Complete Results;
USI Results
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—Senior Tom Cunningham (Bridgeport, Illinois) became the first sprinter in school history to win an individual conference title Saturday as he finished first in the 200 meters to help lead the University of Southern Indiana men's track and field team to a fifth-place finish at the GLVC Outdoor Championships this weekend.
After posting the top time in the preliminary heats Friday, Cunningham returned to the track Saturday to post a time of 21.84 seconds to edge Lewis University's Chris Leibrand, who was second with a time of 22.00 seconds.
In addition to his first-place effort in the 200 meters, Cunningham was third in the finals of the 100 meters with a time of 10.89 seconds Saturday. Cunningham, who posted a time of 10.77 seconds in the prelims Friday, was just a one-hundredth of a second away from Missouri University of Science & Technology's Brett Vessell, who was second with a time of 10.88 seconds. He also helped USI's 4x400-meter relay team to a fifth-place finish.
Joining Cunningham with first-place efforts was junior Brandon Campbell (Portage, Indiana) and freshman Dustin Emerick (Elmwood, Illinois). Campbell was first in the steeplechase with an NCAA II provisional qualifying time of nine minutes, 24.02 seconds, while Emerick was first in the 10,000 meters with a GLVC Outdoor Championship record mark of 31 minutes, 12.34 seconds.
Emerick also completed the sweep of the GLVC Freshman of the Year honors as the coaches selected him as the league's top freshman in outdoor track. He earned the same honor in cross country and indoor track.
As a team, the Screaming Eagles had eight top-five efforts and 18 top-10 finishes. Sophomore David Goodman (Valparaiso, Indiana) was second in the steeplechase and fifth in the 5,000 meters, while senior Bryan Phillips (Kokomo, Indiana) finished third in the 5,000 meters.
Joining Cunningham on USI's fifth-place 4x400-meter relay team was senior Austin Inge (Ossian, Indiana), sophomore Wes Masterson (Danville, Indiana), and sophomore Andrew Nalin (Evansville, Indiana).
The Eagles return to action May 7-8 when they send a small group of competitors to the Dr. Keeler Invitational (May 7-8) in Naperville, Illinois, and the Billy Hayes Invitational (May 8) in Bloomington, Indiana). Both events will serve as last-chance qualifying meets for USI competitors in search of NCAA provisional and automatic qualifying times.
