Results will be available here upon the completion of each day's events.

CHARLESTON, ILL. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s track and field team will try to defend its title at the OVC Indoor Championships this weekend at Lantz Field House on Eastern Illinois’ campus. The men won the indoor title last year for the first time since 1995.

The repeat will not be easy, however. The Colonels lost All-American Jacob Korir to graduation and will be without distance runners Stanley Mugo and Chris Rengifo for this weekend’s meet.

Much of the workload will fall upon distance stars Joseph Maina and Evans Kiptoo. Maina, a steady senior from Ruiru, Kenya, has recorded the fastest mile (4:07.56) and 5,000 meters (14:14.65) times in the OVC so far this year. The versatile upperclassman has also posted the second-best 3,000 meters time (8:16.13) and the fourth-best 800 meter time (1:52.39) in the conference.

Kiptoo, an up-and-coming sophomore, has emerged as one of the Colonels’ most consistent performers in 2009. His OVC-best 3,000 meters time of 8:04.01 has provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships, and he has also recorded the second fastest mile time in the conference (4:11.60). Kiptoo has been named OVC Track Athlete of the Week twice during the indoor season.

Shannon Davis will lead the sprints team at the championships. Davis, a sophomore who transferred to EKU to play football, was named the OVC Track and Field Freshman of the Year in 2008. He has recorded the second-best 200 meters time (21.55) in the conference this season and the third-best 60 meters time (6.76). Sprints veterans Nicholas Landis and George Bailey, as well as newcomer Gerry Cooper, will also contribute at the meet.

Senior Randall Hopkins is poised to lead EKU’s throwers at this weekend’s meet. Hopkins has recorded the best 35-pound weight toss in the conference this season (54-01.75) and was named OVC Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 11.

EKU’s women’s team is young; however, it has shown great promise throughout the year. Sophomore Katherine Pagano has recorded an OVC-best 3,000 meters time of 10:07.33 this season while freshman Katie Honigford has ran the second fastest 800 meters time at 2:19.93. Veteran Alli McMaster, meanwhile, has posted the third-best mile time in the conference this year at 5:12.59.

The women’s sprints team is also young. Freshman Diamond Benjamin has ran the fourth fastest 60 meters time (7.72) and the fourth fastest 200 meters time (25.55) in the conference, while fellow rookie Lutisha Bowen has posted the second-best 60-meter hurdles time in the OVC at 8.66. Senior Iceca Epps is right behind Bowen in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.67.

Senior distance star Katy Ankrom has exhausted all of her indoor track and field eligibility, but will return in March for the outdoor season.

Competition gets underway at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and continues into Saturday.