COMPLETE RESULTS

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Junior Lydia Kosgei came within two seconds of a 33-year old school record and senior Kat Pagano became the first woman in school history to break the 36-minute mark in the 10,000 meters as the Eastern Kentucky University track and field team competed at the prestigious Penn Relays at Franklin Field this weekend.

Three women’s relay teams also threatened school records and four Colonels recorded personal-bests at the three-day event, one of the premiere track and field meets in the county.

Kosgei ran one of the fastest times in the East Region in the women’s 5,000 meters on Thursday night, finishing second in the event with a personal and OVC-best time of 16:07.14, losing only to Michigan State’s Emily MacLeod (16:00.40) and defeating athletes from schools such as Texas, Mississippi State, Penn State, Duke, Florida and Michigan. Kosgei’s time is just over two seconds off the EKU record of 16:05.0, set by Sue Schaefer in 1978, and, right now, would be the fifth fastest time in the East Region and the 18th fastest time in the country.

Pagano finished 12th in the women’s 10,000 meters on Thursday night, recording a personal and OVC-best time of 35:27.69. That time improved on her previous school record of 36:07.10, which she set as last year’s Penn Relays.

Sophomore Soufiane Bouchikhi nearly won the men’s 5,000 meters on Thursday night, losing by less than a second to Eastern Michigan’s Terefe Ejigu with a time of 14:00.52 and defeating athletes from schools such as TCU, Indiana, William and Mary, Michigan and Florida. Bouchikhi was edged out of a 5,000 meters championship at the Penn Relays last year, losing to William and Mary’s Lewis Woodard (whom he beat this year) by less than a second with a time of 14:01.71.

Also in the men’s 5,000 meters, junior David Mutuse finished 14th with a personal-best time of 14.18.82, while junior Evans Kiptoo finished 30th with a time of 14:44.10.

In the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, freshman Ole Hesselbjerg placed eighth with a personal and OVC-best time of 9:00.47.

In the relays, senior Jasmyn Norris, junior Lutisha Bowen, sophomore DanHeisha Harding and freshman Shiyana Mahendra combined to finish fourth out 15 teams in the women’s shuttle hurdle relay on Friday afternoon with a time of 56.57, besting last year’s team’s time of 56.84 (which, at one point, was briefly ranked first in the country) and coming just 0.17 seconds from the school record of 56.4 set in 1986. Bowen, junior Diamond Benjamin and sophomores Bianca Forbes and Picoty Leitich, meanwhile, combined to finish ninth out of 38 teams in the women’s sprint medley relay with a time of 3:57.40, just over three seconds off the school record of 3:54.13, set in 1998, and Bowen, Benjamin, Forbes and sophomore Jazzmin Jeter combined to finish 18th out of 56 teams in the women’s 4x200 meter relay with a time of 1:38.79, just over 1.5 seconds off the school record of 1:37.03, set in 2003.

On Thursday afternoon, Bowen, Benjamin, Harding and Jeter combined to finish 39th out of 80 teams in the women’s 4x100 meter relay with a time of 47.50. On Saturday afternoon, Bouchikhi, Mutuse, Hesselbjerg and sophomore Victor Kemboi combined to finish 12th in the men’s 4xmile relay with a time of 17.11.83.

The EKU track and field team returns to action next weekend at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships in Murray, Ky.