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CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Kentucky men's and women's teams ran to victories at the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Panther Trail Course on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.
It marked the 12th-straight championship (and 26th overall) for the Eastern Kentucky men and the sixth-straight and 31st overall title for the women.
In the women’s race, Eastern Kentucky, who entered the meet ranked No. 21 nationally, completed a perfect score by sweeping the top five places. It marked the first time since 2004 (Samford) that an OVC women’s team had swept the team competition. Belmont was second (80), marking the third-time the Bruins have finished as runners-up since joining the OVC in 2012. Host Eastern Illinois was third (107) and followed closely at Southeast Missouri (116) and UT Martin (137), who finished fifth for the second-straight year. The team standings were rounded out by Murray State (167), SIUE (175), Tennessee Tech (218), Morehead State (219), Austin Peay (279), Jacksonville State (336) and Tennessee State (354).
In the men’s race, Eastern Kentucky placed its top five finishers in the Top 13 to finish with 36 points and claim the team title. Morehead State had three runners in the Top 10 in scoring 59 points, which was the closest a team has been to EKU during its 12-year winning streak. The second-place finish was the best finish for the Eagles since also placing second in 2014. Belmont finished third (94) and was followed closely by host Eastern Illinois (102) and UT Martin (116), who had its best finish since also placing fifth in 2011. The team standings were rounded out by Tennessee Tech (166), Austin Peay (187), Murray State (227), SIUE (243), Southeast Missouri (261), Jacksonville State (351) and Tennessee State (382).
In the individual competition, Eastern Kentucky junior
Charlotte Imer, the two-time OVC Athlete of the Year, won her first OVC Championship title with a 5K time of 16:52.25, the second-fastest winning time in OVC history (trailing only 16:33 by EKU’s Pam Raglan in 1986). The All-American won the race by 28 seconds after finishing in second place a year ago by less than one second; it marked the largest winning margin at the OVC Championship since 2005. Imer is the 20th different EKU runner to win OVC Athlete of the Championship honors. Luisa Boschan was second (17:20.79) and followed by teammates
Lilian Kiborus (17:23.50),
Ciara Scott (17:25.25) and
Haley Yost (17:26.91). Tennessee Tech’s
Purity Sanga, the 2017 OVC Freshman of the Year, was the first non-EKU finisher, placing sixth (17:30.95) and the All-OVC first-team was rounded out by EKU’s
Meggan Grams (17:34.47).
In the men’s competition, UT Martin sophomore
Edwin Kurgat became the first runner from his school to capture the individual championship, finishing the 8K course in 23:59.79. He was 14 seconds ahead of second place, the largest margin at the OVC Championship since 2013. EKU’s
Jamaine Coleman was second (24:13.77) while teammate
Addison Monroe was third (24:17.66). For the second-straight season Morehead State had the fourth-place finisher, as
Justin Moakler finished with a time of 24:20.82. Eastern Illinois’
Christopher Orlow was fifth (24:23.26) and followed by 2017 OVC Athlete of the Year (and last year’s champion)
Gilbert Boit from Tennessee Tech (24:24.84). EKU’s
Jaime Romo rounded out the All-OVC first-team with a time of 24:25.52).
Eastern Kentucky's
Rick Erdmann was named both OVC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year. It marked the 24th time overall and 12th year in a row he has been bestowed the men's honor and the 31st time (and 11th time in the last 12 years) he has won the women's honor. In total, he has 55 combined Coach of the Year honors for his career.
Men's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
Athlete of the Championship: Edwin Kurgat, UT Martin
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Dustin Hatfield, Eastern Illinois
All-OVC First Team
Edwin Kurgat, UT Martin
Jamaine Coleman, Eastern Kentucky
Addison Monroe, Eastern Kentucky
Justin Moakler, Morehead State
Christopher Orlow, Eastern Illinois
Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
Jaime Romo, Eastern Kentucky
All-OVC Second Team
Farah Abdulkarim, Morehead State
Dustin Hatfield, Eastern Illinois
Aaron Wier, Morehead State
Erick Rotich, Eastern Kentucky
Kaleb McLeod, Belmont
Jakob Abrahamsen, Eastern Kentucky
Declan McManus, Belmont
Women's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Purity Sanga, Tennessee Tech
All-OVC First Team
Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Luisa Boschan, Eastern Kentucky
Lilian Kiborus, Eastern Kentucky
Ciara Scott, Eastern Kentucky
Haley Yost, Eastern Kentucky
Purity Sanga, Tennessee Tech
Meggan Grams, Eastern Kentucky
All-OVC Second Team
Gladys Cheruiyot, Eastern Kentucky
Maria Baldwin, Eastern Illinois
Meagan Smith, Murray State
Jessica King, Belmont
Kaitlyn Shea, Southeast Missouri
Kortney Schardt, Belmont
Haley Miller, SIUE