WILMINGTON, Ohio - Elite on the course/track and in the classroom. Wilmington College junior Simon Heys has garnered Second Team Academic All-American honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC), formerly known as CoSIDA. The award is the second Academic All-American honor for Heys as he was named Third Team last academic year.

Quite simply, Heys is one of the best distance runners in school history. The Wilmington High School alumnus had another banner year in 2022-23, and that started with the cross country season. Heys earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) and All-Region honors, and though the Quakers narrowly missing qualification for the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships as a team, he picked up a second All-American trophy with a 15th-place finish (25:20.4) while running with two of his teammates.

During the indoor track & field season, Heys helped WC to three meet victories as a team as well as a fifth-place finish at the OAC Indoor Championships. He set program records in the 3,000-meter run (8:18.45) at Indiana University and the 5,000-meter run (14:08.53) at Grand Valley State University. Heys won the OAC title in the 5,000-meter run and finished runner-up in the 3,000-meter run and qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in both events. There, Heys garnered All-American honors in the 5,000-meter run with a fifth-place finish.

In the outdoor season, Heys set another program record - the 1,500-meter run (3:52.04) at North Central College - and helped the Quakers to a fifth-place finish at the OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with two more All-OAC performances. At the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, he ran the ninth-fastest time in NCAA Division III history (29:12.62) in the 10,000-meter run, placing fourth and shattering his own school record in the process.

A sport management & communication arts double major, Heys carries a 3.79 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and has been actively involved in some of the program's hands-on learning opportunities, working the College Football Playoff title game, the Super Bowl, the Flying Pig Marathon and others.