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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University track and field team will open its outdoor season at the Raleigh Relays this weekend at Paul Derr Track on the campus of North Carolina State.

More than 2,000 collegiate and high school athletes from nearly 80 universities and running clubs will participate in the two-day event, which is one of the largest track and field meets held annually in the nation.

EKU, as a full team, has not competed since the women finished second and the men finished third at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships in Nashville in late February.

Following that meet, a select group of Colonel distance runners competed at Notre Dame’s Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., where seniors Lydia Kosgei and Peter Sigilai and juniors Soufiane Bouchikhi and Picoty Leitich all shattered indoor school records.

Kosgei and Bouchikhi then ran at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho. Both earned second team All-America status, as Kosgei finished 11th in the women’s 5,000 meters with a time of 16:17.49 and Bouchikhi finished 11th in the men’s 5,000 meters with a time of 13:57.74.

Bouchikhi will lead a talented men’s distance team into this weekend’s meet. The squad also features senior Ben Cheruiyot, who won the mile at the OVC Indoor Championships with a time of 4:14.44.

Leitich, who broke the school record in the women’s indoor 800 meters at the Alex Wilson Invitational with a time of 2:07.92, leads the women’s distance team into this weekend. Senior Diamond Benjamin and juniors Bianca Forbes and Jazzmin Jeter, all of whom were on the winning 4x200 meter relay team at the Raleigh Relays two years ago, leads the women’s sprints team.

Following this weekend’s meet, EKU returns to action on Friday, April 6, at the Centre College Invitational.