Men's Cross Country Story courtesy of ekusports.com

EKU Men’s Cross Country Punches Ticket to NCAA Championships for Fourth Consecutive Season

Complete Results

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Eastern Kentucky University men's cross country team punched its ticket to the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive year on Friday, finishing second at the NCAA Southeast Regional at Roger Milliken Research Park.
 
The top two teams from each of the nine regional meets around the country automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, and EKU finished second only to Wake Forest on Friday. The Colonels scored 104 points at the meet, edging Virginia Tech (by one point), North Carolina, and Duke to secure the second automatic bid out of the region.
 
It will be the 10th time in the last 15 years that the EKU men have competed at the national championship meet.
 
Senior All-American Taha Er Raouy led the way for the Colonels, finishing  third out of 249 competitors and covering the 10K course in a time of 28:41.6.
 
Senior Brett Rushman was second on the team and eighth overall in a time of 29:18.8
 
Er Raouy and Rushman both earned NCAA All-Southeast Region honors following the meet.
 
All-American Brian Kimutai was 27th with a time of 29:42.4, while Bradley Giblin (29th / 29:44.5) and Enoch Bokaba (37th / 29:48.9) rounded out EKU's scoring five.
 
Freshman Brighter Jepchumba and sophomore Edna Chelulei led the EKU women to a ninth place finish on Friday – their best regional finish since 2018.
 
Jepchumba finished third overall out of 268 runners, covering the 6K course in a time of 19:00.9. Chelulei was not far behind in eighth with a time of 19:08.7.
 
Jepchumba and Edna were named NCAA All-Southeast Region at the conclusion of the meet.
 
By finishing third, Jepchumba secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships as an individual. Chelulei will likely earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships as an individual tomorrow, once at-large teams have been announced.
 
Jepchumba is the fifth EKU woman ever to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual. Chelulei made it last year as an at-large selection.
 
Sophomore Morgan Kobylinski finished 48th overall in a time of 20:30.1, followed by sophomore Metrine Serem (70th / 20:58.6) and junior Ines Mrabet (87th / 21:22.7).
 
The EKU women finished just behind eighth-place Kentucky on the day, and defeated the likes of Wake Forest and Louisville.
 
The NCAA Championships will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Indiana.