COLUMBIA, Mo.—University of Southern Indiana Men's Cross Country nearly saw a school-record fall by the wayside Friday morning as senior Alex Nolan churned out an impressive effort to lead the Screaming Eagles at the Gans Creek Classic.
 
Nolan finished 40th out of 257 runners with a career-best eight-kilometer time of 23 minutes, 38.5 seconds. Nolan's time, which ranks first in the Ohio Valley Conference, lifted him past his Hall of Fame father, Jim Nolan, for second on USI's all-time 8k list and was less than two seconds shy of Noah Hufnagel's all-time record of 23:36.6.
 
His efforts led the Screaming Eagles to a 21st-place finish in the 30-team field with 527 points.
 
Sophomore Jackson Nolan also had a strong performance as he finished 76th with a time of 24:03.7, which moves him past his older brother and USI Assistant Coach Austin Nolan, for seventh all-time at USI.
 
Juniors Griffen Wheeler and Layden Wagoner were 143rd and 144th, with Wheeler edging Wagoner by less than a 10th of a second, while sophomore Jadon Muncy finished 151st to round out USI's top five.
 
Sophomore Kraedyn Young and freshman Brayden Kloeppel served as USI's displacement runners as the duo respectively finished 170th and 194th.
 
USI returns to action next Friday, October 2, when it sends a small squad to Terre Haute, Indiana, to run at the Nike XC Town Twilight. The group of student-athletes that competed today are not likely to race until the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational October 16 in Terre Haute.