Korir and Ventura Pace Racers At OVC Championship

Saturday, October 29

Nashville, Tenn.

Murray State

Ohio Valley Conference Championship

Photo by: Meagan Short

10/29/2016 11:35:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

OVC Women XC Final Results OVC Men XC Final Results

The Murray State cross country teams competed on a hot day at the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championship on a hot day at the Vaughn's Creek Cross Country Course at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mark Ventura and Vallery Korir led the way for the Racers in the races that measured 8K for the men and 6K for the women.

Ventura placed 15^th for the Racers with a time of 25:44 and became the first Racer to finish in the top-15 since Ryan Davis placed 11^th in 2002. Ventura's improvement came after he placed 26^th in the OVC finale last year.

Korir placed third with a time of 17:18 and was only 15 seconds behind the champion, Ann Asipan of Eastern Kentucky. Korir was only two seconds off her best 6K time this fall and fell just short of becoming MSU's first individual champion since 1982 when Diana Stewart was the OVC champ.

Korir was named All-OVC for her third place finish.

Rebekah Priddy and Ida Mutai each had PR's at the OVC event, as Meagan Smith was only one second off hers.

The OVC staged the 55^th men's championship, as the first one was held in 1962 and was the 38th for the women, after the first in 1979.

The Racers will now get ready to compete in the NCAA Regionals (Nov. 11) in Earlysville, Va.

OVC Women's Championship
Murray State Results
3 KORIR, Vallery 17:18
23 SMITH, Meagan 18:08
25 PRIDDY, Rebekah 18:11
40 MUTAI, Ida 18:35
46 HESTER, Ali 18:43
50 SWENSON, Mason 18:51
57 GROGAN, Caroline 19:00
72 FLAHERTY, Emily

OVC Men's Championship
Murray State Results
15 VENTURA, Mark 25:44
31 GALANES, Gavin 26:29
35 BALLEAU, Zach 26:41
37 STAVISKI, Evan 26:49
62 ACKMAN, Austin 28:05
64 MCCLELLAND, Alexander 28:22
65 TURNER, Vince 28:27
77 BRADLEY, Tyler 29:29

OVC Awards
Men
Athlete of the Year: Erick Rotich, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech

All-OVC First Team
Gilbert Boit, Tennessee Tech
Ambrose Maritim, Eastern Kentucky
Amos Kosgey, Eastern Kentucky
Farah Abdulkarim, Morehead State
Keith Meyer, SIUE
Justin Moakler, Morehead State
Paxson Menard, Eastern Illinois

All-OVC Second Team
Riley McInerney, Eastern Illinois
Jakob Abrahamsen, Eastern Kentucky
Jamaine Coleman, Eastern Kentucky
Edwin Kurgat, UT Martin
Matthew Edwards, Belmont
Fredrick Kanda, Eastern Kentucky
Thomas Koringo, Eastern Kentucky

OVC Awards
Women
Athlete of the Year: Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Athlete of the Championship: Ann Aspian, UT Martin
Coach of the Year: Rick Erdmann, Eastern Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Lilian Jeptoo Kiborus, Eastern Kentucky

All-OVC First Team
Ann Asipan, UT Martin
Charlotte Imer, Eastern Kentucky
Vallery Korir, Murray State
Lilian Jeptoo Kiborus, Eastern Kentucky
Luisa Boschan, Eastern Kentucky
Micayla Rennick, Tennessee Tech
Megan Parks, Southeast Missouri

All-OVC Second Team
Haley Yost, Eastern Kentucky
Ruth Garippo, Eastern Illinois
Gladys Cheruiyot, Eastern Kentucky
Hannah Denton, Belmont
Maria Baldwin, Eastern Illinois
Kaitlyn Shea, Southeast Missouri
Ciara Scott, Eastern Kentucky