BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Senior distance runner Noah Hufnagel (Santa Claus, Indiana) ran to a first-place finish in the 3,000 meters Thursday to lead University of Southern Indiana Men's Track & Field to an eighth-place finish at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships.
 
The win marked Hufnagel's second OVC title in as many days and the sixth of his career after he won the 5,000 meters Wednesday evening.
 
Hufnagel completed the race in eight minutes, 17.85 seconds, which was more than three seconds faster than the second-place finisher—University of Arkansas Little Rock junior Andrew Payton (8:21.03).
 
In addition to his OVC titles this week, Hufnagel finished his collegiate career as the 2022 OVC cross country champion, the 2023 OVC Indoor 3,000-meter champion and the 2023 OVC Outdoor 5,000 and 10,000-meter champion. He was the Athlete of the Meet at the 2022 OVC Cross Country Championships and the 2023 OVC Outdoor Championships as well as the OVC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2023.
 
As a team, USI finished with 24 points, 2.5 points behind seventh-place Lindenwood University and nine ahead of ninth-place Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
 
In addition to Hufnagel, the Screaming Eagles got scoring contributions from senior Mitchell Hopf (Santa Claus, Indiana) as well as red-shirt freshman Cole Hess (Cannelton, Indiana).
 
Hopf was eighth in the 3,000 meters, while Hess scored in both the 800 meters (7th) and mile (8th).
 
USI returns to action March 29-30 when it opens the 2024 outdoor season at the Joey Haines Invitational in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis, Missouri.