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INTERVIEWS: USI | Lewis' Daniel Laskero
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The University of Southern Indiana extended its league record with its 13th consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday at the Kirksville Country Club in Kirksville, Missouri.
The Screaming Eagles totaled 24 points on the day, placing all five scorers in the top 10, just as they accomplished a year ago. The 24 points tied USI’s winning total from 2013 as the sixth-best winning score in GLVC history.
The victory gave USI its league-best 25th GLVC crown, while the current streak of 13 straight titles is the longest for any team in any sport in Conference history.
Lewis University finished second for the second consecutive season, earning 43 points with five scorers in the top 15.
Bellarmine University (97), Missouri S&T (128) and host Truman State University (159) rounded out the top five, while the University of Indianapolis (166), Maryville University (178), University of Illinois Springfield (184), Drury University (237) and McKendree University (277) finished sixth through 10th, respectively. William Jewell College (362) and Quincy University (363) placed 11th and 12th. Representatives from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside competed individually, however no team score was issued due to Conference sanctions.
One year after Bellarmine’s Chris Striegel became the first GLVC Champion in program history, which snapped five straight winners from Southern Indiana, sophomore Austin Nolan returned the Screaming Eagles to the top with a winning 8,000-meter time of 24 minutes, 28.66 seconds. He is the first sophomore to win the conference crown since former USI standout Johnnie Guy earned his first of three straight wins in 2013.
The Nolan name has long been tied to the GLVC Championships as James Nolan, Austin’s father, remains the only four-time GLVC Champion in league history. The USI legend went unbeaten in GLVC Championship competition from 1980-83.
For the second consecutive season, USI senior Bastian Grau (24:35.64) placed second. Lewis seniors Sergio Miranda (24:39.63) and James Frederickson (24:39.94) nearly crossed the line at the same time, finishing third and fourth, respectively. USI senior Cain Parker (24:50.47) and junior Darin Lawrence (24:53.34) were fifth and sixth, while Bellarmine sophomore Evan Lang (24:57.35), UW-Parkside senior Armando Torres (25:05.21), Truman State senior Brice Pavey (25:11.13), and Lewis freshman Daniel Laskero (25:13.66) finished in the top 10. Rounding out the top-15 finishers who garnered All-Conference honors were USI senior James Cecil (25:13.95) and sophomore Nathan Hall (25:25.29) in 11th and 15th, Bellarmine junior Cole Rodenberg (25:17.31) and senior Joseph Drabot (25:21.40) in 12th and 14th, and Lewis senior Michael Leet (25:19.88) in 13th.
At the conclusion of the GLVC Championship, Lewis’ Laskero was named GLVC Freshman of the Year as he was the highest-placing freshman in the race. He is the eighth Flyer newcomer and the first since Deivi Tahiray in 2014 to earn the award. Southern Indiana mentor Mike Hillyard was voted by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year, marking his 13th-straight honor and 16th overall. UIndy earned its first-ever GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award in men’s cross country. In addition, 13 student-athletes were recognized as GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees and are now candidates for their respective school’s male and female Spalding Sportsmanship Award at the end of the academic year.
Coverage of the 2017 GLVC Cross Country Championships will be shown on the GLVC Sports Network on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on GLVCSN.com, GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, as well as GLVCSN OTT platforms on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.
POSTSEASON AWARDS
GLVC CHAMPION: Austin Nolan, So., USI
GLVC RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Austin Nolan, So., USI
GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Daniel Laskero, LEWIS
GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Hillyard, USI
James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award Team Winner: Indianapolis
James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award Honorees:
- Bellarmine: Joseph Drabot
- Drury: Drew Williams
- Illinois Springfield: Eli Cook
- Indianapolis: Casey Wendorff
- Lewis: Michael Leet
- Maryville: RJ Brown
- McKendree: Cory Berberich
- Missouri S&T: Joe Bindner
- Quincy: Jimmy Ariel
- Southern Indiana: James Cecil
- Truman State: Brice Pavey
- UW-Parkside: Joey Eterno
- William Jewell: Denver Strong