BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Sophomore Alex Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) opened the 2024 season with a fifth-place finish out of 54 competitors to lead University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country at the Sam Bell Invitational Friday evening.
Nolan finished the six-kilometer race in 18 minutes, 44.3 seconds, just over a second back of fourth place.
As a team, the Screaming Eagles were fourth in the four-team field with 92 points. The University of Cincinnati won the event as the Bearcats sent the first four runners across the finish line for a team score of 17 points. Host Indiana University was second with 61 points, while Indiana State University had 73 points for a third-place finish.
Sophomores Tyler Zimmerman (Evansville, Indiana) and Landen Swiney (Du Quoin, Illinois) aided the Eagles with respective placements of 20th and 22nd. Senior Brady Terry (Philpot, Kentucky) was 23rd, though his finish didn’t factor into the team scoring due to technical issues, while sophomore Jackson Collman (Bethalto, Illinois) was 26th.
USI’s top seven was rounded out by sophomore Cole Hess (Cannelton, Indiana) and freshman Andrew Smith (Fishers, Indiana), where were 30th and 32nd, respectively. Sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Illinois) was 33rd and saw his finish factor into the Eagles’ scoring despite being the eight USI runner to cross the finish line.
The Eagles return to action Saturday, September 14 when they compete at the UT Martin XC OVC Preview in Union, Tennessee. The women’s 6k will starts at 9 a.m., while the men’s 8k follows at 10 a.m.
