USI runners open season Friday at Angel Mounds

Friday’s meet marks the first time the Eagles have competed on their home course since they moved to NCAA Division I in 2022 and is the first of two meets they will compete in at Angel Mounds.
 
USI’s men are coming off a third-place performance at the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Championships and enter their second season at Division I with a strong returning group that includes an All-OVC honoree in senior Mitchell Hopf (Santa Claus, Indiana).
 
Hopf was fourth at the OVC Championships a year ago and figures to be one of the front-runners to fill the void left by OVC champion Noah Hufnagel at the top of the Eagles’ lineup.
 
Also competing for the top spot will be juniors Dylan Bland (Holland, Indiana) and Brady Terry (Philpot, Indiana). Both were consistently in USI’s top five a year ago, with Terry posting a 20th-place finish at the OVC Championships last fall.
 
Sophomore Mukal Verma (Palatine, Illinois) will add depth to USI’s lineup after finishing as USI’s top freshman a year ago, while a trio of red-shirt freshmen—Cole Hess (Cannelton, Indiana), Tyler Zimmerman (Evansville, Indiana) and Alex Nolan (Evansville, Indiana)—figure to make an impact for Head Coach Mike Hillyard, who enters his 27th season at the helm of USI’s cross country/track & field programs. 
 
Hess and Zimmerman both had valuable experience on the track during the outdoor season a year ago, while Nolan makes his collegiate debut after being sidelined during the 2022-23 season.
 
Nolan follows in the footsteps of his father, USI and Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Famer Jim Nolan, as well as his older brothers Trent and Austin Nolan. Austin Nolan was a two-time GLVC champion on the cross country course as well as a multiple-time Academic All-American and is entering his second year as an assistant coach at USI.
 
Despite losing defending OVC champion Lauren Greiwe and OVC top-five finisher McKenna Cavanaugh to graduation, Hillyard has reason to believe his 2023 squad can still contend for an OVC title after it finished second at the league meet in its first season of Division I a year ago.
 
The Eagles return three All-OVC honorees from last fall and welcome back Division II All-American Cameron Hough (Olney, Illinois), who was sidelined due to an injury a year ago. Hough has looked strong early in the training season and figures to be a top contender for the top spot in USI’s lineup as well as an OVC individual title.
 
She will be joined at the top of the lineup by senior Aubrey Swart (Noblesville, Indiana) as well as juniors Audrey Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Allison Morphew (Evansville, Indiana). All three earned All-OVC honors and could play a big impact on USI’s success in 2023.
 
Hillyard is also looking for big things out of sophomore Micah Peals (Terre Haute, Indiana) as well as juniors Kati Hoerig (Prospect, Kentucky) and Katie Winkler (Santa Claus, Indiana). Peals ran top seven for the Eagles at the OVC Championships last fall, while Hoerig and Winkler have both made big jumps in their training during the summer.
 
Friday’s meet, which features USI, the University of Evansville and Kentucky Wesleyan College, begins with the women’s four-kilometer race at 5:45 p.m., while the men’s 6k begins at 6:15 p.m.
 
The Eagles also compete at the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, September 16 as well as the Live in the Lou Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, September 30. USI, UE and the Evansville Sports Commission will co-host the Angel Mounds Invitational October 13, while the OVC Championships are October 28 in Morehead, Kentucky.