Story by David Wahl III
SHELBYVILLE, Indiana - It may have been cold weather, but there was nothing cold about the Wilmington College men's cross country team's performance at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. The team finished with one of the top finishes in school history - a 10th place finish with 352 points. Ohio Athletic Conference member John Carroll University came away with the victory with 62 points.
Simon Heys becomes the first male runner in Wilmington College history to qualify for the NCAA Division III National meet, and he did it in style and with both shoes on his feet. Heys ran near the front the entire race and finished in a second place time of 24:40. His second place finish gave him an automatic qualification for nationals. After placing seventh at conference, Heys had a chip on his shoulder and he took advantage. The top 35 finish also awarded him with All-Region Honors.
The great performances do not end at Heys, as the Quakers saw other outstanding finishes. George Rickett finished second for the squad with a top 100 and personal best time of 26:07. Rickett was the lone personal best on the day. Noah Tobin and Eric Reynolds both ran 5 seconds off of personal bests to solidify the 10th-place finish for the Quakers.
The season comes to an end for the team, but Simon Heys will head to the NCAA Division III National Championships on November 20th in Louisville, Kentucky, where he won Pre-Nationals earlier in the season.