Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Eastern Kentucky’s Lydia Kosgei is the Ohio Valley Conference Female Track Athlete of the Week.

Lydia Kosgei

Kosgei, a junior from Eldoret, Kenya, placed fourth in the mile in Saturday’s Kentucky Invitational, posting an OVC-leading 4:47.69. The field of 39 milers included athletes from Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan State and several post-collegiate competitors. The only collegian to finish ahead of Kosgei was Tennessee’s Chanelle Price.

Kosgei’s time ranks ninth-best in the country this season and is third-fastest in EKU history. Jamie King O’Shea holds the Colonels’ record, 4:42.90.

Kosgei earned her first OVC title last spring when she won the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:39.99. She red-shirted last fall’s cross country season.

EKU will travel this weekend to the Indiana University Gladstein Invitational.

Other OVC weekly award winners are Eastern Illinois junior Zye Boey (Male Track), Southeast Missouri State senior Brandon Colbert (Male Field) and SEMO junior Shemekia Brewer (Female Field).

Boey won the 60 (6.77) and 200 (21.45) at the Wisconsin Badger Track Classic. His 200 time ranks third in the NCAA.

Colbert won the shot put at Southern Illinois’ Saluki Open, which also is where Brewer won the triple jump.

Southeastern Conference Track & Field Athletes of the Week

Female Runner
LaKya Brookins, South Carolina senior — Won the 60-meter dash at the Virginia Tech Invitational with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 7.25.

Female Field Athlete
Colleen Felix, Georgia junior — Won the triple jump at the Clemson Challenge with a national-leading mark of 43-5 3/4, which is No. 3 on Georgia’s all-time list.

Female Freshman
Cory McGee, Florida — In her collegiate debut, posted top 10 times in the nation in the mile (4:46.70) and 3,000 meters (9:43.72) at the Nittany Lion Challenge Meet. Winning the mile and placing second in the 3,000, McGee has the nation’s top freshman times in both events. Her meet-record mile time is fourth-best in the country this season, while her 3,000 time ranks No. 7.

Male Runner
Horatio Williams, LSU junior — The transfer from Hinds Community College debuted with LSU in the Purple Tiger Invitational by zipping to a national-leading 6.61 in the 60 meters after a personal-best 6.73 in prelims. He ranks No. 3 all-time at LSU, behind only Richard Thompson (6.51) and Trindon Holliday (6.54).

Male Field Athlete
Zedric Thomas, LSU senior — Won the Purple Tiger Invitational long jump with a personal-best 26-3 3/4, three-quarters of an inch further than teammate Damar Forbes. Thomas’ mark ranks No. 1 in the nation this season and No. 4 all-time at LSU.

Male Freshman
Justin Hunter, Tennessee — Won the Kentucky Invitational long jump with an NCAA automatic-qualifier of 26-1, just two weeks after completing football season with the Volunteers. His mark is No. 4 in the nation this season and he is the lone freshman ranked among the top 14. He also ranks No. 3 all-time at Tennessee.

Soufiane Bouchikhi

Eastern Kentucky University snared its fifth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference championship in both men’s and women’s cross country Saturday.

Meanwhile, Louisville’s men placed second and the women took eighth in the Big East Conference meet.

EKU’s men placed 1-through-5 to score a perfect 15 points, only the fourth time that has happened in conference history. EKU also pulled off sweeps in 1965 and 1989, and Western Kentucky did so in 1980. The Colonels, who now have 19 OVC men’s crowns, were followed by Southeast Missouri with 40 points.

EKU’s women upended Eastern Illinois 20-45.

Competing at the South Hills Golf Course in Cookeville, Tenn., the Colonels also had both individual winners.

Freshman Soufiane Bouchikhi won the men’s 8,000-meter race in 24 minutes, 56.73 seconds.

Kat Pagano

Senior Kat Pagano prevailed in the women’s 5,000-meter event, timed in 18:23.00.

“Today was less about individuals and more about teams,” said Coach Rick Erdmann, who won his 25th Women’s Coach of the Year award and his 17th Men’s Coach of the Year. “Both teams ran together and competed together, and I’m really proud of that. Hopefully this will give us some momentum heading into regionals.”

The NCAA Southeast Regionals are set for Nov. 13 at Louisville.

Bouchikhi followed in the footsteps of former Colonels Jacob Korir (2004-07), Joseph Maina (2008) and Wesley Ruttoh (2009) by being named OVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year and OVC Male Freshman of the Year. Bouchikhi is the first freshman to win the event since Korir in 2004, and his time is the fastest in the event since 2007.

Pagano, already a two-time top 10 finisher in the OVCs, won her first title. She placed fifth in 2008 and fourth last year. She is the second straight Colonel to win the event and OVC Athlete of the Year honors, as Picoty Leitich won last year as a freshman.

EKU’s Hannah Miller, 12th in 19:10.40, earned OVC Freshman of the Year honors.

After Bouchikhi, EKU’s men had sophomore Victor Kemboi in 25:19.63, junior Evans Kiptoo (25:29.16), junior David Mutuse (25:35.22) and freshman Ole Hesselbjerg (25:43.19). SEMO’s Jason Lumpkin finished less than a second after Hesselbjerg.

EKU’s three non-scoring runners all placed in the top 14. Sophomore Daniel Jones came in 10th, with juniors Musa Kimuli and Chris Rice going 12-14. All eight Colonels earned all-conference honors.

After Eastern and SEMO came Eastern Illinois (95), Morehead State (108), Austin Peay (145), UT Martin (162), Tennessee Tech (189), Jacksonville State (211), Murray State (260) and Tennessee State (310).

EKU’s women won their 25th OVC title, sweeping the first three places and six of the top 12.

After Pagano came sophomore Jackline Barkechir (18:40.72) and Leitich (18:46.74). Senior Sylvia Bundotich placed sixth (18:58.83) and junior Danielle Mason took eighth (19:02.79).  Then came Miller, followed by freshman Natalie Field in 19th (19:41.30) and senior Ashli Joseph in 23rd (19:52.41).

After EKU and Eastern Illinois in the team standings, it was Murray in third (111), trailed by Jacksonville State (119), SEMO (158), Tech and Peay (181 each), Martin (183), Morehead (207) and Tennessee State (300).

All-OVC men

First team – Bouchikhi, Kemboi, Kiptoo, Mutuse, Hesselbjerg, Lumpkin, Brad LaRocque (Eastern Ill.)
Second team – Chris Loseman and Nate Shipley (SEMO), Jones, Enock Langat (Peay), Kimuli, Dustin Davis (SEMO), Rice.

All-OVC women

First team – Pagano, Barkechir, Leitich, Olivia Klaus (Eastern Ill.), Ericka Starn (Jacksonville), Bundotich, Gabriela Duenas (Eastern Ill.).
Second team – Mason, Brittany Arthur (Eastern Ill.), Katelyn Jones (Murray), Megan Gingerich (Eastern Ill.), Miller, Kasey Owens (SEMO), Erika Ramos (Eastern Ill.).

Eaton leads Louisville men

In the Big East Championships, held at Jamesville (N.Y.) Beach Park, Syracuse edged the U of L men 59-63. Villanova won the women’s title with 26 points, while Louisville rang up 272.

Michael Eaton, a senior, led Louisville’s men by placing second with an 8K time of 25:05.4. Lee Carey of Providence won in 24:56.8.

U of L’s Matt Hughes placed ninth (25:25.3). Tyler Byrne, 15th overall, was the top freshman in the race. Completing U of L’s scorers were Luke Lovelace and Gordon Dooley, 18th and 19th. The gap between Eaton and Dooley was a mere 53 seconds.

“I’m really proud of the men’s efforts today,” Cardinals Coach Brice Allen said. “They executed the game plan to a ‘T.’ We had the No. 1 senior and the No. 1 freshman in the conference.

“Michael ran the race today like a fifth-year senior. He was patient in the middle of the pack at the 800-meter mark; he moved into 15th place at the mile; by three miles, he moved into the top five; and with a mile to go he walked everyone down except the leader. That’s what you come to expect from a fifth-year senior.”

Emily Borsare led U of L’s women, placing 24th with a time of 21:55.1 for 6,000 meters. Kim Grieshaber was 43rd, Monica Hernandez 48th, Ariel Briggs 78th and Cassie Martin 79th.

“Emily ran a great race today,” Allen said. “She closed well and moved up 10 positions. To cap her cross country career, she ran well for the Cardinals.

“We’re looking forward to the regional race and the move on to nationals.”

From Eastern Kentucky sports information guru Mike Clark …

Eastern Kentucky University punter Jordan Berry

Eastern Kentucky punter Jordan Berry is Co-Specialist of the Week in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Berry, a redshirt Australian freshman from Essendon, Victoria – near Melbourne — punted six times for an average of 52.3 yards during EKU’s 10-7 loss at UT Martin.

Included was a 75-yarder to the Skyhawks’ 3-yard line early in the third quarter. That punt was 3 yards shy of the Colonels’ record, a 78-yarder by Bob Plotts in 1966.

Four of Berry’s punts landed inside the UTM 20-yard line. He also converted a fourth-and-11 play, avoiding a tackle near the first-down marker and gaining 14 yards.

EKU ranks second in the NCAA FCS with a net punting average of 40.9 yards.

Berry shares Co-Specialist honors with Eastern Illinois’ Rashad Haynes. He is the first Panther to return a punt for a touchdown in nearly six years, scoring on a 46-yard first-quarter runback against Tennessee Tech.

Other weekly awards go to Southeast Missouri’s Henry Harris (Offense), Tennessee Tech’s Caleb Mitchell and Marcus Edwards (Defense) and Tennessee Tech’s Jocques Crawford (Newcomer).

EKU (2-4 overall, 1-1 OVC) travels to first-place Southeast Missouri on Saturday, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. ET.

Eastern Kentucky’s Soufiane Bouchikhi and Kat Pagano are Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Runners of the Week.

Bouchikhi, a freshman from Antwerp, Belgium, won Male of the Week honors by taking the Western Kentucky Old Timers Classic on Saturday. He edged Western’s Shadrack Kipchirchir by less than a second, besting a field of 85 with a time of 24 minutes, 39.71 seconds for 8,000 meters.

EKU, ranked ninth in the Southeast Region, won the team title over WKU, Marshall, Austin Peay, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Martin.

Soufiane Bouchikhi

Bouchikhi came to EKU last winter and won three OVC track titles (mile and 3,000 meters indoors, 5,000 meters outdoors). He was OVC Track and Field Freshman of the Year, indoors and outdoors.

Kat Pagano

Pagano, a senior from Hollis, Maine, shared Co-Female of the Week with Olivia Klaus of Eastern Illinois.

Also running at WKU, Pagano placed third among 70 runners, timed in 18:34.08 for 5,000 meters. That helped the Colonels, No. 15 in the Southeast Region, defeat Austin Peay, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Martin.

Pagano is a two-time All-OVC cross country performer, holds the school record for 10,000 meters (36:07.10) and has won three OVC titles (5,000 meters indoors and outdoors, 10,000 meters outdoors).

EKU will compete next on Saturday, at the Memphis Twilight Classic.

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)

For the third time in four years, Eastern Kentucky has the Male Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Here’s a look at that item, along with EKU’s third-place finishes at the OVC Championships and what’s up with the University of Kentucky, which a conference Runner of the Week.

Track and field fans in the Lexington area will want to mark Thursday on the calendar. That’s when the public schools will gather at Paul Laurence Dunbar for the City High School Championships, starting at 6 p.m.

OVC Freshman of the Year

Soufiane Bouchikhi, from Antwerp, Belgium, is the OVC Male Freshman of the Year for the outdoor season, replicating what he achieved indoors.

Soufiane Bouchikhi

He follows in the footsteps of teammates Elkana Kurgat and Shannon Davis, who won OVC Male Freshman honors for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The award was created in 2005.

Bouchikhi posted the fastest 5,000 meters in the conference this season, 14:01.74, to place second at the Penn Relays – a mere two-hundredths of a second behind Lewis Woodard of William & Mary.

The full list of OVC award winners: Megan Gingerich, Eastern Illinois (Female Track Athlete of the Year); Kandace Arnold, Eastern Illinois (Female Field Athlete); Elizabeth Bond, Jacksonville State, and Jerika Lewis, Southeast Missouri (Freshman Co-Athletes); Chris Gill, Southeast Missouri (Male Track Athlete); Brandon Colbert, Southeast Missouri (Male Field Athlete), and Bouchikhi. 

OVC Championships

EKU’s men and women both placed third in last weekend’s rain-shortened OVC Championships at Tennessee Tech, winning eight individual titles.

Heading the list was Bouchikhi, who took the 5,000 in 15:00.37.

Eastern Illinois won the men’s title with 261 points, followed by Southeast Missouri with 128, EKU with 106, Tennessee State with 61 and Morehead State with 22.

EKU’s other male champions were Christopher Rengifo in the 1,500 (3:54.19), Joseph Maina in the 10,000 (30:23.75) and David Mutuse in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:39.72).

Eastern Illinois’ women prevailed with 212 points, followed by SEMO (155 1/2), EKU (131), Jacksonville State (73 1/2), Tennessee Tech (67), Austin Peay (66 1/2), Tennessee State (42 1/2), Murray State (30) and Morehead State (1).

EKU winners were Diamond Benjamin in the 100 (11.94), Lydia Kosgei in the 1,500 (4:39.99), Kat Pagano in the 5,000 (17:29.35) and the 4-by-100-meter relay team of Benjamin, Lutisha Bowen, Jazzmin Jeter and DanHeisha Harding (46.65).

Sorrillo, Banks win at Ohio State

Victories by Rondel Sorrillo, David Banks, Kristin Smith and Ashley Muffet highlighted Kentucky’s showing in the Jesse Owens Track Classic at Ohio State.

Rondel Sorrillo

Sorrillo, an Olympian from Trinidad and Tobago, showed that his progress is continuing after suffering a hamstring injury late in the indoor season. His winning time of 10.33 for 100 meters — his first try at the distance this season — puts him among the top 20 collegiate performers this season. Yet, he had to recover after stumbling out of the starting blocks.

No wonder the senior was named Male Runner of the Week in the Southeastern Conference.

Banks eclipsed his school record in the triple jump by half an inch, winning the event with a distance of 51 feet, 5 1/2 inches.

Ashley Muffet

Smith notched the second-best mark in school history to win the hammer throw at 208-7. That moved her from 12th in the national rankings to No. 4.

Muffet uncorked her best effort in nearly four years to take shot-put honors at 53-11 1/4. That improved her national ranking from No 16 to No. 11.

Other top performers for UK including Josh Nazdam, fourth in the men’s 1,500 (3:47.07) and Samantha Stenzel, who matched her school record (12-7 1/2) to tie for third in the women’s pole vault.

Aggies on top

Texas A&M is No. 1 in both the men’s and women’s rankings compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Aggies are defending NCAA champions in each.

The SEC has eight of the top 25 men’s teams (3. Florida; 7. LSU; 8. Auburn; 12. Mississippi; 13. Mississippi State; 16. South Carolina; 23. Georgia; 25. Arkansas) and four of the top 25 women’s squads (2. LSU; 9. Arkansas; 10. Florida; 14. Auburn).

Among area men’s teams, Louisville is No. 29, Kentucky is No. 43 and Western Kentucky is No. 54

On the women’s side, UK is 30th, U of L 32nd and Western 131st.

In-state individuals with top 10 rankings are U of L men Matt Hughes (4. steeplechase), Steve Hnat (8. shot put) and Tone Belt (9. long jump) and woman Jere’ Summers (6. discus and hammer throw); UK men Sharif Webb (8. 800) and Colin Boevers (10. discus), and women Kristin Smith (4. hammer throw) and Ashley Muffet (5. discus); and WKU male Gavin Smellie (3. 200).

For more details, see: http://www.ustfccca.org/featured/dual-defending-champion-aggies-move-to-nation%e2%80%99s-top-spot-once-again

For team-by-team reports, see: http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings