Sophomore All-American Titus Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) posted a top-five finish to lead No. 8 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Cross Country to a fourth-place showing at the Lewis University Crossover Saturday morning.
Winders battled through cold and windy conditions to place fourth out of 420 runners with an eight-kilometer time of 25 minutes, 17.0 seconds. Senior Austin Nolan(Evansville, Indiana) was 19th with an 8k time of 25:52.3 as the Screaming Eagles concluded the race with 149 team points in a 34-team field that featured 10 nationally-ranked programs.
Junior Gavin Prior (Mattoon, Illinois) aided the Eagles with a 24th-place finish, while fellow classmate Grady Wilkinson (Mt. Carmel, Illinois) was 37th. USI’s top five was rounded out by junior Wyat Harmon (Fredericktown, Ohio), who crossed the finish line in 76th place; while senior Javan Winders (Mansfield, Ohio) and junior Michael Demeyer (Olney, Illinois) were 85th and 157th, respectively, to round out the Eagles’ top seven.
No. 4 Grand Valley State University won the team title with a score of 87 points, while No. 7 Missouri Southern State University was second with 114 points. No. 6 Augustana University edged USI by 16 points with its tally of 133 points, while No. 19 University of Alabama-Huntsville was fifth 171 points.
Other nationally-ranked programs competing at the Lewis Crossover included No. 11 Michigan Tech University (19th); No. 17 Walsh University (9th); No. 18 California State University-San Marcos (7th); No. 20 University of Sioux Falls (6th); No. 22 Saginaw Valley State University (10th); and No. 25 Wayne State University (14th).
Missouri Southern State’s Gidieon Kimutai won the race with a time of 25:07.2, while Grand Valley State’s Tanner Chada was second with a time of 25:08.3. Sioux Falls’ Steven Brown was third with a time of 25:16.9, while Saginaw Valley State’s CarLee Stimpfell followed Titus Winders in fifth with at time of 25:19.8
Saturday’s meet was USI’s final tune-up prior to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, which the Eagles host October 26 at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Indiana. USI also hosts the NCAA II Midwest Region Championships November 9 at Angel Mounds.
