University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country collected its league-record 15th consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference title Saturday at Angel Mounds as the No. 8 Screaming Eagles finished first out of 14 teams at the GLVC Championships.
The score was a lot closer than expected at the University of Illinois Springfield, coached by former USI National Champion Tyler Pence, pushed the Eagles to their limit. The first-place finish by sophomore All-American Titus Winders, however, helped propel USI to its league-record 27th conference championship.
Winders finished the rain-soaked eight-kilometer race in 25 minutes, 4.95 seconds, nearly 20-seconds faster than the time posted by second-place finisher Wyatt McIntyre of Illinois Springfield; and was named the GLVC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year for his effort.
Additionally, Winders’ first-place finish marked the third straight year and eighth time in the last nine seasons that the Eagles’ have had the top finisher at the GLVC Championships. Winders, the 2018 GLVC Freshman of the Year as well as the 2018 Midwest Region Runner of the Year, is the ninth different USI men’s runner to capture a GLVC Cross Country title, while USI men’s runners have won a total of 17 conference titles.
Senior Austin Nolan, who had won the previous two GLVC championships, ran step-for-step with Winders throughout the first six kilometers before finishing fifth with a time of 25:29.60, while fellow classmate Nathan Hall was eighth with a time of 25:37.38. Junior Gavin Prior was USI’s No. 4 with a 14th-place finish.
Through the first four finishers, however, the Eagles found themselves clinging to a two-point lead over Illinois Springfield, which finished six points behind USI’s winning score of 47. USI’s decisive blow came at No. 5, where junior Wyat Harmon finished 19th and four spots in front of the Prairie Stars’ No. 5 competitor.
Junior Grady Wilkinson and senior Javan Winders rounded out the Eagles’ top seven finishers with respective finishes of 29th and 34th.
In addition to Titus Winders, the Eagles’ All-GLVC honorees included Nolan, Hall, and Prior. Head Coach Mike Hillyard was named the GLVC Coach of the Year for the 28th time in his career—he was the GLVC Women’s Coach of the Year as well.
The University of Indianapolis was third, while Missouri S&T and league-newcomer Southwest Baptist University were fourth and fifth, respectively, to round out the top-five teams.
USI returns to action on November 9 when it hosts the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships at Angel Mounds. The women’s 6k is slated for a 10:30 a.m. start time, while the men’s 10k is scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m.
