EIU 2nd, 3rd at OVC Cross Championships

Sunday, November 1 2009 - OVC Championships


 

Three Panthers earn All-OVC honors
2009 OVC Cross Country Championships
 

 


NASHVILLE - Eastern Illinois posted two solid team efforts on Saturday as the Panthers placed second and third at the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by Tennessee State at Edwin Warner Park in Nashville. EIU will now move on to the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 14 in Springfield, Mo. 

The EIU men had three runners finish in the top twenty as the Panthers placed second overall in the meet. EIU scored 89 points to finish second as Eastern Kentucky captured the team title with 22 points. Southeast Missouri was third overall with 98 points. The individual men's winner was Wesley Ruttoh of Eastern Kentucky with an 8K time of 25:39.24. 

Matt Feldhake earned second team All-OVC honors as he placed 14th overall in the field with a time of 27:06.13. He was the Panthers top finisher followed closely by David Holm in 15th with a time of 27:11.61. Bradley LaRocque was 20th at 27:34.44, Aaron Iaun was 25th at 27:35.21 and Connor Kustief closed out the scored runners in 24th at 27:44.80. The final three EIU runners in the championship were Harrison Bueno in 25th at 27:49.01, Mario Castejon in 26th at 27:49.77 and Jason Springer in 44th at 29:18.19. 

The EIU women had three runners in the top fifteen but the Panthers were edged out finishing in third place. EIU scored 65 points to finish just behind second place Murray State who scored 63 points. Eastern Kentucky won the title with 32 points. Picoty Leitich of EKU was the individual winner at 19:29.05. 

Senior Erin O'Grady earned first team All-OVC honors with a sixth place finish in a time of 20:16.30. Freshman Olivia Klaus was a second team All-OVC performer covering the 5K distance in a time of 20:26.88. Danielle Dickman placed 15th in 20:38.89, Brittney Arthur was 17th in 20:50.13 and Gabriela Duenas was 19th at 21:03.65 to round out the five scored EIU runners. The final three EIU runners in the championship were Erika Ramos in 20th at 21:07.68, Erika Foltysin 27th at 21:32.37 and Britney Whitehead in 32nd at 21:42.90