BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – In a preseason vote of conference head coaches, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s cross country team has been picked as the favorite to win its seventh consecutive Ohio Valley Conference title this fall. The EKU women have been picked to finish second behind Eastern Illinois.
On the men’s side, EKU (121 points, 11 first-place votes) received all but one of the first-place votes to emphatically snag the top spot. The Colonels were followed by EIU (103), Southeast Missouri (99), newcomer Belmont (93, one first-place vote), SIUE (73), Morehead State (72), Jacksonville State (57), UT Martin (51), Tennessee Tech (41), Austin Peay (39), Murray State (26) and Tennessee State (17).
On the women’s side, EIU received 116 points with 7 first-place votes, while EKU compiled 110 points to go along with three first-place votes. Belmont finished third (96 points, 2 first-place votes), followed by SEMO (89), Murray State (85), Morehead State (68), JSU (58), SIUE (57), APSU (45), UTM (32), TTU (25) and TSU (11).
The following is a preview of the EKU men’s cross country season (a separate preview of the women’s season will be released next week):
In 2011, the EKU men burst onto the national scene in what could be considered the most successful season during Rick Erdmann’s illustrious career at the helm of the program. The Colonels won their sixth consecutive OVC Championship, were ranked as high as 17th in the NCAA Division I cross country rankings, finished as runners-up at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships and took 26th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The question now is: can the Colonels can build upon their success and accomplish even more in 2012?
“Our goal is always to win the OVC which will be a challenge this year with the additions of Belmont and SIUE, to go along with tough teams at all the present conference schools,” 43-time OVC Cross Country Coach of the Year Erdmann said. “We have a lot of holes to fill from guys we have lost and we have a very challenging schedule. That said, we return a number of talented guys who can compete at the level we need, so we are capable of competing on the same stage we did last year. It all just has to come together.”
The Colonels’ schedule will be very challenging as they will forego their typical season-opening dual meet with Marshall to compete against some of the best teams in the country at the Memphis Twilight Classic. EKU will follow that up by traveling to the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, Notre Dame Classic and Wisconsin Adidas Invitational and the NCAA Pre-National Meet before the postseason begins.
At first glance, the Colonels have a lot of holes to fill after losing Ben Cheruiyot, Peter Sigilai, David Mutuse, Evans Kiptoo and Alex Dreyer to graduation or eligibility exhaustion. However, the cupboard is not bare.
EKU returns five of its top ten runners from last season. That includes junior Soufiane Bouchikhi, the two-time defending OVC Cross Country Champion and OVC Cross Country runner of the year. Bouchikhi reached new heights during the 2011-12 school year when he became a three-time NCAA track and field All-American, earning first team honors in the outdoor 10,000 meters and second team honors in the indoor and outdoor 5,000 meters. He also lowered his personal bests in all events he competed in and broke the EKU school records in the indoor 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters indoors on the same weekend with a 7:53.99 and 13:46.06 at the Washington Husky Classic.
In addition to Bouchikhi, the Colonels also return OVC Cross Country runner-up Adams Ronnoh, OVC Cross Country Freshman of the Year Thijs Nijhuis, first team All-OVC performer Daniel Jones and second team All-OVC performer Musa Kimuli.
“All of these guys are capable of stepping up and filling any gaps created by guys who have graduated,” Erdmann said. “It is all a matter of how hard they worked this summer and continue to work this fall and how badly they want to be successful.”
In 2012, the Colonels will also have the services of three runners who attended EKU last school year, but did not compete in cross country: junior Yosi Goasdoue, who transferred to EKU in August of 2011 following a season in NCAA Division II where he earned first team All-American honors in the 10,000 meters (29:40.10), sophomore Sean Vandermosten, who came on strong during the indoor track season and set personal records in the mile (4:14.21) and 3,000 meters (8:36.47) and, finally, sophomore Ben Toroitich, who arrived at EKU in January and will don the Colonel uniform for the first time in cross country this fall. After sitting out the indoor track season, Toroitich got better with each race he ran during outdoor season and proceeded to break EKU’s 42-year-old school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Toroitich ran (8:37.03) in winning the NCAA East Region Preliminary in the steeplechase, and went on to finish as a second team NCAA All-American. He will be expected to challenge at the top of the Colonel line-up this cross country season.
While the Colonels look to have a formidable team with their returners, they have also added a large and talented recruiting class.
The newcomers to the Colonel roster include: freshmen Jeppe Harboe, Amos Kosgey, Mads Taersbol and Ben Turner, sophomore Ole Hesselbjerg, who was a 2010 first team All-OVC cross country performer at EKU before returning home to Denmark last year, junior Wade Meddles, a two-time NAIA All-American at Azusa Pacific University and Erwin Leysen, a graduate student transfer with at least two years of academic eligibility remaining.
Check back next week for a preview of the EKU women’s season.