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OXFORD, Ala. - The Eastern Kentucky men's and women's teams ran to victories at the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Oxford Lake Park in Oxford, Alabama.
It marked the ninth-straight championship (and 23rd overall) for the Eastern Kentucky men and the third-straight and 28th overall title for the women.
In the men’s race Eastern Kentucky swept the top five spots, just the fifth time in OVC history a team has recorded a perfect score of 15. The other occurrences were 1965 (Eastern Kentucky), 1980 (Western Kentucky) 1989 (Eastern Kentucky) and 2010 (Eastern Kentucky). The Colonels accomplished that with top runner and OVC Male Athlete of the Year
Amos Kosgey who remained home to rest for the NCAA Regionals in two weeks.
EKU’s total of 15 was 75 points better than Morehead State who was second (90) and followed by SIUE (93), Belmont (97), Eastern Illinois (109), Southeast Missouri (177), Tennessee Tech (181), Murray State (222), Austin Peay (282), host UT Martin (297), Jacksonville State (301) and Tennessee State (382).
The second-place finish for Morehead State was its best since placing second at the 2006 OVC Championship; the Eagles have now finished in the top four in each of the past five OVC Championships. SIUE’s third-place finish was its best finish in its three OVC Championship meets since joining the league.
In the women’s race the Colonels had five of the top six runners overall to win its third-straight title. EKU’s point total of 19 was 59 points better than second place Eastern Illinois (78). Belmont was third (86) and followed by Southeast Missouri (95), Murray State (144), Morehead State (154), SIUE (191), Austin Peay (225), Jacksonville State (274), Tennessee Tech (314), UT Martin (324) and Tennessee State (340).
In the individual competition Eastern Kentucky sophomore
Ambrose Maritim won his first OVC Championship with an OVC Championship record time of 23:59.29 in the 8K race. He is the 11th-straight EKU runner to win the OVC Championship. It marked the first collegiate victory of his career; he was second at the OVC Championship a year ago while earning OVC Freshman of the Year honors. He was followed by teammates
Luka Ndungu (24:02.07),
Ole Hesselbjerg (24:10.31),
Sean Vandermosten (24:14.92) and
Jakob Abrahamsen (24:22.20). Tennessee Tech sophomore newcomer
Geoffrey Sambu (24:28.18 in becoming the first TTU runner to finish in the Top 7 since 1995) and Belmont junior
Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson (24:34.58) finished sixth and seventh to round out the All-OVC first-team.
On Friday night Eastern Kentucky senior
Ann Eason earned her third-straight OVC Female Athlete of the Year Award (becoming the first female to accomplish that feat in OVC history) but on Saturday she finally claimed her first OVC Championship. Eason was eighth at the meet as a freshman and sixth as a sophomore before an injury kept her out of last year’s race where she would have been the favorite. This year she ran the 5K course in 17:04.73, becoming the fifth EKU runner in the last six years to win the award.
Belmont junior
Hannah Wittman improved from third a season ago to second this year, finishing two seconds behind Eason (17:06.81). Runners three through six were all from EKU as
Anna Reddin (17:26.12),
Una Britton (17:29.32),
Ann Tum (17:39.62) and
Julie Mathisen (17:41.09) ran close to each other with Southeast Missouri’s
Rebekah Lawson (17:42.10) finished seventh to round out the All-OVC first-team.
Eastern Kentucky's
Rick Erdmann was named both OVC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year. It marked the 21st time overall and ninth year in a row he has been bestowed the men's honor and the 28th time (and eighth time in the last nine years) he has won the women's honor. In total he has 49 combined Coach of the Year honors for his career.
Men's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Amos Kosgey, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Ambrose Maritim, Eastern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Ronald Korir, Eastern Kentucky
All-OVC First Team
Ambrose Maritim, Eastern Kentucky
Luka Ndungu, Eastern Kentucky
Ole Hesselbjerg, Eastern Kentucky
Sean Vandermosten, Eastern Kentucky
Jakob Abrahamsen, Eastern Kentucky
Geoffrey Sambu, Tennessee Tech
Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson, Belmont
All-OVC Second Team
Clint Kliem, SIUE
Ronald Korir, Eastern Kentucky
Gary Monroe, Morehead State
John Sharpe, Belmont
Thomas Koringo, Eastern Kentucky
Keith Meyer, SIUE
Nick Moore, SIUE
Women's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Ann Eason, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Ann Eason, Eastern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Maria Baldwin, Eastern Illinois
All-OVC First Team
Ann Eason, Eastern Kentucky
Hannah Wittman, Belmont
Anna Reddin, Eastern Kentucky
Una Britton, Eastern Kentucky
Ann Tum, Eastern Kentucky
Julie Mathisen, Eastern Kentucky
Rebekah Lawson, Southeast Missouri
All-OVC Second Team
Ashley Svec, Eastern Kentucky
Emily Brelsfoard, Eastern Illinois
Alex Morris, Morehead State
Jessica King, Belmont
Gloria Westlake, Southeast Missouri
Victoria Quarton, Eastern Illinois
Maria Baldwin, Eastern Illinois