University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field added an NCAA II automatic mark and two additional provisional qualifiers at the GVSU Extra Weekend Meet Friday night.
Freshman Titus Winders had an incredible run under the lights to secure a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with his automatic qualifying time of 13 minutes, 54.64 in the 5000 meters, earning him 12th place in the event as well. Winders 5000m time was 1 minute, 27 second improvement from the first race out about a month ago. Winders is currently sitting at 14th fastest in the nation and second all-time in the USI record book. Winders even snatched the USI freshman record away from Johnnie Guy, previously set back in 2013 (14:17.48).
Junior teammate Gavin Prior added an impressive performance with his own provisional qualifying time of 14:27.86 in the 5000m as well. Prior’s 5000m time was nearly an eight-second personal best.
The final provisional qualifier went to freshman Silas Winders for his efforts in the 1500m. Winders finished seventh in the event with a new seven-second personal record of 3:48.80. Winders’ time slots him at 35th in all of Division II at the moment and fourth all-time in school history. Silas like his brother Titus, broke a USI freshman record which was previously held by Tyler Schickel since 2013 (3:49.45).
Other Notables:Â
Both Junior Arie Macias (1:55.91) and freshman Jacob Wisniewski (1:55.44) picked up personal records in the 800m.
Sophomore Cameron Cox recorded a near 15-second personal best in the 5000m (14:49.84) while fellow sophomore teammate Taylor Mills showcased a 26-second improvement (14:52.56)
Last, junior Mathew Scales shaved off close to 22 seconds for his best 5000m time (15:06.89) while freshman teammate Ethan Goddard had his own 27-second improvement between meets (15:17.30).
Up Next: The Eagles will prepare for the GLVC Outdoor Championships held in Rolla, Missouri May 7-9.
