Metro East Sun

The final year of Keith Meyer's running career at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) is continuing the success of his other seasons.

In the Cougars' first two cross-country meets of the 2016 season, Meyer finished in the top two, including a first-place showing at the ISU Country Financial Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 9 in Bloomington.

“I think I've improved in every single category this year,” Meyer recently told Metro East Sun. “Overall, I just feel a lot more confident and stronger as a runner.”

Meyer opened the season by finishing second at the EIU Walt Crawford Open on Sept. 2 in Charleston, Illinois, with a time of 25 minutes, 9.82 seconds. Then, at the Sept. 9 event, he finished in 25:08.15. Both races were 8 kilometers.

That's a strong start to the season and comes off a record-breaking junior campaign in 2015. Meyer set new top marks for SIUE in the 8K (24:32.2) and 10K (30:55) last season, in addition to earning All-Ohio Valley Conference honors for the second straight season.

Meyer has made gradual improvement since coming to SIUE from Bloomington High School, where he finished in the top 10 in the 3,200 and 1,600-meter runs at the 2013 Illinois High School Association State Track and Field Championships.

“My brother, who is three years older me, did running in both junior high and high school,” Meyer, who has been running competitively for 11 years, said. “Well, when we were younger we always had a sibling rivalry, so I joined in sixth grade in hopes that I would be faster then my brother. After junior high, in my freshman year, I started to like running, and by my junior year of high school, I fell in love with running.”

Meyer earned his first top-10 finish in a SIUE meet at the school's John Flamer Invite in 2013 and placed 31st in the OVC Championships that season.

As a sophomore, he celebrated two top-10 finishes and came in 13th at the OVC meet. And last season, he had three top-five finishes, including claiming fifth at the OVC meet.

Meyer's running excellence isn't limited to cross country at SIUE. He also has the school record for the outdoor-track 10K, claiming second at the OVC in that event for the 2016 outdoor season. He also shined in the 5K, finishing second in the event for the 2016 OVC indoor season; and the 3K, when he was sixth during the same season. In the 2015 outdoor season, he was fifth in the conference in the steeplechase and the 5K.

Even though he still has plenty to accomplish this cross-country season, Meyer has goals in mind for his final track season.

“My goals for indoor are to break the 5k and 3k record; outdoor is to break the 5k record and qualify for first round in the 10k,” he said.