RESULTS | VIDEO: Team Champion
KENOSHA, Wis. – The University of Southern Indiana men’s cross country team captured its league-record 11th consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Wayne E. Dannehl National Cross Country Course on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The winning streak is the longest for any team in any sport in Conference history, but was in jeopardy of being snapped. USI scored 41 points in the victory, just two points ahead of host UW-Parkside (43) to tie for the closest-ever men’s race in league history. In 2004, Lewis University defeated USI 55-57 in at Alexandria, Kentucky. The sixth-ranked Screaming Eagles, who have won a league-best 23 GLVC titles, registered their highest winning point total since 2008 when they also netted 41 points for the victory.
Bellarmine University (89), University of Indianapolis (103) and Maryville University (134) finished third through fifth, respectively, while Lewis (161), Saint Joseph’s College (215), and Truman State University (253), Missouri S&T (260) and Drury (260) closed out the top 10. McKendree University (282), William Jewell College (351) and Illinois Springfield (367) followed in the final three positions in the 13-team field. Quincy University participated but did not register a team score.
Southern Indiana also extended its conference record for individual titles (14) as junior Johnnie Guy earned his third consecutive league title, earning GLVC Runner of the Year honors for his efforts. Guy broke the tape in 24 minutes, 34.4 seconds to become just the third runner in league history to earn three consecutive individual crowns, joining Drury's Jaime Villa Zapatero (2008-10) and USI's James Nolan (1980-83). Ashland's Daruius Janczewski is also a part of the three-title club, although his wins came in 1985, 1986 and 1988.
Guy posted a 30-second victory over runner-up Alex Cushman (25:04.3) of Indianapolis, marking the largest margin of victory since Guy defeated teammate Tyler Pence by 41 seconds in 2013.
Bellarmine’s Chris Striegel (25:09.9) crossed the line third to give the Knights their first top-three finisher since Kyle Yochum placed third at the 1998 Conference meet.
Southern Indiana’s Noah Lutz (25:18.4) took home fourth just ahead of a trio of UW-Parkside runners in Jake Dubnicka (25:39.3), Patrick Niyork (25:52.7) and Armando Torres (25:53.2). USI’s Chase Broughton (25:54.1), Bellarmine’s Nick Christensen (25:54.3) and Justin Hays (25:57.7) of Saint Joseph’s rounded out the top 10. Five other finishers earned All-Conference distinction, including UW-Parkside’s K.J. Matuszak (11th, 26:00.1) and Gabe Poser (14th, 26:13.4), USI’s Josh Guy (12th, 26:00.2), and Maryville’s Andy Moore (13th, 26:08.7) and Kyle Deeken (15th, 26:16.4).
At the conclusion of the GLVC Championship, Southern Indiana’s Darin Lawrence was named GLVC Freshman of the Year as he was the highest-placing freshman in the race, finishing 22nd in 26:45.0. USI mentor Mike Hillyard and UW-Parkside head coach Micah VanDenend were voted by their peers as co-GLVC Coach of the Year. Hillyard’s honor marks his 11th-straight honor and 14th overall, while VanDenend takes his first-ever honor.
Coverage of the 2015 GLVC Cross Country Championships will be shown on the GLVC Sports Network at a time and date to be determined.