Seven All-Conference runners propelled No. 10 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country to their 12th-consecutive team title at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships on Saturday in Rolla, Missouri. With 24 conference titles overall, the Screaming Eagles own the most in GLVC history among all sports.
Falling sixteen seconds shy of the top spot, junior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) lead the Eagles with a runner-up finish, while earning his first All-GLVC honor. Grau crossed the finish line with a time of 24 minutes, 18.18 seconds in his first GLVC Championship meet.
Senior Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) captured a top five finish with a time of 24:41, good enough for fourth and his second All-GLVC award. Senior Noah Lutz (Evansville, Indiana) and 2015 GLVC Freshman of the Year Darin Lawrence (Indianapolis, Indiana) finished in sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 24:45 and 24:58. Lutz captured his third All-Conference honor, while Lawrence received his first.
Rounding out the top ten individual finishers were juniors James Cecil (Owensboro, Kentucky) and Cain Parker (Petersburg, Indiana) in ninth and 10th, respectively. The duo received their first All-GLVC awards with their finishes.
Nathan Hall (Springfield, Missouri) was named the GLVC Freshman of the Year for his efforts, a 13th place finish and a time of 25:26. He is the eighth GLVC Freshman of the Year for the USI men’s cross country team as Eagles captured the award for the second-consecutive year.
As a team, the Eagles won the Championship with 28 points, defeating the field by 38. Lewis University and Bellarmine University finished seconds and third with 66 and 75 points, respectively. The University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Saint Joseph’s College round out the top five.
USI Head Coach Mike Hillyard earned two more GLVC Coach of the Year honors, bringing his career total to a combined 24, after leading both the men’s and the women’s teams to GLVC Championships Saturday.
USI returns to action November 5 when it hosts the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championships at Angel Mounds.
