HARTVILLE, Ohio – Evan Whitaker highlighted the Wilmington College men's cross country team's performance at the 2018 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Men's Cross Country Championships by finishing as the top freshman in the event, held at Sable Creek Golf Course on Saturday.
Whitaker finished the eight-kilometer course in 26:58.2 for a 10th place finish, earning him Second Team All-OAC honors. As a team, the Fightin' Quakers placed seventh with 171 points, besting Muskingum University, Capital University and Marietta College. Otterbein University won the team title with 38 points.
"Evan [Whitaker] continued a very good freshman season finishing one spot shy of First Team All-OAC honors," Head Men's Cross Country Coach Ron Combs said. "We've never had a freshman earn All-OAC honors, and to be the top freshman in the race was great."
Gage Clemens (28:06.6) and Cameron Phelps (28:07.2) were the second and third Quakers to cross the finish line, doing so in 43rd and 44th place respectively. Ryan Honkomp and Jacob Whitaker rounded out the top five for Wilmington, finishing with times of 28:39.5 and 28:44.9.
"It feels nice to move up from last year's finish, but I think the guys felt we could have moved up a bit more," said Combs. "We ran a good race today, but not a great race by everyone in our top five."
Ian McVey of Ohio Northern University won the individual title with a time of 26:04.6, beating the entire field by over 16 seconds.
Wilmington has a week off before competing in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional hosted by Franklin College on Nov. 10.
