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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky men's and women's teams ran to victories at the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Vaughn's Creek Cross Country Course at Percy Warner Park in Nashville.
It marked the 11th-straight championship (and 25th overall) for the Eastern Kentucky men and the fifth-straight and 30th overall title for the women.
In the men’s race, despite not having OVC Athlete of the Year and defending champion
Erick Roitch, Eastern Kentucky had the number two and three finishers and its top five runners in the Top 14 overall to finish with a team score of 37, which was 55 points better than second place and host Belmont (92). Morehead State finished third (101) and was closely followed by Eastern Illinois in fourth (103). Tennessee Tech finished fifth (139), its best finish since also placing fifth in 2009. The team standings were rounded out by UT Martin (164), SIUE (169), Murray State (175), Austin Peay (220), Southeast Missouri (224), Jacksonville State (361) and Tennessee State (367).
In the women’s race, Eastern Kentucky had three of the top five finishers to record a team score of 29. That was 65 points better than Southeast Missouri, who had its highest team finish second 2002 as the Redhawks finished with 94 points. Host Belmont was third (107) and followed closely by Eastern Illinois (110) and UT Martin (112) who had its second-highest finish ever (trailing only a fourth-place finish in 1995). The team standings were rounded out by Murray State (133), Tennessee Tech (175), SIUE (175), Morehead State (195), Jacksonville State (316), Austin Peay (354) and Tennessee State (357).
In the individual competition, Tennessee Tech’s
Gilbert Boit, the 2016 OVC Freshman of the Year, claimed OVC Athlete of the Championship honors by winning the race by nearly 10 seconds. In the process, he became the first Golden Eagle male runner to win the OVC Championship. Boit finished the 8K race in 24:20.9 as he out-distanced Eastern Kentucky’s
Ambrose Maritim down the stretch. EKU’s
Amos Kosgey was third (24:41.0) and followed by Morehead State’s
Farah Abdulkarim (24:42.9), SIUE’s
Keith Meyer (24:51.6), Morehead State’s
Justin Moakler (25:01.6) and Eastern Illinois’
Paxson Menard (25:05.5) to round out the All-OVC first-team.
The women’s race saw UT Martin senior
Ann Asipan become the first repeat winner of the OVC race since 2004-05 (and sixth all-time) as she edged OVC Female Athlete of the Year
Charlotte Imer of Eastern Kentucky. Asipan’s 5K winning time was 17:03.9, less than a second ahead of Imer (17:04.8). Murray State’s
Vallery Korir was third (17:18.1) while Eastern Kentucky’s
Lilian Jeptoo Kiborus (17:23.0), the OVC Freshman of the Year, was fourth, while teammate
Luisa Boschan was fifth (17:28.8). The All-OVC first-team was rounded out by Tennessee Tech’s
Micayla Rennick (17:29.8) and Southeast Missouri’s
Megan Parks (17:35.0)
Eastern Kentucky's
Rick Erdmann was named both OVC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year. It marked the 23rd time overall and 11th year in a row he has been bestowed the men's honor and the 30th time (and 10th time in the last 11 years) he has won the women's honor. In total, he has 53 combined Coach of the Year honors for his career.
Men's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Erick Rotich, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
All-OVC First Team
Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
Ambrose Maritim, Eastern Kentucky
Amos Kosgey, Eastern Kentucky
Farah Abdulkarim, Morehead State
Keith Meyer, SIUE
Justin Moakler, Morehead State
Paxson Menard, Eastern Illinois
All-OVC Second Team
Riley McInerney, Eastern Illinois
Jakob Abrahamsen, Eastern Kentucky
Jamaine Coleman, Eastern Kentucky
Edwin Kurgat, UT Martin
Matthew Edwards, Belmont
Fredrick Kanda, Eastern Kentucky
Thomas Koringo, Eastern Kentucky
Women's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Ann Aspian, UT Martin
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Lilian Jeptoo Kiborus, Eastern Kentucky
All-OVC First Team
Ann Asipan, UT Martin
Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Vallery Korir, Murray State
Lilian Jeptoo Kiborus, Eastern Kentucky
Luisa Boschan, Eastern Kentucky
Micayla Rennick, Tennessee Tech
Megan Parks, Southeast Missouri
All-OVC Second Team
Haley Yost, Eastern Kentucky
Ruth Garippo, Eastern Illinois
Gladys Cheruiyot, Eastern Kentucky
Hannah Denton, Belmont
Maria Baldwin, Eastern Illinois
Kaitlyn Shea, Southeast Missouri
Ciara Scott, Eastern Kentucky