Guy posts top-10 finish as Eagles place 11th at NCAA meet

Southern Indiana sophomore Johnnie Guy finished with a ninth-place showing at the NCAA II National Championships. No. 7 USI settled for an 11th-place finish out of 32 teams on the field.

Guy, who becomes the Eagles’ 18th cross country All-American with the performance, finished the 10-K race in 30:36.3 as he posted the school’s first top-10 individual finish since Ben Kapsoiya finished third in 1998.

The All-American honor is the third for Guy, who won a pair of All-American awards at the 2013 NCAA II Outdoor Track & Field Championships last spring as a freshman.

USI had a tough loss when junior Tyler Pence fell. He was unable to complete the race, despite being in the top 20 with 400 meters to go. Pence completed the first 5k in 15:09.80, good enough for 21st-place at the halfway mark.

Johnnie’s twin brother, Josh, was USI’s second finisher as he finished in 51st place with a 10k time of 31:30.10. Freshman Noah Lutz was 94th, while junior Eric Scheiber finished 111th.

USI finished with 323 points, 11 away from a top-10 finish and 136 away from fifth-place Chico State.

Junior Trent Nolan and sophomore Cody Stone were 122nd and 158th, respectively, to round out the Eagles’ participants.

Adams State University won the team title with 54 points, while Midwest Region foes Grand Valley State University and Ferris State University finished second and 10th, respectively. Adams State junior Tabor Stevens won the individual title with a time of 29:50.10.

USI, which won its ninth straight Great Lakes Valley Conference title last month, begins the indoor track & field season Dec. 7 when it competes at the UIndy Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind.

Eagles take on Ashland in NCAA Tourney opener

The Southern Indiana volleyball team will take on Ashland University in the opening round of the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament at 4 p.m. CST Thursday in Allendale, Mich.

USI (24-8) enters this week’s eight-team regional as the No. 5 seed and is making its third trip to the NCAA II Tournament in the last three years – its fifth overall. The Eagles last qualified for the national tournament in 2011, after making it for the first time in 2002.

If USI wins its opener against Ashland, the Eagles will play the winner of the Grand Valley State University-Truman State University match in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The championship match is slated for at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Watson goes for 100th win on Saturday

No. 11 Southern Indiana, is hosting a former Great Lakes Valley Conference foe, Kentucky State University, Saturday at the Physical Activities Center. Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Eagles will be hosting KSU for just the second time since they left the GLVC in1995-96 for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. USI is 16-3 all-time against KSU, and had a 15-3 record against KSU during GLVC action between the 1989-90 and the 1994-95 seasons.

In addition to looking for a victory, the Eagles also are hoping to get Rodney Watson his 100th win as a head coach. Watson, who is averaging nearly 24 victories per year, is fourth all-time at USI in victories with 99.