COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech cross country teams head
to Alabama Saturday to compete in the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference
Championships. The meet will be held at Oxford Lake Park in Oxford,
Ala., and is hosted by Jacksonville State.
The day's schedule begins with a women's 5K race at 9:15 a.m.,
with the men's 8K contest planned for a 10 a.m. starting gun.
It marks the first time that Jacksonville State University has
hosted the meet since the Gamecocks joined the Conference prior to
the 2003 season. The meet is free and open to the public.
Golden Eagle coach Tony Cox has his lineups set for the meet, with
eight men and eight women scheduled to compete.
Two different runners have set the pace for the Tech women's team
this year, with senior Beth Mitchell leading her team in three of
the five meets and junior Rebecca Cline pacing the Golden Eagles in
the other two. Each has finished second in every race that she
wasn't the team's leader, and they are expected to play those same
leadership roles on Saturday.
Also running for Tech will be Meghan O'Donoghue, who has finished
third on the team in four of the five races. Joining that threesome
will be Kathryn Forbes, Landry Loving, Elizabeth Mitchell and Peri
Winborne. Forbes and Mitchell have each posted their career-best
times this season. Loving placed third on the team in the most
recent meet, the Berry College Invitational.
Three different runners have led the Tech men's team this year in
its five meets. Matt Bishop was the TTU pacesetter in each of the
first two meets, Michael Mahan led in the next two, and Sterling
Smith was the top placer in the Berry meet. One other runner who
has consistenly been among the top three has been Adam McLeod.
Joining that threesome in Tech's lineup Saturday will be Kolbe
Andrzejewski, Daniel Francis, Charlie Jordan and Matt Pennycuff.
Andrzejewski, Francis, Mahan, McLeod and Smith have all raced to
their career-best 8K times this year.
This will be the 51st OVC men’s championship, as the first
one was held in 1962. Eastern Kentucky has won the most OVC
Championships (20), including the last six in a row and seven of
the last eight. EKU has had the individual champion in each of the
last eight years.
The women’s championship will be determined for the 34th
time this year. Eastern Kentucky has won 25 of the previous 33
championships, although Eastern Illinois enters the meet as the
defending champion. EKU has had the individual winner each of the
last three years.
This year’s meet includes 12 teams for the first time, as
SIUE is postseason eligible for the first time and Belmont is in
its first year in the league.
The OVC Athletes and Freshmen of the Year, which are determined by
coaches vote, will be announced on Friday and awarded along with
Coach of the Year, Athletes of the Championship and All-OVC honors
following Saturday’s Championship.
Men’s Preview
Eastern Kentucky, the six-time defending champion,
enters Saturday’s race as the favorites as they enter the
meet ranked No. 13 nationally in the USTFCCCA poll. That marks the
highest-ranking in school history for the program that finished
26th at NCAA Championship a season ago. The Colonels have competed
at several of the top meets in the country this season, including
most recently the Wisconsin adidas® Invitational where the team
finished ninth out of a competitive 45-team field. The squad also
won meets at Memphis and Vanderbilt and finished fifth at Notre
Dame. Junior Soufiane Bouchikhi, the two-time
defending OVC Champion, was 13th overall at the Wisconsin meet, but
for the first time in his career was not the top EKU finisher in a
race; Bouchikhi finished three spots behind sophomore Ben
Toroitich who ran the fastest 8K time in the OVC this
season (23:36.0) to finish 10th.
Eastern Illinois has finished as runner-up at the OVC Championship
in two of the last three years and enters the meet ranked 15th in
the Midwest Region. Sophomore Bryce Basting
finished 11th at the OVC Championship as a freshman and was named
OVC Runner of the Week on Sept. 18 after his performance at the
Illinois Intercollegiate. In his last race he ran the fifth-fastest
8K time in the OVC this season (24:23.00) at the Bradley
Classic.
Southeast Missouri finished as the meet runner-up in 2008 and 2010
and was third a season ago. Junior Brent Collins
placed 10th at the OVC Championship last season and owns the top 6K
time in the OVC this season (19:28.4). Senior Nate
Shipley is looking to lockup his third-straight Top 10
finish at the OVC Championship as he was ninth in 2010 and third a
season ago.
Host Jacksonville State recorded its best OVC Championship finish
in 2007, the only time the meet has been held in the state of
Alabama (Samford hosted in Hoover that year). Senior Matt
Brick earned a pair of OVC Runner of the Week honors this
season for the Gamecocks.
Although not currently in the regional rankings, Belmont has been
regionally-ranked this season as it prepares for its first OVC
Championship. In its tune-up meet for this weekend’s
championship, the Bruins were seventh at the Blue Ridge Open hosted
by Appalachian State.
Austin Peay senior Konnor Kessler has been the
Governors top finisher in every meet this season including posting
the fifth-best 5K time (16:17.35) in the league this season at the
Front Runner Invitational two weeks ago.
Morehead State has made strides under second-year head coach
Brent Ericksen including winning the Fast Cats
Classic in Owensboro, Ky. two weeks ago. Junior newcomer
Zachariah Elliott led the Eagles in that meet and
has been MSU’s top finisher in each race this season. Overall
Morehead State has placed fourth at the Championship each of the
last two years.
A young Murray State squad has been paced by freshmen
Lucas Prather and Jared Koerner
this season. Overall the MSU roster includes six freshmen and three
sophomores.
After completing its reclassification to Division I, SIUE will
compete in its first OVC Championship this weekend. The Cougars
have been paced by senior Aaron Werths this
season; Werths took first place at the SIUE John Flamer Invite two
weeks ago and ran a competitive time at the Greater Louisville
Classic earlier this season. Freshman Clint Kliem
has also been solid for SIUE this season.
For the first time in six OVC Championships Tennessee State did
not finish at the bottom of the pack a season ago. The Flying
Tigers look to continue its improvement on Saturday with a roster
that includes sophomore Adrian McDaniel who led
the team at the Front Runner Invitational two weeks ago.
Tennessee Tech has finished seventh at the OVC Championship in
each of the past two seasons. The Golden Eagles were led by
freshman Sterling Smith’s 12th place finish
at the Berry College Viking Open two weeks ago.
A year ago UT Martin placed fifth at the OVC Championship, marking
the program’s highest finish since joining the league in
1992. This season the Skyhawks will look to improve on that finish
with senior Tallon Scott and freshman
Justin Morgan, who have been the team’s most
consistent runners this year.
Women’s
Preview
By placing four runners in the Top 11 last season
Eastern Illinois claimed its second overall OVC Championship and
first since the 2001 season. The Panthers return four of its top
five finishers from a season ago including senior Olivia
Klaus who is looking to lock up her fourth-straight
All-OVC selection this season. Klaus was eighth as a freshman in
2009, fourth in 2010 and fifth a season ago; this season she owns
the third-best 6K time (21:35.00) time in the OVC, a mark that
stands as the EIU program record. Senior Erika
Ramos was the Panthers top finisher at the meet last year,
placing fourth overall, while senior Britney
Whitehead holds some of the top 5K and 6K times in the
league in 2012.
Despite having two of the top three finishers a year ago
(including senior Lydia Kosgei who qualified for the NCAA
Championship) Eastern Kentucky missed out on winning its
sixth-straight OVC Championship. Although currently not
regionally-ranked, EKU has been in the rankings this season and has
competed against some of the top competition in the country.
Sophomore Ann Eason, who was ninth at the
Championship last year, holds the top 5K (17:37.26) and 6K
(21:26.10) time in the OVC this season. The team also features
freshmen Viivi Rantanen and Julia van
Velthoven who look to contend.
Belmont enters its first OVC Championship ranked 14th in the
Southeast Region. Sophomore Mia Elbon has earned a
pair of OVC Runner of the Week honors this season and has the
third-best 5K (17:42.59) and second-best 6K (21:34.52) in the
Conference in 2012. A year ago she was named Atlantic Sun Freshman
of the Year.
Southeast Missouri is looking to improve on its third-place finish
from a season ago. The Redhawks have been paced by sophomore
Rebekah Lawson this season. Lawson earned OVC
Runner of the Week honors on Sept. 18 and warmed-up for the OVC
Championship by placing 29th in the Black Race at the NCAA
Pre-Nationals two weeks ago in Louisville.
Murray State has been a contender for the OVC Championship in each
of the past four years. Freshman Abigail
Ashbee-Simmonds has performed well this year leading the
Racers in three different meets. Junior Carolyne
Tanui led the team at the Notre Dame Classic earlier this
season, placing 10th in the Gold Race where MSU placed sixth as a
team.
Jacksonville State is looking to become the first host to win the
OVC women’s championship since 1990 when EKU hosted and won
the event. Senior Kailey Jensen earned OVC Runner
of the Week honors earlier this season and was the team’s top
finisher two weeks ago at the Alabama Crimson Classic.
Junior Xiamar Richards led Austin Peay a season
ago at the OVC Championship, placing 10th overall and earning
second-team All-OVC honors. Three weeks ago she won OVC Runner of
the Week honors after taking first place out of 87 runners at the
JSU Foothills Invitational, which was held on the same course the
OVC Championship will be contested on.
Morehead State prepared for the OVC Championship by running some
of the top times in school history two weeks ago at the Fast Cats
Classic. Seniors Anya Martinez and Holly
Mandzak each recorded Top 10 program times in the 5K, with
Martinez putting up the fifth-best time (18:12.90) in school
history and Mandzak running the ninth-best time (18:39.90).
Although a member of the OVC since 2008, SIUE just finished its
reclassification effort to Division I this past August and will be
competing in its first OVC Championship this weekend. Junior
Claire Brown and freshman Kirby
Hale have been two of the squad’s top runners this
season. Hale took first place at the team’s John Flamer
Invitational two weeks ago.
Tennessee State will look to redshirt freshman Oteia
Prince to lead its squad this weekend. Prince had a strong
effort at the Front Runner Invitational two weeks ago, placing
sixth among OVC runners (20th overall) with a 2-mile time of
12:27.01.
Tennessee Tech has consistently been paced by senior Beth
Miller and junior Rebecca Cline in its
meets this season. Cline was the team’s top finisher at the
OVC Championship a season ago.
Senior Amanda Wardlaw has been
one of UT Martin’s top runners this season. She along with
junior Hannah Wolters, who was 21st at the OVC
Championship a season ago, will look to lead the Skyhawks this
weekend.