Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #22 Eastern Kentucky Men
Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #22 Eastern Kentucky Men
Probable Top Five:
JR Amos Kosgey (14:20 5K; 29:10 10K; 193rd NCAA XC ’14)
JR Ambrose Maritim (8:18 3K; 14:02 5K; 115th NCAA XC ’14)
JR Luke Ndungu (8:26 3K; 14:22 5K; 134th NCAA XC ’14)
SO Jakob Abrahamsen (3:49 1500; 8:40 3K Steeple; 225th NCAA XC ’14)
JR Jaime Perales (29:26 10K; 8th Euro U-23 Champs 10K)
Impact Freshmen/Transfers:
Luis Luna via American River CC (9:13 3K Steeple)
Jaime Perales via Spain (29:26 10K; 8th Euro U-23 Champs 10K)
Harry Earl via England (8:20 3K; 14:29 5K)
Analysis:
If there’s one thing that Eastern Kentucky does really well, it’s recruit foreigners who can succeed at the NCAA level. Coach Rick Erdmann has built his program for the last 36 years on bringing the best of Europe and Africa into the US system and in 2013 the Colonels enjoyed their best finish ever at NCAA XC with their 15th place showing in Terre Haute.
Last season, having lost top man Soufiane Bouchikhi to graduation, EKU struggled at NCAAs with their 23rd place showing. Heading into this season, the Colonels will once again enter a new campaign without their top man from the year before, as steeple All-American Ole Hesselbjerg is officially done with his eligibility. Having lost two clear #1s in consecutive seasons, what is Coach Erdmann to do to keep his storied program afloat?
Reload.
In addition to experienced veterans Amos Kosgey and Ambrose Maritim, EKU will get serious contributions this season from Spanish transfer Jaime Perales and England’s Harry Earl. Perales has proven his chops on the XC course with his eighth place finish at the Euro U-23 XC Championships, while Earl brings solid track credentials with him across the pond. Tack on the wildcard of former Foot Locker finalist Luis Luna, and this team could potentially be in position to finish highest in team history at NCAAs this season despite losing two of the programs all-time greats the past couple seasons.
Also, expect big things from sophomore Jakob Abrahamsen, who ran 8:40 in the steeple this past spring as a frosh.
The Colonels may have lost a lot of star power in Bouchiikhi and Hesselbjerg, but they’re certainly made up for it by bringing in a new crop of talent that is capable of bringing Eastern Kentucky inside the top 15 this season. With Kosgey and Maritim leading, the Colonels should certainly be a better team in 2015 than they were last season.