RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University men's and women's cross country teams will try for their fourth consecutive conference banners on Saturday at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by Tennessee State at the Vaughn’s Gap Course at Percy Warner Park in Nashville.

The men’s 8K race will begin at 10:00 a.m. EST with the women’s 5K race to follow at 11:00 a.m. EST.

The event is being held in Nashville for the first time since 1997 and third time overall since 1991.

This will be the 48th OVC men’s championship, as the first one was held in 1962. The Colonels have won the most OVC Championships (17), including the last three in a row and four of the last five. EKU has had the OVC Runner of the Year in each of the last five years, including Jacob Korir’s four titles in a row (2004-07) and Joseph Maina’s title a year ago.

The women’s championship will be determined for the 31st time. The Colonels have won 23 of the previous 30 championships including three in a row and five of the last seven. Despite winning all those team championships, EKU has not had a Runner of the Year and individual champion since 2003. Runners from Samford (2004-07) and Tennessee Tech (2008) have laid claim to that honor over the last five years.

Men's Preview

The men’s cross country team will attempt to win its fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Championship on Saturday. 

Coming into the season, that goal seemed like a foregone conclusion. The Colonels were picked, almost unanimously, by OVC head coaches to repeat, and 2008 OVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year Maina was the only runner gone from a team that dominantly placed five of the top six finishers in last year’s conference championship meet. 

“I think the men are certainly capable of repeating,” 38-time (men and women combined) OVC Cross Country Coach of the Year Rick Erdmann said before the season. “Like every year, though, it will all depend on the attitude the kids bring to practice and how they progress throughout the season.” 

Leading the men’s team is a trio of 2008 first team All-OVC seniors – Stanley Mugo, Chris Rengifo and Elkana Kurgat. Mugo finished second at last year’s championships with a time of 25:24.4 and was named the OVC Co-Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year in the spring. Rengifo took fifth last year in 26:02.0 but had to redshirt the track and field season due to injuries. Kurgat, who was sixth in 2008 with a time of 26:04.0, has been a model of consistency during his cross country career at EKU, finishing in the top-six in the OVC the past three seasons. 

Junior David Willis, who placed 11th last year in 26:22.3 and was subsequently named second team All-OVC, is also returning to supplement EKU’s impressive depth. 

Injuries, however, have slowly taken a toll on that vaunted depth. 

Junior Evans Kiptoo, the third-place finisher at last year’s conference championship meet and a four-time OVC titlist in track and field, was lost to injury before the season even began and took a medical redshirt. 

Sophomore David Mutuse, who did not run cross country last year but produced a solid track and field season in the spring, also bowed out of 2009 with a medical redshirt. 

Because of all the significant injuries, several new faces are expected to emerge and become factors in the Colonels’ drive to win their fourth straight OVC banner. 

“The pressure is going to be on people who have never had pressure on them,” Erdmann said. “I think we have the depth to overcome these injuries and be competitive at the conference level, but our inexperienced guys are going to have step up and prove it.” 

Sophomore Alex Dreyer competed at the Southeast Region Championships last year and fellow sophomore Chris Rice placed 16th at the OVC Championships. Both runners, however, are expected to play bigger roles at this year’s conference meet. 

Other newcomers expected to be factors are junior Wesley Ruttoh and freshman Daniel Jones. Ruttoh, a transfer from Butler Community College (the same college that produced Maina), has been one of the Colonels’ top runners all season and, most recently, finished first on the team (and 64th overall) at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind. Jones, meanwhile, hails from New Zealand and has been one of the team’s top-eight runners for much of the year. 

Erdmann thinks the men will have to run in a pack more this year than in the past to have success at the OVC Championships. 

“The thing about cross country is that it’s a team sport,” Erdmann said. “We can’t have our top two guys up front and the rest of our guys spread out all over the place. We’ll have to run as a team if we want to win the OVC this year.”

Women's Preview

The women’s cross country team will also be pursuing its fourth straight league title in Nashville. 

“Just having the opportunity to win four consecutive league championships is something we’re really proud of and it’s a testament to the talent and mental strength of these girls,” Erdmann said. 

Despite having won the last three OVC Championships, the Colonels lost Barbara Phelan and Alli McMaster to graduation, both of whom were top-15 in the conference last year, and were picked to finish second in a preseason poll of league head coaches. 

Upstart Murray State, who the women edged at last year’s conference championships, was picked to finish first. 

At the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic on Sept. 9, however, EKU defeated Murray State by 59 points en route to finishing second behind only the host Commodores. 

It was the only time the two teams met during the season. 

Junior Katherine Pagano, who was the women’s top finisher in fifth place at last year’s OVC Championships, is back and running strong this season. The Hollis, Me. native won her first individual conference title in the 10,000 meters at the OVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the spring. 

Veterans Maria Doerger, Sondra Nieporte, Ashli Joseph, Danielle Mason and Ashley Chisholm also return from last year. 

Doerger was second team All-OVC last year after placing 10th at the OVC Championships. Mason (16th place), Joseph (17th place) and Chisholm (27th place) also competed at the conference meet in 2008, and Erdmann expects all of them to be bigger contributors this year. 

“Nieporte, Joseph, Mason and Chisholm all need to step up and be factors at the OVC level this year,” Erdmann said. 

Three new runners have also emerged this season and will be key contributors at the conference championships. 

Freshman Picoty Leitich has been the women’s top runner all year. The Bomet, Kenya native exploded onto the OVC scene by finishing third at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic and leading the Colonels over Murray State. Leitich has been named OVC Female Runner of the Week twice this season and her 5K time of 17:45.02 is the fastest in the conference. 

Two transfers, Sylvia Bundotich and Lydia Kosgei, have also competed well for EKU this season. Both have consistently finished in the Colonels’ top-five this year and figure to be featured runners at the OVC Championships. 

Like with the men, however, it will take a team effort to stave off a deep and talented Murray State team for the second straight year. 

“The team aspect of it is very important,” Erdmann said. “Our top three runners need to be competitive at the top of the conference and our 4-7 runners need to move closer together.”