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LOUISVILLE, Ky.—On a course blanketed with snow, the University of Southern Indiana men's cross country team benefited from a pair of top 35 finishes en route to a 10th-place finish at the NCAA II National Championships at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park Saturday morning.

Junior All-Americans Dustin Emerick and Brendan Devine finished 28th and 31st, respectively, to pace the Screaming Eagles, who finished with 271 points in the 24-team field.

Both Emerick and Devine earned All-America honors for the second straight season with their finishes, marking the first time in school history that USI has had a pair of All-Americans in consecutive seasons. Both earned All-America honors a year ago.

Emerick finished the 10k course in 31 minutes, 29.90 seconds, while Devine crossed the finish line in 31 minutes, 32.80 seconds.

As a team, the Eagles finished in the top 10 of the national meet for the second straight season and the third time in four years—USI was sixth at the national championships on its home course a year ago and eighth in 2007. It also is the first time since 1982-83 that the Eagles have finished in the top 10 at the NCAA II Championships in consecutive seasons.

“Without question, this was the best team performance of the year,” Head Coach Mike Hillyard said. “You look at the times we ran two weeks ago under perfect conditions at the regional meet on the same course and compare it to the times we were posting today with two-to-three inches of snow on the ground, and they look very similar.

“Dustin and Brendan were solid in the front for us as they have been all season,” Hillyard continued. “They have put themselves in position for next year to do something that no one in our program's history has done and that is become three-time All-Americans.”

Junior John Latta aided the Eagles with a 72nd-place finish, while sophomore Michael Callison and junior Bryan Suarez rounded out the Eagles' top five competitors with finishes of 83rd and 84th, respectively.

“John Latta had the performance of the day for us,” Hillyard said. “Here is a guy that didn't run at the regional meet for us and we sub him into the lineup today and he runs number three for us. His effort was huge!”

Senior Andrew Dixon and junior Derrick Thomas completed the Eagles' lineup with finishes of 92nd and 114th, respectively, in the 182-competitor field.

Adams State College took home the team championship for the third straight year, finishing with 57 points, while Queens University's Michael Crouch won the individual title with a time of 30 minutes, 42.20 seconds.