Men's 10,000 Meter Champion

Champion Joe Byrne, Southern Illinois

"It was a good way to start and get the ball rolling. Hopefully SIU can score some more points tomorrow. I took it slow in the first 5,000 meters. The conditions were perfect, with a little cross wind so it didn't affect me.

Notes: Joe Byrne of Southern Illinois set a Mark Messersmith Outdoor Complex Record with his time of 31:15.11. The top four runners in the race -- Byrne, Blaine Zimmerman of Indiana State, Skyler Nesheim of Drake and Nathan Wadsworth of Wichita State -- all bettered the previous track mark of 31:45.76, set by Chris Bailey of Illinois State in 1998.