BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky University sophomores Ole Hesselbjerg and Ann Eason have been recognized by the Ohio Valley Conference for their outstanding performances at the Stanford Invitational this weekend.
Hesselbjerg was named the adidas OVC Male Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, while Eason was named the adidas OVC Co-Female Track Athlete of the Week.
Facing some of the best competition in the country, Hesselbjerg placed fifth in the fastest heat of the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase on Friday night with a time of 8:51.14. That time is currently the fastest in the OVC by more than 25 seconds. It is also the sixth-fastest time in the country and the third-fastest time in the NCAA East Region.
Eason, who was the Female Athlete of the OVC Indoor Championships in February, also traveled to Stanford this weekend and finished third in her heat of the women’s 5,000 meters on Friday with a time of 16:06.98. That time demolished her previous personal-best by more than a minute and it is the second-fastest women’s 5,000 meters time in EKU history, falling just short of Sue Schaefer’s 16:05.0 from 1978. Eason’s time is also tops in the OVC by about a minute and a half, as well as being the 13th-fastest time in the country and the seventh-fastest time east of the Mississippi River.
Other winners from this week included Eastern Illinois’ Britney Whitehead and SIUE’s Aftan Noon (Co-Female Track Athletes), Southeast Missouri’s Kevin Farley (Male Field Athlete) and EIU’s Jade Reibold (Female Field Athlete).
The performances by Hesselbjerg and junior Wade Meddles, who ran a 13:52.16 in the men’s 5,000 meters at Stanford, have the EKU men ranked No. 30 in the Week 1 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national rankings. The Colonels are ranked just behind Georgia (No. 27), Duke (No. 28) and California (No. 29) and just in front of Iowa State (No. 31), Washington (No. 32) and Kentucky (No. 35).
The EKU men and women return to action this weekend at the Bellarmine Invitational in Louisvill.e
