BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Three Eastern Kentucky University student-athletes were named OVC Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year on Thursday. Sophomore
Diamond Benjamin was named the Co-Female Athlete of the Year, freshman
Picoty Leitich was named the Co-Female Freshman of the Year and freshman
Soufiane Bouchikhi was named the Co-Male Freshman of the Year.
The awards were voted on by conference coaches and precede the 2010 OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships that will be held at the Gentry Center on Tennessee State's campus February 26-27 in Nashville, Tenn.
Benjamin, last year’s OVC Female Freshman of the Year, currently leads the conference in the 55 meters with a time of 7.03, which she recorded at the Middle Tennessee State Invitational on February 6. She is also second in the conference in the 200 meters with a mark of 25.04.
Benjamin has been named the OVC Female Track Athlete of the Week twice this winter.
The Washington D.C. native won the 60 meters at the indoor championships last year with a meet-record time of 7.55. She was one of only two athletes to break a meet record that day.
Eastern Illinois’ Chandra Golden was also named the OVC Co-Female Athlete of the Year.
Like Benjamin, Leitich is also no stranger to OVC honors. The Nairobi, Kenya native won the OVC Cross Country Championships in the fall and was named the Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year.
Leitich shares her award with Austin Peay’s Leigha Tolliver.
She is currently second in the conference in the mile with a time of 5:03.84 and fourth in the conference in the 800 meters with a time of 2:15.78.
Bouchikhi, from Antwerp, Belgium, arrived at EKU in the winter and burst onto the scene this indoor season. He ran the second fastest OVC mile (4:11.20) at the Indiana Hoosier Hills Open on Feb. 12. He also ran an 8:11.97 in the 3,000 meters as an unattached runner at the Rod McCravy Invitational on Jan. 30. That time is almost 20 seconds faster than the fastest OVC time.
Southeast Missouri’s Tyler Mullen was also named the OVC Co-Male Freshman of the Year.
The Colonels will compete at the OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday in Nashville. Check back at www.ekusports.com for results at the end of each day.
