COMPLETE RESULTS
NOTRE DAME I VIRGINIA TECH

RICHMOND, Ky. – Select members of the Eastern Kentucky University track and field team competed at the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational and the Virginia Tech Final Qualifier this weekend. While there were no NCAA automatic qualifiers, three Colonels earned personal-best times over the final weekend of the indoor season.

Sophomores Victor Kemboi and Picoty Leitich ran personal-best times in the mile at the Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday. Kemboi finished 18th in the men’s mile with a time of 4:09.60 while Leitich placed 22nd in the women’s mile with a time of 4:57.53.

At the VT Final Qualifier on Saturday, freshman Shiyana Mahendra finished 15th in the preliminaries of the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a career-best time of 8.90.

Four other Colonel distance runners – sophomore Soufiane Bouchikhi, junior David Mutuse, junior Lydia Kosgei and senior Kat Pagano – also competed at the Alex Wilson Invitational.

Bouchikhi placed fifth in the men’s 3,000 meters with a season-best time of 7:59.53. Bouchikhi won the 3,000 meters at last year’s Alex Wilson Invitational with a career-best time of 7:59.20, the second fastest indoor 3,000 meters time in school history. Mutuse, meanwhile, finished 12th in the men’s 3,000 meters with a time of 8:34.62.

Like Bouchikhi, Kosgei fell just short of eclipsing her personal-best in the women’s mile. This year’s OVC champion in the women’s mile, Kosgei finished 11th at the Alex Wilson Invitational with a time of 4:47.66, just two tenths of a second off her personal-best time of 4:47.46. Pagano, meanwhile, placed 12th in the women’s 5,000 meters on Saturday with a time of 17:21.99. Pagano’s career-best 5,000 meters time of 17:09.19, which she ran on Feb. 11 at the Washington Husky Indoor Classic, is less than a second off Sarah Blossom’s school record.

Three other Colonels – juniors Diamond Benjamin and Lutisha Bowen and sophomore DanHeisha Harding – also competed at the VT Final Qualifier on Saturday.

Benjamin finished sixth in the finals of the women’s 60 meters with a time of 7.67 and eighth in the finals of the women’s 200 meters with a time of 25.06. Bowen finished seventh in the finals of the women’s 200 meters, edging Benjamin with a time of 25.04. Harding, meanwhile, placed 14th and ran an 8.88 in the preliminaries of the of the women’s 60 meter hurdles.

The EKU track and field teams open the outdoor season from March 23-24 when they compete at the Stanford Invitational and the North Carolina State Raleigh Relays.