BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky University cross country runners Soufiane Bouchikhi and Ann Eason were honored by the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday for their performances this weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational and Greater Louisville Classic. Bouchikhi was named the adidas OVC Male Runner of the Week, while Eason was named the adidas OVC Female Runner of the Week.
Bouchikhi, the two-time defending OVC Male Cross Country Runner of the Year, led the nationally-ranked EKU men to a fifth-place finish out of 20 of some of the top teams in the country in the blue race of the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday evening. The junior from Antwerp, Belgium finished seventh out of 163 competitors, covering the five-mile course in 23:53.
Bouchikhi’s performance catapulted EKU over North Carolina State and to the No. 1 ranking in the Southeast Region for the first time in program history.
When the EKU women’s team’s top runner, freshman Meri Rantanen, went down with an injury this week, Eason stepped up and led the Colonels, now ranked No. 11 in the Southeast Region, to a 17th place finish in the talent-laden gold race of the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday afternoon. The sophomore from Lexington, Ky. finished 50th out of 267 runners and completed the 5K course in 17:37.26.
Eason’s performance led the EKU women to a victory over such notable teams as Georgia Tech, Auburn, Marquette and OVC newcomer Belmont.
Bouchikhi, Eason and the rest of the EKU cross country team return to action two weekends from now when the men’s team competes at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational and the women’s team at the NCAA Pre-National Meet.
