EKU MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY RANKED NO. 2 IN PRESEASON SOUTHEAST REGION POLL
NEW ORLEANS – The six-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Kentucky University men’s cross country team will open the 2012 season this weekend ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Region, per the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s preseason poll released on Monday.
North Carolina State, the defending region champion, is the only team ranked ahead of EKU. The Colonels are positioned ahead of such notable teams as Virginia Tech (No. 4), North Carolina (No. 5), Louisville (No. 6), Duke (No. 7), Western Kentucky (No. 10) and Kentucky (No. 15).
EKU reach new heights last fall, as the Colonels finished second to N.C. State at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history. A bevy of talent returns from that team, including junior Soufiane Bouchikhi, the two-time defending OVC Male Cross Country Runner of the Year, and first team All-OVC performers Adams Ronnoh and Daniel Jones. Sophomore Ben Toroitich, who arrived to at EKU in the winter, will also bolster the Colonels’ lineup. Toroitich shattered EKU’s 42-year old steeplechase record (8:37.04) in the spring and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in that event.
OVC newcomer Belmont is the only other regionally-ranked team in the conference, as the Bruins were picked No. 6 in the South Region.
The top two teams from each region, and 13 at-large teams, advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville for the first time ever this year.
EKU will try to build on its historic 2011 season beginning this Saturday, September 1, at the Memphis Twilight Cross Country Classic.