EVANSVILLE, Ind.--Fresh off earning All-America honors on the cross country course, University of Southern Indiana freshman Titus Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) got an early jump on the 2018-19 indoor track & field season in an impromptu appearance at the Indiana University Hoosier Open this past Friday night in Bloomington, Indiana.

Winders competed in the 5,000 meters, where he finished fifth out of eight runners with a strong NCAA II provisional qualifying time of 14 minutes, 6.83 seconds. His time was less than two seconds off the automatic qualifying standard of 14:05.18 and currently ranks fourth in the nation.

Just a week ago, Winders posted a 30th-place finish at the NCAA II Cross Country Championships, a placement that earned him All-America honors in his first year of collegiate competition. He was the NCAA II Midwest Region Runner of the Year after winning regionals and was the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year after finishing second to teammate and defending GLVC champion Austin Nolan at the league meet.

USI, which began the indoor track & field season December 1 at the Vanderbilt Opener, resumes action January 11-12 at the Jim Green Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky.