EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field dropped to No. 21 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association Top 25 Computer Rankings. The Screaming Eagles are ranked for the second-consecutive week after entering the poll at 14th for the first time in 2017 a week ago.
Over the weekend, USI earned three individual wins and five more top-10 finishes at the Depauw Classic in Greencastle, Indiana. Senior Jalen Madison (Washington, Indiana) earned his second win of the season in the weight throw, while sophomore Almustapha Silvester (Indianapolis, Indiana) and freshman Justin Greathouse (Indianapolis, Indiana) picked up their first collegiate wins in the 800-meter and 3,000-meter runs.
Other highlights of USI’s season include senior Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) and junior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) having both earned three NCAA II provisional times. Broughton’s time of eight minutes, 7.07 seconds in the 3,000-meters is the sixth-best time in NCAA II this season, while Grau’s finish of 8:09.76 is good enough for ninth.
Broughton’s time marks the 15th-fastest 3,000-meter time in NCAA II history on an oversized track.
The duo also earned provisional times in the mile at the Don DeNoon Invitational. Broughton ranks sixth in NCAA II with a time of 4:03.86, while Grau is ninth with a 4:04.55.
Also included in the distance medley relay team, Broughton and Grau teamed with sophomore Tyler Kruse (Indianapolis, Indiana) and freshman Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) to break the USI school-record by nearly eight seconds. The provisional time they earned marks the fourth fastest in NCAA II in 2017, while their finish of 9:47.61 is the second fastest in NCAA II history on an oversized track.
The women, ranked 95th in the USTFCCCA Computer Rankings, have earned three NCAA II provisionals this winter. Junior Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Illinois) and sophomore Hope Jones (Cumberland, Indiana) earned their provisional in the 3,000-meters and 5,000-meters, while sophomore Hilary Paxson (Liberty Center, Indiana) earned the first throwing provisional in USI women’s history over this past weekend in the weight throw, breaking her own USI school-record in the process.
With the indoor regular season complete, USI turns their attention to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships to be held this weekend, February 25-26, in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the University of Indianapolis.
