NEW ORLEANS – Following its dominant performance at the OVC Championships this weekend, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s cross country team jumped from unranked to No. 7 in the Southeast Region per the latest USTFCCCA rankings.

The Colonels finished 1-5 at the OVC Championships in Cookeville, Tenn. on Saturday, marking only the fourth time in OVC history a team has recorded a perfect score of 15 points at the event (two of the three other instances were by an EKU team as well).

Freshman Soufiane Bouchikhi led the way, cruising to the individual title with an 8K time of 24:56.73. Sophomore Victor Kemboi (25:19.63), juniors Evans Kiptoo (25:29.16) and David Mutuse (25:35.22) and freshman Ole Hesselbjerg (25:43.19) rounded out EKU’s top five finishers.

The six teams ranked ahead of EKU in the Southeast Region (NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, William and Mary and Louisville) are all ranked in the top-30 in the country according to the USTFCCCA. EKU defeated another team in the national top-30, No. 28 Providence, at the Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 16.

The Colonels are ranked ahead of such notable Southeast Region teams as No. 8 Richmond, No. 9 Liberty, No. 10 Wake Forest and in-state rivals Kentucky and Western Kentucky.

EKU will compete at the Southeast Region Championships in Louisville on Nov. 13. The top two teams from each region earn an automatic berth to the NCAA National Championships; however, the strong Southeast Region produced three at-large teams last year (the most of any region).