STANFORD RESULTS I N.C. STATE RESULTS

STANFORD, Calif. – The Eastern Kentucky University track and field team opened its outdoor season this weekend and senior Kat Pagano and sophomore Soufiane Bouchikhi took advantage of a fast field at the Stanford Invitational as both ran top-five 5,000 meters times in school history.

Competing against some of the top distance runners in the country at Cobb Track, Pagano finished 11th in her heat of the women’s 5,000 meters, breaking the 17:00 mark for the first time in her career with a personal-best time of 16:56.26. Her time is the third-fastest in school history, about 51 seconds shy of Sue Schaefer’s school record of 16:05.0 set in 1978.

Bouchikhi placed 13th in his heat of the men’s 5,000 meters, breaking the 14:00 mark for the first time in his career with a personal-best time of 13:58.17. His time is the second-fastest in school history, eclipsing his previous mark of 14:01.71, set last year. Jacob Korir still owns the top time in school history with a 13:29.12, set in 2008.

Three other Colonel distance runners also traveled to California this weekend. Junior Lydia Kosgei placed second in her heat of the women’s 1,500 meters on Friday night with time of 4:29.0, less than a second shy of her personal-best time of 4:28.04, which is fourth-best in school history. Sophomore Victor Kemboi, meanwhile, finished eighth in his heat of the men’s 1,500 meters with a time of 3:56.13, while junior David Mutuse placed 24th in his heat of the men’s 5,000 meters with a time of 14:47.04.

The remainder of the EKU track and field team competed at the North Carolina State Raleigh Relays this weekend at Paul Derr Track.

Notable Colonel performances from that meet included junior Diamond Benjamin, who finished fifth in the finals of the women’s 100 meters with a time of 12.09, freshman Ole Hesselbjerg, who finished third in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:11.67 and junior Alex Dreyer, who finished 18th in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 31:47.03.

The track and field team returns to action this weekend when the Colonels compete at the Centre College Invitational on Saturday, April 2.