Men's Results I Women's Results

OXFORD, Ala. – For the sixth time in the last seven years, both Ohio Valley Conference cross country trophies will reside in Richmond, as the Eastern Kentucky University men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the OVC Championships on Saturday morning at Oxford Lake.

It was the EKU men’s team’s 21st overall and seventh straight conference title. The Colonels, who entered the meet ranked No. 13 in the most recent U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll, cruised to victory, resting several of their top runners and still taking spots 1-4 to finish with 17 points. Eastern Illinois was second with 70 points, while Southeast Missouri (76), Morehead State (102), Belmont (115), SIUE (208), Tennessee Tech (213), host Jacksonville State (214), UT Martin (250), Austin Peay (272), Murray State (289) and Tennessee State (366) rounded out the results.

It was the EKU women’s team’s 26th overall conference championship. It was also redemption, as the EKU women, who had won five consecutive titles coming into the 2011 season, avenged their loss to Eastern Illinois last year by edging Belmont (61 points) and EIU (64 points) with 44 points. Murray State (94), SEMO, (149), Morehead State (150), APSU (211), host JSU (233), SIUE (239), UT Martin (256), Tennessee Tech (305) and Tennessee State (354) rounded out the women’s results.

Long-time EKU head coach Rick Erdmann earned his 19th OVC Men’s Coach of the Year award and 26th OVC Women’s Coach of the Year award following the meet.

Junior Soufiane Bouchikhi, the three-time defending OVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year, won his third straight individual conference title, defeating a field of 86 runners and covering the course in 24:01.75, the fastest 8K time in OVC Championships history. His victory marks the ninth-straight year that a runner from EKU has won the OVC men’s title. Bouchikhi was 27 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, sophomore Thijs Nijhuis, who finished second with a time of 24:28.83. Freshmen Amos Kosgey (24:34.48) and Mads Taersboel (24:36.68) finished third and fourth, respectively, while junior Erwin Leysen (24:47.10) finished seventh to round out EKU’s top-five on the day. All of EKU’s scoring five at the meet earned first team All-OVC honors.

Junior Adams Ronnoh (24:51.15) finished eighth and senior Daniel Jones (24:57.60) took 10th to earn second team All-OVC honors. Senior Musa Kimuli, meanwhile, finished 21st with a time of 25:29.53.

Several of EKU’s top men’s runners, including OVC Co-Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year Ben Toroitich, did not compete on Saturday.

Freshman Viivi Rantanen led a balanced effort from the EKU women’s team, finishing fourth out of 89 competitors and covering the 5K course in a time of 17:31.50. Fellow freshman Julia van Velthoven finished fifth in a time of 17:33.04, while sophomore Ann Eason, the OVC Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year, placed sixth with a time of 17:33.51. All of EKU’s top-three finishers received first team All-OVC honors following the meet.

It was EKU’s fourth and fifth runners, however, that stepped up and sealed the victory for the Colonels. Junior Hannah Miller (17:59.34) finished 12th to earn second team All-OVC honors, while freshman Ashley Svec (18:08.10) rounded out EKU’s scoring five with a 17th place finish.

Freshmen Julie Mathisen (19th / 18:14.04) and Savannah Roberts (32nd / 18:41.59) and senior Jackline Barkechir (49th / 19:08.18) also competed for EKU on Saturday.

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams return to action at the Southeast Region Championships on Friday, Nov. 9 in Charlotte, N.C.