in 1970.

Two other members of the EKU track and field team with aspirations to qualify for regionals are juniors Picoty Leitich and Bianca Forbes. Leitich is likely in, as she currently ranks 15th in the women’s 800 meters with a school-record time of 2:06.04, which she ran at the Raleigh Relays on March 30. Leitich also finished second in the women's 1,500 meters with a time of 4:25.65 this weekend at the Cardinal Twilight. Forbes, who won the women’s 400 meters at the Cardinal Twilight on Friday night with a time of 54.91, has a shot at qualifying in the women’s 400 meters, as she currently ranks 56th in that event with a time of 54.34. She ran that time while taking gold at the OVC Outdoor Championships last weekend in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Other Colonels who competed this weekend at the Cardinal Twilight include senior Musa Kimuli, who finished 12th in the men’s 5,000 meters with a time of 14:49.40, senior Gerry Cooper, who took ninth in the men’s 400 meters with a time of 49.70, freshman Erica Reaser, who placed ninth in the women’s 800 meters with a time of 2:19.04, freshman Ann Eason, who placed ninth in the women’s 1,500 meters with a time of 4:36.70, sophomore Shiyana Mahendra, who finished eighth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.10 and junior Jazzmin Jeter, who placed third in the women’s long jump with a leap of 18-5.75.

The NCAA East Region Championships will take place May 24-26 in Jacksonville, Fla. The NCAA Outdoor Championships are then scheduled for June 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa.