May 05, 2007
Eagles take home three conference titles,
Finish sixth at GLVC Championships
Complete Results
USI Results
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—The University of Southern Indiana men's track and field team took home three individual titles and finished sixth at the GLVC Outdoor Championships this weekend.
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Paul Jellema |
Junior
Paul Jellema (Dyer, Indiana) and freshman
Tim Sirbek (Hammond, Indiana) led the Screaming Eagles. Jellema won the 10,000 meters Friday night before taking home the league title in the 5,000 meters on Saturday. His time of 31 minutes, 25.53 seconds in the 10,000 meters broke a seven-year old conference record by 22.22 seconds.
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Tim Sirbek |
Sirbek became the second men's runner in school history to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year honors in track and field—former USI standout David Farmer earned the honor during the 2000 indoor season. Sirbek, who was the GLVC Freshman of the Year in cross country in 2005, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and finished second in the 5,000 meters.
Both Jellema and Sirbek earned a pair of All-GLVC honors for their performances.
As a team, the Eagles scored in six different events and finished with 65 total points. They tallied 18 points in the 5,000 meters, 17 points in the 10,000 meters, and 15 points in the steeplechase.
Other top-five performers for USI included juniors
Rob Roads (Terre Haute, Indiana) and
Sam Gebreselassie (Avon, Indiana) as well as freshman
Taylor Sellers (Mt. Vernon, Indiana). Roads and Gebreselassie were fifth in the steeplechase and 10,000 meters, respectively, while Sellers was fourth in the 800 meters. USI also was fifth in the 4x400-meter relay.
USI returns to action next weekend when it sends a limited squad to compete at a last-chance qualifying meet—either in Naperville, Illinois, or Nashville, Tennessee.
The NCAA II Outdoor Championships are May 24-26 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jellema already has an automatic qualifying time in the 10,000 meters and is a virtual lock in the 5,000 meters, while Sirbek has posted strong provisional times in the 5,000 meters and steeplechase.
Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information
