WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College men's cross country team returns home to host the seventh annual JennaStrong Fall Classic on Friday.
The Race: The eight-kilometer race throughout campus is slated to begin at approximately 5:15 p.m.
The Teams: Wilmington will be joined by fellow Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) members Capital University, Marietta College and Muskingum University. Other NCAA Division III schools in attendance include: Bluffton University, Kenyon College, Mount St. Joseph University, Spalding University, Wittenberg University and the College of Wooster. 27 other schools will also be in attendance, notably NCAA Division I schools Ohio State University, St. Bonaventure University and Northern Kentucky University.
The Coach: Ron Combs is in his 24th season as head cross country coach at Wilmington College. A 1993 graduate of Wilmington, Combs was a member of the only cross country team to win a conference title in school history. Also the head track & field coach at the College, Combs led the Fightin' Quakers to two top-10 finishes nationally with a sixth place finish at the 2002 NCAA Division III Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships and a seventh place mark at the 2004 Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships.
The Runners: Wilmington has run two eight-kilometer races thus far this season. Most recently, Simon Heys finished the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championships with a time of 26:57.9 (two weeks ago). Wilmington's next two finishers in the event – Taton Bertsch and Ryan Honkomp – placed 113th (28:05.5) and 115th (28:07.0) respectively. Earlier in September, the Quakers competed at the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational. There, reigning Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Freshman of the Year took third with a mark of 26:26.1
Race Namesake: Formerly the Wilmington Fall Classic, this meet got renamed in honor of former Wilmington runner Jenna Parlette in 2013. Parlette, a member of the women's cross country team, was leading a race at Franklin College in the fall of 2013 only to collapse with the finish line in sight. She passed away three days later.
Social Media: Follow Wilmington athletics on social media! The Fightin' Quakers have a presence on Facebook (Wilmington College Athletics) as well as Twitter and Instagram (@DubCQuakers).
Coverage: Live results and live video of the meet will be available – visit the links above. Fans are also encouraged to tune into a Facebook Live video from the gator leading the competitors on the course.
Up Next: Wilmington hosts Muskingum University in a dual meet next Friday.
