Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

A tip of the hat to Steve Fohl at Eastern Kentucky University for this press release …

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – In a pre-season vote of Ohio Valley Conference head coaches, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s and women’s cross country teams were picked as favorites for the 2010 season. Both teams enter the year seeking to extend the EKU cross country dynasty by winning their fifth consecutive OVC titles.

Last season, the EKU men’s team claimed its 18th OVC championship and fourth in a row while the Colonel women’s program took home its 24th overall title and fourth in a row at the event held at Edwin Warner Park in Nashville.

On the men’s side, EKU (81 points, nine first-place votes) was followed by a tie between Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Illinois (68) with Southeast Missouri receiving the other first place vote. The polling was rounded out by Jacksonville State (55), Morehead State (50), Tennessee Tech (34), UT Martin (33), Austin Peay (28), Murray State (21) and Tennessee State (12).

On the women’s side, EKU (81 points, nine first-place votes) was followed by Eastern Illinois (70, 1 first-place vote), Murray State (63), Southeast Missouri (59), Jacksonville State (47), Morehead State (39),  Tennessee Tech (29), Austin Peay (28), UT Martin (24) and Tennessee State (10).

The men’s team lost four of its five top finishers from 2009, including Wesley Ruttoh, who won last year’s championship and finished second at the Southeast Region Championships. However, the Colonels return a trio of veterans who ran well at last year’s OVC meet: juniors Chris Rice (ninth) and Alex Dreyer (12th) and sophomore Daniel Jones (13th).

Additionally, and possibly even more significantly, the Colonels return a pair of talented runners who redshirted last season, juniors Evans Kiptoo and David Mutuse, and a dynamic freshman, Soufiane Bouchikhi. Kiptoo finished third at the OVC Cross Country Championships in 2008 and was named All-Southeast Region that year as well. Mutuse won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the OVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the spring and, more recently, defeated nearly 5,000 runners in the Midsummer Night’s 5K in downtown Lexington. Bouchikhi, meanwhile, enrolled at EKU last winter and was promptly named the OVC Track and Field Freshman of the Year after winning three individual conference titles during the track season.

Conversely, the EKU women’s team returns all five of its top finishers from 2009, including last year’s champion and OVC Freshman of the Year, Picoty Leitich. Leitich became the first freshman to win the individual title since 2002 as she out-distanced the field by over 13 seconds.

Leitich is joined by seniors Sylvia Bundotich (third), Katherine Pagano (fourth) and Ashli Joseph (11th) and junior Danielle Mason (13th), who were all among the top 13 finishers last season and among the top 10 returners this season.

The 2010 OVC Cross Country Championships will be held October 30 in Cookeville, Tenn. with Tennessee Tech University serving as the host.

The Colonels open their 2010 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 4 when they host Marshall in the EKU vs. Marshall Relay at the Wood Chip Trail on campus.

2010 OVC MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(as voted on by the OVC head cross country coaches)

TEAM                                                                     POINTS

  1.   Eastern Kentucky (9 first-place votes)     81

  2.   Southeast Missouri (1)                               68

        Eastern Illinois                                             68

  4.   Jacksonville State                                       55

  5.   Morehead State                                           50

  6.   Tennessee Tech                                          34

  7.   UT Martin                                                      33

  8.   Austin Peay                                                  28

  9.   Murray State                                                 21

 10. Tennessee State                                         12
(Teams awarded 9 points for a first-place vote, 8 for second, etc.)

Top 10 Men’s Cross Country Returnees
(Based on Finish at 2009 OVC Championship)

Runner                                                                  Yr.           2009 Finish (Time)

George Kiplagat, Jacksonville State                Sr.           6th (26:14.18)

Jason Lumpkin, Southeast Missouri               Sr.           8th (26:44.40)

Chris Rice, Eastern Kentucky                            Jr.            9th (26:50.16)

James Bowens, Morehead State                     Sr.           11th (26:54.17)

Alex Dreyer, Eastern Kentucky                         Jr.            12th (26:55.30)

Daniel Jones, Eastern Kentucky                      So.          13th (27:01.01)

Matt Feldhake, Eastern Illinois                          Jr.            14th (27:06.13)

Sam Taylor, Tennessee Tech                           Sr.           16th (27:17.61)

Tyler Mullen, Southeast Missouri                     So.          17th (27:23.27)

Josh Wakeman, Morehead State                     Sr.           18th (27:25.73) 

2010 OVC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(as voted on by the OVC head cross country coaches)

TEAM                                                                     POINTS

  1.   Eastern Kentucky (9 first-place votes)     81

  2.   Eastern Illinois (1)                                       70

  3.   Murray State                                                 63

  4.   Southeast Missouri                                     59

  5.   Jacksonville State                                       47

  6.   Morehead State                                           39

  7.   Tennessee Tech                                          29

  8.   Austin Peay                                                  28

  9.   UT Martin                                                      24

 10. Tennessee State                                         10
(Teams awarded 9 points for a first-place vote, 8 for second, etc.)

 Top 10 Women’s Cross Country Returnees
(Based on Finish at 2009 OVC Championship)

Runner                                                                  Yr.                           2009 Finish (Time)

Picoty Leitich, Eastern Kentucky                      So.                          1st (19:29.05)

Sylvia Bundotich, Eastern Kentucky                Sr.                           3rd (19:57.30)

Katherine Pagano, Eastern Kentucky             Sr.                           4th (20:02.97)

Katelyn Jones, Murray State                             Sr.                           5th (20:11.46)

Olivia Klaus, Eastern Illinois                              So.                          8th (20:26.88)

Monica Noble, Southeast Missouri                  Sr.                           9th (20:28.72)

Ashley Stovall, Jacksonville State                    So.                          10th (20:29.25)

Ashli Joseph, Eastern Kentucky                       Sr.                           11th (20:30.60)

Danielle Mason, Eastern Kentucky                  Jr.                            13th (20:35.77)

Kayla Crusham, Murray State                           Jr.                            14th (20:38.57)

Cally Macumber

Kentucky’s Cally Macumber is Female Freshman of the Week in Southeastern Conference track and field, while Eastern Kentucky’s Soufiane Bouchikhi and Kat Pagano have been honored by the Ohio Valley Conference. All three athletes competed at last weekend’s 116th Penn Relays.

Macumber, from Rochester Hills, Mich., lowered her personal best for 5,000 meters by more than 20 seconds, placing 14th in Penn’s college championship division with a time of 16:43.61. That boosts her to the top five in the SEC this season.

Soufiane Bouchikhi

Bouchikhi, a freshman from Antwerp, Belgium, is OVC Male Track Co-Athlete of the Week. Pagano, a junior from Hollis, Maine, is OVC Female Track Co-Athlete of the Week.

Bouchikhi placed second, nosed out at the finish by William and Mary’s Lewis Woodard, in the 5,000-meter run. Bouchikhi crossed the line in 14:01.71, two-hundredths of a second behind Woodard. That leads the OVC this season by nearly 40 seconds, trailed by teammate David Mutuse in 14:40.71.

Kat Pagano

Pagano set a school record of 36:06.00 for 10,000 meters, placing 14th. The time is the fastest of the season in the OVC by nearly two minutes. The former EKU record of 36:13.15 was set by Sarah Blossom in 1999.

Other SEC weekly award winners are: Tennessee senior Phoebe Wright (Female Runner); Florida senior Mariam Kevkhishvili (Female Field Athlete); LSU sophomore Barrett Nugent (Male Runner); LSU junior Walter Henning (Male Field Athlete), and Florida’s Omar Craddock (Male Freshman). All competed at the Penn Relays.

Wright (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) led Tennessee to wins in the distance medley (2:02.12 800-meter split), 4-by-1,500 (4:17.3 anchor) and 4-by-800 (meet-record 2:00.89 anchor) relays.

Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, nation of Georgia) captured the shot put (59-7 1/2) with the third-best mark in meet history.

Nugent (Maurice, La.) won the 110-meter hurdles (13.58). His time is a personal best, fastest in the SEC this season and ranks third in the NCAA.

Henning (Kings Park, N.Y.) won his second straight Penn hammer throw (237-9) — by more than 22 feet — and was named College Men’s Individual Athlete of the Meet.

Craddock (Kileen, Texas) snared triple jump honors (53-3 1/2), defeating the nation’s top two ranked individuals (Alphonso Gordon of Georgia Tech and Zuheir Sharif of Texas A&M). 

Other OVC weekly award winners are Southeast Missouri seniors Chris Gill (Male Track Co-Athlete), Juli Koenegstein (Female Track Co-Athlete) and Brandon Colbert (Male Field Athlete), and Austin Peay senior Molly Bartkiewicz (Female Field Athlete).

Gill (O’Fallon, Mo.) placed first at 400 meters (OVC-leading 47.64) at the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Twilight Meet.

Koenegstein (Chester, Ill.) placed ninth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (OVC-leading 10:48.93) at the Drake Relays.

Colbert (Troy, Mo.) had three top 20 finishes at Drake — second in the discus (OVC-leading 175-0), ninth in the shot put (53-7 3/4) and 18th in the hammer throw (181-6).

Bartkiewicz (Westlake, Ohio) placed third at Penn, clearing 12-10 in the pole vault.

The University of Kentucky has signed nine recruits for the 2011 baseball season, while Eastern Kentucky has added three players during the fall recruiting period.

Signing with the Wildcats: LHP Corey Littrell (Louisville Trinity), RHP Blake Perry (Boyle County/Pendleton School at IMG Academy (Fla.)), IFs Dallen Reber (St. George, Utah), Paul McConkey (Knoxville) and Matt Reida (Russiaville, Ind.), OFs Lucas Witt (Lexington Christian) and Gavin Patton (South Charleston, W.Va./Pendleton School (Fla.)), and RHP/IFs Trevor Gott (Tates Creek) and J.T. Riddle (Western Hills).

Joining the Colonels: 1B/3B Mitchell Durbin (Fairfield, Ohio), 3b/RHP Bryan Solomon (Jackson, N.J.) and C Sean Hagen (Reading, Pa.).

This is UK’s third recruiting class with Gary Henderson as head coach. His first class — last season’s freshmen — was ranked by Baseball America as fourth-best in the nation. His second class — this season’s freshmen — were sixth in the nation, according to Collegiate Baseball.

“We are really excited about our 2010 class,” Henderson said. “The last two years, we have had top-ranked classes and this group of student-athletes is every bit as good. One of the best things about this class is that we have a solid group of Kentucky kids who come to UK. We are extremely excited that we could keep these Kentucky guys home for their college careers.”

Thanks to media relations wizards Brent Ingram of UK and Steve Fohl of EKU for the scoops.

UK recruits

LHP Corey Littrell: Regarded by many as the top prospect in the state. …  141 strikeouts and 39 walks in 111 innings, going 13-2 with one save and an 0.72 ERA last season. … Also batted .375 with two homers and 18 RBI, leading Trinity to a state-semi championship. … Two-time academic all-state pick has made Trinity’s honor roll every quarter. … His father played in Dodgers and Expos organizations; grandfather played in Cubs and Athletics organizations. … Says Henderson: Corey has an advanced ability to pitch for his age. He can already command his fastball and he has a very good changeup that he can throw for a strike. We expect him to pitch early and often in his UK career. He is a serious competitor that we have a chance to build a staff around. He will need to make the same adjustments that they all do but I expect him to compete for innings immediately.”

RHP Blake Perry: At 6-5, 180, he looks the part of No. 2 prospect in the state. … Went 4-0 with two saves, hitting .317, for Boyle County’s region runner-up team in 2008. … Transferred to Pendleton and was chosen to play in Southwest Florida Fall Showcase. … Played summer ball for Danville’s Morse Mustangs, coached by former Wildcat Paul Morse, going 5-0 with two saves, an 0.95 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 44 innings. … His father played for Kansas State and was drafted by the Yankees. … Says Henderson: “Blake has good body control and feel to pitch for a large-framed pitcher. He shows solid command of three pitches and falls into the category of very projectable. He wants to be an outstanding pitcher and I anticipate him being a great worker. He has tremendous potential and we are excited to watch him develop.”

IF Dallen Reber: 6-0, 215-pounder has led Dixie High School to three consecutive second-place finishes in the State Tournament. … First-team all-state as a junior, batting .407 with 29 runs, 33 hits, four doubles, seven homers and 30 RBI. .. Drew 13 walks to five strikeouts. … Played 3B mostly and some at SS. … Says Henderson: “Dallen brings a winner’s personality and a lot of athleticism. He is an absolute winner with very good baseball skills. He is the type of kid that other kids like to be around. He has a combination of strength, speed and skills that we are very excited to bring to our program.”

 IF Paul McConkey: Left-handed hitting 5-11, 175-pounder batted .482 with eight homers for Halls High School last season. … Has school records for doubles in a season and double plays turned in a career. … His father played baseball for Tennessee and his sister played softball at Austin Peay. … Says Henderson: “Paul has a very good feel to hit and he can play all three infield spots. He also plays the game with a lot of confidence and poise. That is hard to find in a 17-year-old. He is an extremely good competitor who is serious about being a great baseball player. His attitude and makeup are strong. He will bring an approach that will make those around him better.”

IF Matt Reida: A 5-11, 175-pound, left-handed hitter has been compared with current UK all-SEC IF Chris Bisson. … Teamed with current Wildcat LHP Taylor Rogers to lead the Midland Redskins to this year’s Connie Mack World Series championship at Farmington, N.M. … Hit .429 with three HR, 17 RBI and 10 SB. … National Honor Society member. … Brother of West Virginia assistant coach Tad Reida, who played for Wichita State and Indiana. A sister, Tiffany, played basketball for Indiana State. … Says Henderson: ”Matt is a tremendous competitor. He brings a seriousness and a level of competitiveness that will put him in the center of our club immediately. Matt brings very good baseball skills, great feel for the game and a winner’s presence. He will eventually be a leader, an oustanding leadoff hitter and a middle-infield presence for our club.” 

OF Lucas Witt: Two-time all-state in baseball and football (6-2, 185 QB). … Hit .377 with eight doubles, four homers, 20 RBI and 13 SB last season, leading LCA to an All-A state title. … Has LCA in the state football semifinals and has school career records for completions, attempts, touchdown passes, passing yards, quarterback rushing yards, passer rating and quarterback starts. … Says Henderson: “Lucas is an outstanding athlete and an even better young man. He has had a lot of success in both baseball and football at the high school level. He brings with him the knowledge of what it takes to be successful. He is a great competitor, knows how to work and he will make those around him better. We are very excited to see how he develops once he devotes himself to baseball full-time.”

OF Gavin Patton: 6-1, 205-pounder hit .490, a school-record 14 homers, 54 RBI and 22 SB in 2008 for George Washington High. … Moved to the Pendleton School last season, batting .418 with eight doubles, three HR, 39 RBI and 10 SB. … An uncle, Lorin Grow, played six years in Reds organization. … Says Henderson: “Gavin already looks like an SEC outfielder. He’s big, strong and moves well for his size. He brings a combination of speed and power that is hard to come by. We are very excited about him becoming a Wildcat. He plays extremely hard, competes at a high level and will bring an energy to our club that fans and teammates will enjoy.”

RHP/IF Trevor Gott: 6-0, 190-pound, second-team all-stater led Tates Creek in batting (.382) and ERA (1.12). … Says Henderson: “Trevor is a good athlete and has tremendous arm strength. He had a lot of success in his baseball career at a young age and we have watched him for a long time. His body is beginning to get some strength, which is going to help him tremendously on the mound.”

RHP/IF J.T. Riddle: 6-3,175-pound left-handed hitter went 3-3 with a 1.64 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 47 innings last season. … Batted .478 with six doubles, two homers and 11 RBI. … Has 16 SB over three seasons. … Has school single-season records for hits (47), average (.478) and ERA (1.64). … Says Henderson: “J.T. is a gifted athlete that is talented enough to be a two-way player in the SEC. He is like most kids we get in that he needs to develop more strength. J.T. has a good swing, moves well defensively and is clearly a talented pitcher. He has had a lot of success in everything he has done in high school. We are glad to have him with us and are eager to see how he develops.”

EKU recruits

1B/3B Mitchell Durbin: 6-2, 200-pound, left-handed hitter and team MVP. … Hit .377 with three HR, 23 RBI, 24 runs, 13 doubles and .662 SP in 2008. … Two-time all-academic team member. … Led Team Ohio in last summer’s Midwest Baseball Classic, hitting .402 with 102 hits, 29 doubles, 12 HR, 69 runs and .752 SP. His high school coach, Larry Price, is father of former EKU player Robby Price. … Says EKU Coach Jason Stein: “Following graduation and the draft of 2010, we will probably have two immediate needs and, as a left-handed bat with power and a corner infielder, Mitch fills both of them.”

3B/RHP Bryan Solomon: 6-4, 225-pound team captain led Jackson Memorial High last season with seven HR, 31 RBI and an .800 SP, while batting .440 with a .517 OBP. … A two-time pre-season All-American. … Says Stein: “Bryan is a complete third baseman. He can hit for average and power, and he is an outstanding defensive player with a great arm. Most impressively, he has a genuine desire to excel at this level and he possesses an excellent baseball attitude.”

 C Sean Hagen: 6-1, 190-pounder hit .469 with six HR, 11 doubles and 29 RBI for Muhlenberg High last season. … A two-time pre-season All-American. … Has a 3.75 GPA and has been voted class president the last two years. … Says Stein: “Sean will fill an immediate need at catcher following the graduation of 2010. He is a complete catcher who can catch, throw and block. But he is also a very offensive-minded player as well.”