Junior Emily Roberts (Fredericktown, Ohio) captured the first Great Lakes Valley Conference Individual Championship for University of Southern Indiana Women’s Cross Country since 2011 to help the Screaming Eagles earn their sixth-consecutive conference title Saturday in Rolla, Missouri.
Roberts completed the six-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 36.03 seconds for her third consecutive All-GLVC honor. As the top finisher, Roberts earned the GLVC Runner of the Year award becoming the first USI women’s runner to earn the award since Jackie Henderson in 2011.
Just behind the top conference runner, senior Jessica Reeves (Midland, Michigan) earned a second-place finish with her time of 21:01 for her second-straight All-Conference honor.
Sophomore Hope Jones (Cumberland, Indiana) and junior Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Illinois) also earned All-GLVC recognition with seventh and eighth-place finishes, respectively. Jones earned her first All-Conference nod with a time of 22:03, while Lincoln receives the award for the second time with a 22:08.
Rounding out the top seven runners for USI were senior Carly Whitesell (Zionsville) and junior Bryce Cutler (Benzonia, Michigan) who crossed the finish line in 17th and 24th, respectively.
As a team, the No. 8 Eagles finished with 28 points, 55 ahead of Bellarmine University, which was second with 83 points. With just one point separating the two, Lewis University and Wisconsin-Parkside finished with 87 and 88 points, respectively. Truman State University rounded out the top five with 158 points.
USI Head Coach Mike Hillyard earned two more GLVC Coach of the Year honors, bringing his career total to a combined 24, after leading both the men’s and the women’s teams to GLVC Championships Saturday.
USI returns to action November 5 when it hosts the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championships at Angel Mounds.
