COMPLETE DAY ONE RESULTS
MURRAY, Ky. - Senior
Kat Pagano won the women's 10,000 meters and freshman
Ole Hesselbjerg won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Eastern Kentucky Univeristy men's and women's track and field teams are in fourth place after day one of the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships at Stewart Stadium.
Pagano won the women's 10,000 meters on Friday night with a time of 39:00.11, edging her nearest competitor, Southeast Missouri's Jessica Bollinger (39:07.77), by seven seconds. It is Pagano's sixth career individual OVC track and field title. The Hollis, Me. native became the first EKU woman to break the 36-minute mark in the 10,000 meters last week at the Penn Relays when she ran a 35:27.69.
Hesselbjerg won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:23.94, defeating Eastern Illinois' Graham Morris just under six seconds. It is Hesselbjerg's first career OVC title, and he is the third straight Colonel to win it, as Stanley Mugo won the steeplechase in 2008 and 2009 and junior
David Mutuse won it in 2010.
Other Colonels who scored points on Friday were sophomore
Shannon Hooper, who finished fifth in the women's discus with a toss of 136-7, and junior
Morgan Thacker, who finished fourth in the women's long jump with a leap of 17-8, junior
Evans Kiptoo, who finished third in the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 31:39.17, junior
Alex Dreyer who finished fourth in the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 31:57.89 and junior
Jackline Barkechir, who finished seventh in the women's 10,000 meters with a time of 40:24.52.
On the men's side, Eastern Illinois currently leads with 66 points and Southeast Missouri is second with 62 points, followed by Tennessee State (24), EKU (20) and Morehead State (13).
On the women's side, EIU also currently leads with 74 points and SEMO is second with 53 points, followed by host Murray State (26), EKU (21), Tennessee Tech (16), Tennessee State (15.5), Austin Peay (13), Morehead State (8) and Jacksonville State (7.5).
The meet resumes on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. EST.
