The ninth-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s cross country team earned its 13th consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Saturday morning at the Kirksville Country Club in Kirksville, Missouri.
Sophomore Austin Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) was named the GLVC Runner of the Year after becoming a GLVC Champion, crossing the line in 24 minutes, 28.66 seconds on the hilly 8,000-meter course. Nolan is the son of Jim Nolan, a four-time GLVC Champion (1980-83).
Second across the line was senior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) in 24:35.64. Senior Cain Parker(Petersburg, Indiana) rounded out the top five in 24:50.47. USI was able to get four runners in the top six as junior Darin Lawrence (Indianapolis, Indiana) finished just seconds behind Parker in 24:53.34.
Capping the scoring for the Screaming Eagles was senior James Cecil (Owensboro, Kentucky) with an 11th place finish in a time of 25:13.95. Sophomores Nathan Hall (Springfield, Missouri) and Javan Winders(Mansfield, Tennessee) also earned top 20 finishes as part of USI’s top seven.
By finishing in the top 15, Nolan, Grau, Parker, Lawrence, Cecil and Hall were named All-GLVC. Head Coach Mike Hillyard was named Coach of the Year.
USI won the event with 24 points, 19 ahead of second place Lewis University. The Eagles now have 25 GLVC Championships.
USI will take the next two weeks to prepare for the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships November 4 in Cedarville, Ohio.
