Transmission grinds going into 2nd

1. Make and Model of your car: 1993 Mercury Capri XR2 - 1.6L DOHC Turbo
2. Include the mileage 117,000
3. Stick shift or automatic transmission - Manual 5-speed
4. 2 or 4 wheel drive - 2WD - Front wheel drive
5. Strange sounds - Listed below
6. Fluid leaks - none
7. Past repair history if applicable - just replaced the front passenger (right) CV axle but no problems there that I can see that would have lead to this problem. CV repair seems to be intact and normal before and after this problem.

I was driving down the interstate at around 75mph. All of a sudden I heard a sound from under the hood that lasted about 1/3 to 1/2 a second. It sounded like a grinding noise - similar to a belt getting chewed but more metallic noise to it. I felt the call slow to about 70mph in that 1/2 a second and then picked back up with no problems what so ever. I looked all around while driving for any smoke, smell, etc. And found nothing. Pulled over at a fill station and got gas and looked all around to find nothing abnormal. Then when leaving the fill station 2nd gear ground in when shifting. Now does it everytime which makes me think I lost the 2nd gear synchronizer. All other gears shift flawless still and after it happened I had no choice but to drive it home at 70mph about 80 miles after the incident. So about 100miles into the day it happened it still grinds into 2nd. 2nd gear also works perfectly when shifted into. Can give as much throttle as I want and it acts just like normal. For that matter all gears work absolutely beautiful still. Transmission still very fluid operation besides the 2nd gear grind. At a stop I can shift through all gears with engine idling 1-5 & R with no problems, sound, etc. So I wanted to see your opinion on if I am right with issue and also approximately life expectancy of the transmission. Thanks for your help let me know if I can give any more information.

Bryan
1993 Mercury Capri XR2 - Love except the problems I'm getting lately.
2006 Kawasaki Ninja 650R