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CHARLESTON, Ill. – There were a pair of first-time winners on Friday at the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships. The UT Martin men and Tennessee Tech women were victorious in capturing their first OVC Championships on the cross country course.
The event was held on the campus of Eastern Illinois for the first time since 2017.
The men’s race ended up with UT Martin and Southern Indiana each finishing with 62 points, sending the Championship result to a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker rules state, “Ties in team scoring shall be broken by comparing in order the place finish of each of the five scoring members of the tied teams; the team with the majority of winning comparisons shall be awarded the higher place.” UT Martin had the better top three finishers and was declared the 2025 Champions.
It marked the first-ever OVC Men’s Cross Country Championship for UT Martin; the team’s previous best finish was second (2022).
Southeast Missouri (96) finished third, one point ahead of host Eastern Illinois (97). Tennessee Tech was fifth (100) and followed by Little Rock (164), Morehead State (174), Western Illinois (220), SIUE (227), Lindenwood (278) and Tennessee State (322).
UT Martin redshirt junior
Luke Johnson became the first Skyhawk to win the OVC Championship since 2017 (the last time the event was in Charleston) with an 8K time of 24:18.88, four seconds ahead of second place. Johnson was the 2022 OVC Freshman of the Year (and finished 18th at that year’s Championship) and finished 11th at the 2023 Championship before missing last year’s event with an injury.
Tennessee Tech’s
Carter Bradford was the runner-up (24:22.83), the highest finish by a Golden Eagle since 2016. Southern Indiana’s
Alex Nolan, voted the OVC Athlete of the Year before the Championship, finished third (24:25.98) to earn his third-straight All-OVC honor (10th in 2023, 8th in 2024).
The Tennessee Tech women finished with 60 points, topping the field by 19 points in garnering its first OVC Cross Country Championship. The team’s previous best finish was a runner-up placement in 2021.
Southeast Missouri finished second (79), one point ahead of last year’s champion Southern Indiana (80), who was two points better than host Eastern Illinois (82). SIUE (148) was fifth and followed by Western Illinois (150), UT Martin (177), Little Rock (182), Morehead State (209), Lindenwood (305) and Tennessee State (364).
Southeast Missouri redshirt junior
Nova Ojutkangas repeated as OVC Champion, covering the 6K course in 20:57.05. She is the first competitor to repeat as OVC Champion since UTM’s Ann Asipan in 2015 and 2016. EIU’s
Brenda Torres was second (21:04.24), earning her third-straight All-OVC honor (she was 8th in 2023 and 7th a season ago).
Following the races, UT Martin’s
Anthony Palacio was voted OVC Men’s Coach of the Year while Tennessee Tech’s
Peter Dalton was voted OVC Women’s Coach of the Year. It was the first award for both individuals.
Men's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Alex Nolan, Southern Indiana
Athlete of the Championship: Luke Johnson, UT Martin
Coach of the Year: Anthony Palacio, UT Martin
Freshman of the Year: Kraedyn Young, Southern Indiana
All-OVC First Team
Luke Johnson, UT Martin
Carter Bradford, Tennessee Tech
Alex Nolan, Southern Indiana
Angus Monro, UT Martin
Aidan Massey, Morehead State
Dominick Beine, Southern Indiana
Nick Cimmarusti, Southeast Missouri
All-OVC Second Team
Garrett Dumke, Southeast Missouri
Michael Atkins, Eastern Illinois
Zak Myles-Hawkins, Tennessee Tech
Jordan Smith, Little Rock
Cale Smith, Eastern Illinois
Zach Morin, Little Rock
Keagan Enicks, UT Martin
Women's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Ellie Hall, Southern Indiana
Athlete of the Championship: Nova Ojutkangas, Southeast Missouri
Coach of the Year: Peter Dalton, Tennessee Tech
Freshman of the Year: Joy Jepleting, Tennessee Tech
All-OVC First Team
Nova Ojutkangas, Southeast Missouri
Brenda Torres, Eastern Illinois
Christy Muldrew, SIUE
Hadessah Austin, Southern Indiana
Ellie Hall, Southern Illinois
Naomy Lokiles, Tennessee Tech
Makaleigh Jessee, Tennessee Tech
All-OVC Second Team
Lydia Bennett, Western Illinois
Aaliyah Joshua, Little Rock
Rylea Borgic, Eastern Illinois
Jane Lokiles, Tennessee Tech
Maggie Roy, UT Martin
Kinze Shea, SIUE
Zoe Seward, Southern Indiana