Hufnagel Earns Automatic Bid To Nationals, But Eagles Must Wait To Learn Fate
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country junior Noah Hufnagel (Santa Claus, Indiana) ran to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships Saturday at Angel Mounds to secure a berth as an individual at nationals; but the No. 15 Screaming Eagles must wait until Monday to find out if they earn a spot as a team after finishing fifth out of 30 teams.
Hufnagel, who finished the 10-kilometer course in 30 minutes, 12.20 seconds, earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association All-Midwest Region honors with his finish. Sophomore Mitchell Hopf (Santa Claus, Indiana) missed out on the same honor by three placements, or just over 10 seconds, after finishing 28th with a time of 31:32.50.
As a team, the Eagles finished with 158 points, 19 behind fourth-place Michigan Tech University and 23 back of third-place Walsh University, which claimed one of the three automatic bids to nationals.
No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State University placed five runners inside the top 17 en route to a first-place finish with 49 points, while Great Lakes Valley Conference champion Lewis University was second with 118 points.
Sophomore Braden Nicholson (Claremont, Illinois) aided the Eagles’ efforts with a 34th-place finish, while two-time defending NCAA II Midwest Region champion Titus Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) was 41st. Senior Wyat Harmon (Fredericktown, Ohio) finished 51st to round out USI’s top five finishers, while junior Cameron Cox (Huntsville, Alabama) was 71st. Freshman Silas Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) was 195th to round out USI’s seven-member lineup.
USI must wait until Monday to find out if its regular-season efforts were enough to propel them into a spot at nationals. The at-large bids will be announced on NCAA.com.
The NCAA II National Championships are November 20 at The Abbey Course in Saint Leo, Florida.
