University of Southern Indiana senior Johnnie Guy (Palmyra, Indiana) and sophomore Emily Roberts (Fredericktown, Ohio) have been respectively named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track Athletes of the Week.
Guy made his 10,000-meter meter season debut Sunday night at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Stanford, California. He was the top collegiate finisher in his section and the No. 2 collegiate finisher overall as he posted an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying time of 28 minutes, 34.79 seconds.
Already with the second-fastest time of the year in the 5,000 meters, Guy posted the fastest 10,000-meter time in Division II and the second-fastest time amongst all NCAA Divisions.
The national champion in the 10,000 meters in 2014, Guy’s mark also was just 1.44 seconds off of Dustin Emerick’s school-record time of 28:33.35, which was set at the 2012 Payton Jordan Invitational, and less than 20 seconds away from the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying time of 28:15.00.
Guy’s award marks the third time this season and the fifth time in his outdoor career that he has earned GLVC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week honors. It is the third straight week that the No. 13 Screaming Eagles have garnered the award after senior Tyler Pence (Springfield, Illinois) earned GLVC Track Athlete of the Week honors last week.
The GLVC Track Athlete of the Week honor also is Guy’s 10th combined Indoor and Outdoor accolade of his career. He also garnered GLVC Cross Country Runner of the Week honors five times.
Roberts is earning her second GLVC weekly award of her outdoor career after taking home her first honor a month ago.
Already with an NCAA II automatic qualifying time and school-record mark in the 10,000 meters this year, Roberts shattered her own school record in the 5,000 meters Friday night as she won the championship race in the event at the Hillsdale “Gina†Relays with her automatic qualifying time of 16:05.28.
Roberts’ time ranks third in Division II and is amongst the top 30 in all NCAA Divisions.
She will lead the USI women’s track & field team in this week’s GLVC Outdoor Championships in Liberty, Missouri. The Eagles are looking to improve upon a 6th-place finish from the GLVC Indoor Championships two months ago. USI’s women have finished eighth in each of the last four GLVC Outdoor meets.
The No. 13 USI men’s track & field team is looking for its fourth straight top-four finish at this week’s GLVC Outdoor Championships. The Eagles have finished in the top five in 10 of the last 14 GLVC Outdoor meets and have finished in the top four of the last six GLVC Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
The GLVC Outdoor Championships are Thursday-Saturday in Liberty, Missouri. Live results as well as GLVC Sports Network coverage can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com.
