CROSS COUNTRY CLAIMS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

EKU’s cross country program closed out a successful fall campaign with a conference championship and a pair of top-12 Southeast Regional finishes.

EKU’s men’s cross country team captured its first ASUN title in October, dominating the race with eight of the top 11 finishers. The Colonels’ 55-point win margin was the best at the ASUN Championship since 2013. EKU’s women earned the bronze medal at the ASUN Championship, earning 102 points in the 5K race.

Head coach Cory Erdmann captured his first ASUN Coach of the Year honor on the men’s side and sixth of his career.

Graduate student Ahmed Jaziri won the individual men’s conference title for the third consecutive year, earning the ASUN Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year. The All-American posted a career-best 8K time of 23:22.40. Senior Nikodem Dworczak was the runner-up in the 8K race.

The women’s team was led by graduate student Jone Zabaleta Larranaga, who finished in fourth place. Senior Anouk Van Gils finished in 13th place while senior Grace Kilroy claimed 16th place.

Following the conference title, the EKU men placed sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional. Hakim Abouzouhir earned AllSoutheast Region honors. The women finished 12th at the Southeast Regional.

Colonel Football Captures

22nd Conference Title

EKU’s football team captured its 22nd conference title in program history in 2022 and returned to the NCAA FCS Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.

After a loss at Eastern Michigan in the season opener, EKU faced its second FBS opponent in a row when it traveled to Bowling Green. Trailing 38-31 with 3:39 to play, the Colonels tied the game with two seconds left. The two squads battled through six overtime sessions. In the seventh overtime, the Colonel defense forced an incompletion, and Parker McKinney hit Braedon Sloan on a swing pass to give EKU a 59-57 victory and its first FBS win since 2014 in the second-longest game in Division I football history.

In other season highlights, EKU survived a wild Homecoming game against North Alabama. McKinney fired a six-yard strike with eight seconds remaining to Cornelius McCoy for a 56-53 win.

The Colonels followed the win with a road upset of No. 15 Southeast Missouri. A victory the following week over Central Arkansas put the Colonels in the playoff hunt. EKU sealed a 45-38 win over Kennesaw State, giving EKU a share of the ASUN regular-season championship and securing the Colonels’ first playoff berth since 2014.