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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete at the Southeast Region Championships this Saturday, Nov. 13, at E.P. Tom “Sawyer” Park in Louisville. The women’s 6K race will begin at 10:00 a.m. while the men’s 10K race will begin at 11:15 a.m.

The Southeast Region is one of the largest, and toughest, of the nine regions in the nation, consisting of all NCAA Division I schools from the states of Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The region also features all Atlantic Coast Conference schools.

The men’s team is currently ranked seventh in the Southeast Region. The women’s team is unranked. The six teams ranked ahead of the Colonel men (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.

The top two teams from each region automatically advance to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind; however, 13 at-large teams also advance. Three at-large men’s teams advanced from the Southeast Region last year. Therefore, if the Colonel men can finish in the top five at Saturday’s race, they might earn an at-large spot at the NCAA Championships. EKU has never sent an entire team to the NCAA Championships.

If EKU does not make nationals as a team, several runners have a chance to earn individual at-large bids. Former Colonels Jacob Korir, Joseph Maina and Wesley Ruttoh have competed at the NCAA Championships over the past three years. Korir finished seventh at the meet in 2007.

Both teams are fresh off dominant performances at the OVC Championships where they won their fifth consecutive conference titles on Oct. 30. The men’s team finished 1-5 at the meet, 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 for the men, 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 Colonels’ fourth and fifth runners will be the key on Saturday. If any combination of Mutuse, Hesselbjerg, sophomore Daniel Jones or juniors Musa Kimuli and Chris Rice can close the gap between the top three runners, EKU could make things interesting.

In winning their 25th overall OVC title two weeks ago, 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.

Senior Kat Pagano won her first career individual title with a time of 18:23.00. Sophomore Jackline Barkechir finished second with a time of 18:40.72 while sophomore Picoty 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. Freshman Hannah Miller (who was named the OVC Freshman of the Year after the race) 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.

The men’s team finished seventh at last year’s Southeast Regional while the women’s team finished 10th.

Check back on Saturday for results.