Men's Results I Women's Results

MURRAY, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men's and women's cross country teams swept the Ohio Valley Conference Championships for the ninth time in the last 10 years on Saturday morning at the Miller Memorial Golf Course.
 
It was the EKU women's team's 29th overall, fourth consecutive and ninth conference title in the last 10 years. The Colonels, who entered the meet ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Southeast Region, delivered another dominant performance, finishing 3-4-5-7-8 to finish with 27 points and handily defeat their nearest competitor, Eastern Illinois (91), by 64 points. Southeast Missouri (104), host Murray State (106), Belmont (143), Morehead State (158), UT Martin (171), Tennessee Tech (192), SIUE (196), Austin Peay (256), Jacksonville State (331) and Tennessee State (334) rounded out the women's results.

It was the EKU men's team's 24^th overall and 10^th straight conference title. The Colonels, who entered the meet ranked No. 22 in the country and No. 5 in the Southeast Region, were just as dominant as the women, going 1-2-3-7-8 to finish with 21 points and defeat their nearest competitor, Eastern Illinois (67), by 46 points. SIUE (89), Belmont (107), Morehead State (109), host Murray State (168), Southeast Missouri (195), Austin Peay (225), Tennessee Tech (232), UT Martin (242), Jacksonville State (311) and Tennessee State (376) rounded out the men's results.

Long-time EKU head coach Rick Erdmann earned his 29th OVC Women's Coach of the Year award and 22^nd OVC Men's Coach of the Year award following the meet.
 
Senior Julie Mathisen – the two-time defending OVC mile champion and a first team All-OVC cross country performer last year – was the leader of the pack for the EKU women, finishing third overall out of 82 competitors with a 5K time of 17:31.24. Fellow senior Anna Reddin was right behind her in fourth with a time of 17:32.96. Sophomore Charlotte Imer (fifth / 17:35.25), junior Ann Tum (seventh / 17:48.89) and senior Ashley Svec (eighth / 17:49.66) rounded out the Colonels' top-five at the meet.
 
Mathisen, Reddin, Imer and Tum all earned first team All-OVC honors, while Svec, sophomore Ciara Scott (ninth / 17:59.07) and freshman Meggan Grams (11^th / 18:01.48) took home second team All-OVC honors.
 
Junior Madison Zeitz also competed for the women on Saturday, finishing 16^th in a time of 18:17.28.
 
Freshman Erick Rotich, the 2015 OVC Male Cross Country Runner of the Year, won the men's race, defeating 84 runners and covering the 8K course in a time of 24:31.4. Junior Amos Kosgey – last year's OVC Male Cross Country Runner of the Year – made his season debut in style, finishing second with a time of 24:35.7. Kosgey missed all of the regular season with an injury.
 
Sophomore Sergio Mena (third / 24:49.2) and juniors Luka Ndungu (seventh / 24:59.9) and Luis Luna (eighth / 25:06.0) rounded out Eastern's scoring five on the day.
 
Rotich, Kosgey, Mena and Ndungu were named first team All-OVC after the meet, while Luna and sophomores Ronald Korir (10^th / 25:14.8) and Jakob Abrahamsen (14^th / 25:35.7) earned second team All-OVC honors.
 
Senior Ben Turner (17^th / 25:44.7) also competed for the men on Saturday.

Both the men's and women's cross country teams return to action at the Southeast Region Championships on Friday, November 13, at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia.