Cross Country 4th & 5th At OVC Championships

Derek Ericson earns All-OVC Honors

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Eastern Illinois cross country placed 4th on the men’s side and 5th on the women’s side as both teams competed Saturday morning at the Ohio Valley Conference championships hosted by Southeast Missouri.

The men entered the championship hoping to compete for this year’s championship but did not compete at full strength as senior Brad Butler, the team’s top runner all season long was a scratch at the start of the meet. Sophomore Derek Ericson did post a strong effort as EIU’s top finisher earning first team All-OVC honors with an 8th place finish. Ericson crossed in 26:09.9.

Junior Mario Castrejon was 19th as EIU’s second finisher at 26:58.2 while Aaron Iaun, Nic Kuczwara and Dave Holm all finished within four spots of each other. Iaun was 24th with Kuczwara 25th and Holm 27th.

On the women’s side junior Erin O’Grady led a pack of four EIU runners that all finished within five spots of each other. O’Grady was in at 19:48.8 good for 18th place. Caitlin Napoleoni was 20th with Brittany Arthur 22nd and Erica Foltys 23rd. The Panthers fifth place runner scoring points was freshman Jenna Wise in 35th place at 20:42.2

The women’s team championship was won by Eastern Kentucky with 50 points while Murray State was just behind with 55 points. Southeast Missouri was a close third with 59 points. Tennessee Tech edged EIU by four points with 113 while EIU was 5th with 117 points. Morehead State, Austin Peay, UT Martin, Jacksonville State and Tennessee State rounded out the field.

Stephanie Place of TTU was the women’s champion with a time of 18:16.7. Juli Koenegstein of SEMO was second and Katelyn Jones of Murray State third.

On the men’s side Eastern Kentucky domisteeplewebd the event with 17 points for first place. Joseph Maina was led a trio of EKU runners to finish in the top three. Maina was in at 25:14.5.

Southeast Missouri was second with 66 points followed by Morehead State with 80 points and EIU with 100. Jacksonville State was fifth with 157 points followed by Tennessee Tech, Austin Peay, Murray State, UT Martin and Tennessee State.

The Midwest Regional will take place on November 15 at Oklahoma State.