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RICHMOND, Ky. – The 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held at Tom Samuels Track this weekend on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. The two-day event will be held May 1-2 and will feature six men’s teams and nine women’s teams.

The competing men’s teams are Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State and Texas-Pan American.

Beginning this season, Texas-Pan American is an associate member of the OVC in the sport of men’s outdoor track and field only.

The competing women’s teams are Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.

The Southeast Missouri State men and the Tennessee State women enter this weekend’s meet as defending champions.

The Redhawk men will be shooting for their fourth outdoor crown in the last five years while the Tigerbelles will be trying to claim their fourth overall outdoor title.

The Colonel men’s only outdoor title came in 1957. The Colonel women have won 11 outdoor titles with their most recent coming in 1999.

EKU features several past champions on its roster that will try to repeat in individual events this season.

Sophomore Shannon Davis was the meet’s Athlete and Freshman of the Championships in 2008 after winning individual titles in the 100 meters (10.39) and 200 meters (20.68). Davis is currently ranked third in the OVC in the 100 meters (10.47) and has yet to run in the 200 meters this outdoor season. He did, however, run in the 400 meters for the first time in his career last weekend at the WKU Invitational and recorded a time of 48.32, the sixth-best time in the OVC this season

Junior Elkana Kurgat was the Athlete and Freshman of the Championships in 2007. Kurgat is a two-time defending champion in the 800 meters, winning last year’s race with a time of 1:49.64. He is second on the OVC best list this year, behind UTPA’S Wally Gonzales, with a time of 1:52.34.

Senior Joseph Maina will attempt to defend his 5,000 meters title this weekend. Maina won the 5,000 meters last year with a time of 14:37.36 and his 14:08.10 this year is the fastest time in the OVC by a long shot. Maina is also the current OVC leader in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:52.73.

Junior Stanley Mugo will try to defend his 3,000 meters steeplechase crown this weekend. Mugo won the title last year with a mark of 9:13.73. He was recently named OVC Track Athlete of the Week after running a career and conference best time of 8:52.07 in the event at the competition-rich Penn Relays last weekend.

Finally, Junior Andre Evans is not a defending champion, but the football player-turned-hurdler is the top-ranked 100-meter hurdler in the OVC going into this weekend’s meet with a time of 14.50.

Other returning men’s champions include SEMO’s Brandon Kartcher (2007 and 2008 champion in the 10,000 meters), SEMO’s Bilal Hameed (2008 champion in the triple jump), EIU’s Tyler Arnholt (2008 champion in the discus), EIU’s Dorrian White (2008 champion in the pole vault) and SEMO’s Andy Glass (2008 champion in the shot put).

The EKU women’s team features no defending individual champions, but they do have some athletes atop the OVC Best list going into this weekend’s championships.

Freshman Diamond Benjamin is ranked first in the OVC in the 100 meters (12.01) and second in the 200 meters (24.88).

Fellow freshman Lutisha Bowen, meanwhile, is ranked third in the conference in the 100-meter hurdles (14.11).

Senior Iceca Epps is fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.43. Epps won the 60-meter hurdles at the 2009 indoor championships with a time of 8.61.

Multi-dimensional senior Katy Ankrom is currently second in the OVC in the 1,500 meters (4:31.37) and 5,000 meters (17:51.41) and fourth in the 800 meters (2:15.97).

Returning women’s champions include TSU’s Martinique Guice (2008 champion in the 100 meters), Murray State’s Katelyn Jones (2008 champion in the 3,000 meters steeplechase) EIU’s Chandra Golden (2007 and 2008 champion in the 100-meter hurdles), EIU’s Jenna Uhe (2008 champion in the triple jump), EIU’s Kandace Arnold (2008 champion in the discus, 2007 and 2008 champion in the shot put) and APSU’s Carrie Burggraf (2008 champion in the pole vault).

Competition gets underway at 2:30 p.m. EST on Friday and resumes at 9:00 a.m. EST on Saturday. For more information about the meet, visit the championships webpage linked at the top of this page.