MEN'S RESULTS I WOMEN'S RESULTS

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s and women’s cross country teams delivered dominant performances at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships as both teams won their fifth consecutive conference titles on Saturday at the Southern Hills Golf Course.

Freshman Soufiane Bouchikhi won the men’s 8K race with a time of 24:56.73 while senior Kat Pagano won the women’s 5K race with a time of 18:23.00.

“Today was less about individuals and more about teams,” head coach Rick Erdmann, who won his 25th Women’s Coach of the Year award and 17th Men’s Coach of the Year award following the meet, said. “Both teams ran together and competed together, and I’m really proud of that. Hopefully this will give us some momentum heading into regionals.”

Bouchikhi followed in the footsteps of former Colonels Jacob Korir (2004-07), Joseph Maina (2008) and Wesley Ruttoh (2009) by being named the OVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year and the OVC Male Freshman of the Year. His time of 24:56.73 is the fastest winning time since the 2007 Championships and he is the first freshman to win the event since Korir won the first of his four straight titles in 2004.

Pagano capped her career by racking up her third-straight top-10 finish and first individual championship. After a fifth-place finish in 2008 and a fourth-place finish a year ago, Pagano became the second-straight Colonel to win the Championship and OVC Athlete of the Year honors (sophomore Picoty Leitich won it last year as a freshman). EKU freshman Hannah Miller finished 12th with a time of 19:10.40 and was named this year’s OVC Female Freshman of the Year.

In winning their 19th overall title, the EKU men delivered one of the most dominant performances in league history as Colonels finished 1-5. It is only the fourth time in OVC history that a school has swept the top five spots. That feat also occurred in 1965 (EKU), 1980 (Western Kentucky) and 1989 (EKU).

On a course that Erdmann described as “very challenging,” sophomore Victor Kemboi finished second behind Bouchikhi with a time of 25:19.63, junior Evans Kiptoo finished third with a time of 25:29.16, junior David Mutuse finished fourth with a time of 25:35.22 and freshman Ole Hesselbjerg finished off the sweep by beating Southeast Missouri’s Jason Lumpkin by less than a second to finish fifth with a time of 25:43.19.

All eight of EKU’s runners earned All-OVC honors by finishing inside the top-14 of the 72-runner race. Bouchikhi, Kemboi, Kiptoo, Mutuse and Hesselbjerg were named first team All-OVC while ophomore Daniel Jones (10th/26:04.15) and juniors Musa Kimuli (12th/26:13.29) and Chris Rice (14th/26:17.83) were named second team All-OVC.

The Colonel men finished the race with a perfect score of 15 points, defeating their nearest competitor (SEMO, who finished as the runner-up for the second time in the last three years) by 40 points. Eastern Illinois (95 points) was third followed by Morehead State (108), Austin Peay (145), UT Martin (162), host Tennessee Tech (189), Jacksonville State (211), Murray State (260) and Tennessee State (310) rounded out the men’s standings.

In winning their 25th overall title, the EKU women had the top three finishers (the first time the program has achieved that feat since the 1997 season) and six of the top 12 runners.

Following Pagano, sophomore Jackline Barkechir finished second with a time of 18:40.72 while Leitich finished third with a time of 18:46.74. Senior Sylvia Bundotich finished sixth with a time of 18:58.83 while junior Danielle Mason rounded out EKU’s top-five finishers by placing eighth with a time of 19:02.79. Miller finished 10th while freshman Natalie Field finished 19th with a time of 19:41.30 and senior Ashli Joseph finished 23rd with a time of 19:52.41.

Pagano, Barckechir, Leitich and Bundotich earned first team All-OVC honors while Mason and Miller earned second team All-OVC honors.

The women’s team's 20 points was the lowest team total since the 2005 season (Samford) and was 25 points better than Eastern Illinois (45), who finished as the runner-up for the first time since 2005. Murray State (111) was third followed by Jacksonville State (119), Southeast Missouri (158), Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay (181 apiece), UT Martin (183), Morehead State (207) and Tennessee State (300).

Both teams return to action at the Southeast Region Championships on Nov. 13 in Louisville.

Men's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Soufiane Bouchikhi, Eastern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Soufiane Bouchikhi, Eastern Kentucky

All-OVC First Team
Soufiane Bouchikhi, Eastern Kentucky
Victor Kemboi, Eastern Kentucky
Evans Kiptoo, Eastern Kentucky
David Mutuse, Eastern Kentucky
Ole Hesselbjerg, Eastern Kentucky
Jason Lumpkin, Southeast Missouri
Brad LaRocque, Eastern Illinois

All-OVC Second Team
Chris Loseman, Southeast Missouri
Nate Shipley, Southeast Missouri
Daniel Jones, Eastern Kentucky
Enock Langat, Austin Peay
Musa Kimuli, Eastern Kentucky
Dustin Davis, Southeast Missouri
Chris Rice, Eastern Kentucky

Women's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Kat Pagano, Eastern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Hannah Miller, Eastern Kentucky

All-OVC First Team
Kat Pagano, Eastern Kentucky
Jackline Barkechir, Eastern Kentucky
Picoty Leitich, Eastern Kentucky
Olivia Klaus, Eastern Illinois
Ericka Stam, Jacksonville State
Sylvia Bundotich, Eastern Kentucky
Gabriela Duenas, Eastern Illinois

All-OVC Second Team
Danielle Mason, Eastern Kentucky
Brittany Arthur, Eastern Illinois
Katelyn Jones, Murray State
Megan Gingerich, Eastern Illinois
Hannah Miller, Eastern Kentucky
Kasey Owens, Southeast Missouri
Erika Ramos, Eastern Illinois