Eagles set to race for OVC titles Saturday

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Men’s and Women’s Cross Country is set to toe the line at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships Saturday morning at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Morehead, Kentucky.
 
The men’s eight-kilometer race is scheduled for an 8 a.m. (CDT) start time, while the women’s 6k follows with a 9 a.m. start. Live results for the OVC Championships can be accessed at USIScreamingEagles.com.
 
USI is looking for its first-ever Division I team title after the men finished third and women finished second at the 2022 OVC Championships.
 
The Screaming Eagles dominated the men’s division in the Great Lakes Valley Conference prior to their move to Division I. USI captured a record 27 GLVC titles during their 43 years in Division II, including a GLVC-best 15 straight from 2015-19.
 
USI’s women also dominated the GLVC, winning the GLVC title for a record 14th time in 2021 and having won 11 conference championships in 14 years, including seven straight from 2011-17.
 
During their first year in the OVC in 2022, the Eagles did make some history as seniors Noah Hufnagel and Lauren Griewe each became the first USI student athletes to win a conference individual title at the Division I level. Hufnagel took home the men’s title in dramatic fashion, while Griewe, the 2022 OVC Female Runner of the Year, began the day with a near 20-second win in the women’s race.
 
Team wise, USI’s women were edged out by Eastern Illinois University by just one point, while the men finished behind Eastern Illinois and the university of Tennessee Martin.
 
This year, USI’s women have been undefeated against OVC teams in head-to-head competition, including a win over the defending champion EIU Panthers at the Live in Lou Classic last month.
 
The Eagles have been buoyed by the return of junior Cameron Hough (Olney, Illinois), who sat out the 2022 campaign due to injury, and the emergence of freshman Zoe Seward (Rochester, Indiana). Hough has three top-10 finishes under her belt this season, including a fifth-place showing at the Angel Mounds Invitational two weeks ago, while Seward has a pair of top 10 finishes and a top-20 finish under her belt.
 
Senior Mitchell Hopf (Santa Claus, Indiana) has been a strong number one for the men this year following a fourth-place finish at last year’s OVC Championships. He’ll be a contender for the individual title Saturday and is a big reason why the Eagles are in position to win a team title.
 
Hopf is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Angel Mounds Invitational, marking his second top-five finish of the year.
 
Red-shirt freshman Alex Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) has been a huge boost to USI’s efforts this season, with a pair of top-10 finishes to his credit in 2023.