CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Junior Soufiane Bouchikhi won the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday at McAlpine Park, leading the No. 15 Eastern Kentucky University men’s cross country team to its second consecutive automatic berth in the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Bouchikhi covered the 10K course in a time 29:32.37, defeating a field of 226 runners and edging UNC Greensboro’s Paul Chelimo (29:36.51), last year’s region runner-up, by just over four seconds. The native of Antwerp, Belgium is the first Colonel to win the Southeast Region since Jacob Korir in 2006.
Bouchikhi’s performance led Eastern to its second consecutive region runner-up finish, automatically qualifying the Colonels for another trip to the premiere event in college cross country.
EKU, which entered the meet as the No. 1 ranked team in the Southeast Region, was narrowly upset by No. 21 Virginia for the region crown. The Cavaliers placed all five scorers in the top-20 to win the 34-team event with a score of 64 points. Eastern grabbed the second automatic qualifying spot with 74 points, while defending region champion North Carolina State finished third with 102 points and No. 17 Virginia Tech took fourth with 150 points. Other notable teams at the meet included Louisville (10th / 328 points), Kentucky (12th / 335 points), Morehead State (24th / 624 points) and Western Kentucky (25th / 674 points).
Following Bouchikhi, sophomore Thijs Nijhuis finished 11th in a time of 30:08.15 while junior Wade Meddles was not far behind in 13th with a time of 30:08.89. Sophomore Ben Toroitich, who shared Ohio Valley Conference Male Runner of the Year honors with Bouchikhi earlier this season, labored through an injury to finish 15th in a time of 30:29.91. Freshman Amos Kosgey rounded out EKU’s scoring five in the race with a 35th-place finish in a time of 31:04.76. Junior Yosi Goasdoue (37th / 31:06.53) and sophomore Ole Hesslebjerg (41st / 31:08.82) also competed for the Colonel men on Friday.
The EKU women also delivered a strong showing at the Southeast Regional on Friday, living up to their No. 14 ranking by finishing 14th out of 37 teams, a five-spot improvement over last year’s 19th-place finish. The Colonels, who finished the day with 403 points, defeated a host of notable teams at the race, including Western Kentucky (18th / 533 points), Murray State (20th / 579 points, Morehead State (32nd / 837 points) and Louisville (33rd / 847 points).
After finishing third on the team at the OVC Championships two weeks ago, sophomore Ann Eason, the OVC Female Runner of the Year, regained her top spot by finishing 28th out of 255 competitors and covering the 6K course in a time of 21:24.47.
Eason was followed by a pair of freshmen, Julia van Velthoven (21:43.57) and Viivi Rantanen (22:09.73), who finished 45th and 76th, respectively. Junior Hannah Miller (109th / 22:33.46) and freshman Julie Mathisen (145th / 23:02.70) rounded out EKU’s top-five in the race. Freshmen Ashley Svec (152nd / 23:09.46) and Savannah Roberts (185th / 23:40.77) also competed for the Eastern women.
Bouchikhi and the rest of the EKU men’s cross country team will compete at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17. The national championships will be held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. for the first time ever this year.