INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana’s Paul Jellema (Dyer, Ind.) is the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week. The senior distance-runner placed fourth at the Stegemoller Classic hosted by USI on September 1.

Jellema, a two-time All-GLVC performer, finished the 6K run in a time of 18:11. He finished behind Rend Lakes College’s Elkanah Kibet (17:51), Ben Cheruyiot (17:53) and Peter Sigilai (18:01).

His efforts helped the Eagles to a second-place finish at the five-team meet. USI accumulated a score of 43. Jellema’s teammates Tim Sirbek, Tristan Mannix, Rey Alvarez and Matt Zielske finished sixth, eighth, tenth and 15th, respectively.

Jellema’s time of 18:11 in the race is the fastest 6k mark in the GLVC on the young season. He and the Eagles will return to action at the Indiana Intercollegiates on September 14.

USI is currently ranked 20th in the USTFCCCA Top 25 Poll and fifth in the Great Lakes Region.

Other top performers in the GLVC last week included Bellarmine’s Neal Masterson and Missouri-Rolla’s Joffroi Holcombe.