BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Senior Noah Hufnagel (Santa Claus, Indiana) captured his fourth-career Ohio Valley Conference title Wednesday night to lead the University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field Team at the OVC Indoor Championships.
Hufnagel was first in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14 minutes, 8.29 seconds, which was nearly 14 seconds faster than the second-place finisher in the 23-competitor field.
The win gives Hufnagel an OVC “Triple Crown” of titles as he has now captured championships on the cross country course, indoor track and outdoor track. He was the 2022 OVC Cross Country champion before winning titles in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters at the 2023 OVC Outdoor Championships. He will go for a fifth title when he closes out his collegiate career Thursday at 3:10 p.m. in the 3,000 meters.
Hufnagel’s win also gave the Screaming Eagles 10 points as a team, which puts them in sixth-place at the end of the opening day. Red-shirt freshman Cole Hess (Cannelton, Indiana), who was named OVC Track Freshman of the Week earlier in the day, punched his ticket into the finals of the 800 meters with a strong performance in the prelims Wednesday. He finished the race in 1:55.38 to secure one of the eight positions in the finals.
On the women’s side, freshman Zoe Seward (Rochester, Indiana) earned a podium finish with her effort in the 5,000 meters Wednesday. Seward, who also was named OVC Freshman of the Week earlier in the day, finished third out of 22 competitors with a time of 17:25.22 to give the Eagles six team points.
Junior Kati Hoerig (Prospect, Kentucky) also scored for the Eagles in the 5,000 meters, posting an eighth-place finish. After the opening day of competition, the Eagles sit in eighth place with a team score of seven points.
