• Official Results | Men's Results (PDF) | Women's Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery | Championship Central
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Eastern Kentucky men's and women's teams ran to victories at the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Osage Center.
It marked the 13th-straight championship (and 27th overall) for the Eastern Kentucky men, and the seventh-straight and 32nd overall title for the women.
In the women’s race, Eastern Kentucky placed four runners in the top nine overall in taking the team title with 33 points. Host Southeast Missouri equaled its highest-ever finish by placing second with 80 points. There were followed by Belmont (90), Morehead State (109) and Eastern Illinois (111). The fourth-place finish by Morehead State was its best since 2006 (when they were also fourth). The team standings were rounded out by UT Martin (170), Tennessee Tech (204), Murray State (213), SIUE (230), Austin Peay (262), Jacksonville State (276) and Tennessee State (375).
In the men’s race, Eastern Kentucky put its’ top five runners in top nine overall, in finishing with 29 points. That was 20 points better than Belmont, a regional-contender in the South, who had two individuals in the top five to finish with 49 points. Tennessee Tech finished with 97 points in finishing third, its’ highest finish since placing second in 1967 (when only eight teams were in the meet). Eastern Illinois was fourth (108) and followed by Morehead State (122), UT Martin (148), SIUE (198), Southeast Missouri (217), Murray State (253), Austin Peay (262), Jacksonville State (344) and Tennessee State (361).
In the individual competition, Tennessee Tech sophomore
Purity Sanga, the 2018 OVC Athlete of the Year, won her first OVC Championship title after finishing sixth a year ago. She covered the 5K course in 17:01.7, which was more than 14 seconds better than second place. She is only the second TTU female athlete to win the OVC Championship, joining Stephanie Place in 2008. Eastern Kentucky junior
Lilian Kiborus was second (17:15.9) and followed by Morehead State’s
Sierra Poppell (17:28.8), who had the best finish by an MSU runner since Karen Lutes won in 2001. EKU’s
Gladys Cheruiyot was fourth (17:34.4), Belmont’s
Kortney Schardt was fifth (17:36.2), EKU’s
Lilian Ndorobo was sixth and Southeast Missouri’s
Kaitlyn Shea was seventh (17:36.7) to round out the All-OVC first-team.
In the men’s competition, Eastern Kentucky sophomore
James Sugira, the 2018 OVC Athlete of the Year, recorded the fastest 8K time in OVC Championship history, cruising to first place with a time of 23:31.6. That was over 37 seconds better than second place, the largest margin since 2004 (when EKU’s Jacob Korir won by 47 seconds). He is the first EKU runner to win the race since 2015 (Erick Rotich), although the Colonels have had the male winner in eight of the past 10 years overall. Belmont’s
Jacob McLeod, the 2018 OVC Freshman of the Year, was second (24:07.2), the highest finish for a Bruin at the OVC Championship. McLeod’s time was 10 seconds better than third-place
Dustin Hatfield of Eastern Illinois (24:17.8), while EKU’s
David Bascunana Corrales was fourth (24:23.4). Belmont’s
Kaleb McLeod, Jacob’s older brother, was fifth (24:27.4), while UT Martin’s
Ryan Ford finished sixth (24:31.3) and EKU’s
Erick Rotich was seventh (24:33.5).
Eastern Kentucky’s
Cory Erdmann was named both OVC Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year. Erdmann is in his first season as head coach after taking over for his legendary father (who won 55 combined Coach of the Year awards during his career).
Men's Awards
Athlete of the Year: James Sugira, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: James Sugira, Eastern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Cory Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Jacob McLeod, Belmont
All-OVC First Team
James Sugira, Eastern Kentucky
Jacob McLeod, Belmont
Dustin Hatfield, Eastern Illinois
David Corrales, Eastern Kentucky
Kaleb McLeod, Belmont
Ryan Ford, UT Martin
Erick Rotich, Eastern Kentucky
All-OVC Second Team
Samuel Abascal, Eastern Kentucky
Antoine Senard, Eastern Kentucky
Brannon Cheplak, Tennessee Tech
Matthew Edwards, Belmont
Remi Schyns, Eastern Kentucky
Aidan Thompson, Belmont
Cole Barkocy, Eastern Kentucky
Women's Awards
Athlete of the Year: Purity Sanga, Tennessee Tech
Athlete of the Championship: Purity Sanga, Tennessee Tech
Coach of the Year: Cory Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Co-Freshman of the Year: Janet Kwambai, Tennessee Tech
Co-Freshman of the Year: Lilian Ndorobo, Eastern Kentucky
All-OVC First Team
Purity Sanga, Tennessee Tech
Lilian Kiborus, Eastern Kentucky
Sierra Poppell, Morehead State
Gladys Cheruiyot, Eastern Kentucky
Kortney Schardt, Belmont
Lilian Ndorobo, Eastern Kentucky
Kaitlyn Shea, Southeast Missouri
All-OVC Second Team
Sydney O’Brien, Southeast Missouri
Meggan Grams, Eastern Kentucky
Carli Knott, Southeast Missouri
Aly Goff, SIUE
Alondra Hoyos, Eastern Kentucky
Grace Rowan, Eastern Illinois
Avani Flanagan, Eastern Illinois