*Story by David Wahl III
NEW CONCORD, Ohio - Four Fightin' Quakers earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) honors as the Wilmington College men's cross country team placed third at the 2022 OAC Men's Cross Country Championships hosted by Muskingum University on Saturday afternoon. The third-place finish in the program's highest finish at the conference meet since joining the conference prior to the 2000 season. The Quakers finished just seven points behind second place Otterbein, while John Carroll ran away with the victory.
The squad had three first-team all OAC finishes by Simon Heys, Noah Tobin and George Rickett. On a gruesome course, time was not the goal as Heys came away with a third-place finish in a time of 25:49. Tobin finshed close behind as he has all season long with a sixth-place finish and a time of 26:09. Rickett crossed the line in a time of 26:24 to close out First Team All-OAC honors as he placed eighth in the race. Eric Reynolds had a career race as he was able to claim 18th place and Second Team All-OAC honors. This was the first time with all OAC honors for Tobin, Rickett and Reynolds in their careers. Tate Yoder rounded out the scoring for Wilmington as the freshman finished 57th.
"At the beginning of the day, if you had told me the men's team would finish in third, I would say that is spectacular," Head Cross Country Coach Ron Combs commented. "The team ran a gutsy race, and I am proud of them."
The Quakers take a week off to prepare for the Great Lake Regional Championships in Holland, Michigan, on November 12th.
