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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – For the second consecutive week, Eastern Kentucky University distance runners freshman Soufiane Bouchikhi and senior Kat Pagano have been named the Ohio Valley Conference Male and Female Cross Country Runners of the Week.

Bouchikhi led the men’s team, which is now ranked sixth in the Southeast Region, to its third win in as many races this season against a talented 30-team field at the Memphis Twilight Classic on Saturday. The Belgian finished second out of 284 runners, losing only to Auburn’s Ben Cheruiyot by two seconds, with an 8K time of 23:17.99 and led the Colonel men to victory over several regionally-ranked teams, including Arkansas-Little Rock (No. 7 in the South Central), Auburn (No. 7 in the South), Stephen F. Austin (No. 8 in the South Central) and South Alabama (No. 9 in the South).

Pagano paced the women’s team, now ranked 13th in the Southeast Region, to a second place finish out of 32 teams at the Memphis Twilight Classic. The Hollis, Me. native ran a season-best 5K time of 17:43.25 as the Colonels women lost only to Stephen F. Austin (No. 7 in the South Central) and defeated such ranked foes as UAB (No. 8 in the South) and Auburn (No. 11 in the South).

Both runners return to action this weekend as the Colonels travel to compete at the talent-laden Louisville Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 2