INDIANAPOLIS – University of Southern Indiana seniors Tyler Pence and Julia Kohnen have been named the first Great Lakes Valley Conference Runners of the Week for the 2014 men’s and women’s cross country seasons, it was announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
Pence helped lead the Screaming Eagles to a win at Southern Indiana’s Stegemoller Classic on Friday, finishing second overall by one-tenth of a second behind teammate Johnnie Guy. The Springfield, Illinois native was one of seven USI runners to cross the tape first in terms of collegiate runners, doing so in 17 minutes, 30 seconds over a course measured just under 6,000 meters. As a team, USI won the event by 43 points with a perfect 15 points. GLVC member Maryville University was second with 58 points, while McKendree University was third with 88 points.
The weekly honor is the first of Pence’s cross country career, and he is the first USI runner to earn the accolade since Guy was recognized by the league on Oct. 8, 2013.
On the women’s side, Kohnen captured first place at the Stegemoller Classic with a 4K time of 14:06.4, 4.6 seconds better than runner-up and senior teammate Skylair Hilton. Kohnen was one of four Screaming Eagles to record top-10 finishes last Friday as USI cruised to a 23-point victory over runner-up Cedarville University.
This is the first career weekly award for Kohnen and the first for a USI runner since Erika Wilson took home last season’s final weekly award on Oct. 22.
?USI returns to action Sept. 13 when it travels to Lexington, Kentucky, to take part in the University of Kentucky Bluegrass Cross Country Invitational. The meet is slated for a 9:30 a.m. (CDT) start.