WILMINGTON — The Wilmington College men’s cross country team finished as the top NCAA Division III team and fifth overall in a field of 36 teams at the seventh annual JennaStrong Fall Classic Friday afternoon on the WC campus.
Wilmington finished the meet with 222 points and as the top NCAA Division III team at the meet. Berea College was the second Division III school to finish, placing 12th with 336 points. The Ohio State University team won the meet with a total of 31 points.
Simon Heys, a Wilmington High School alumnus, was the Quakers’ top finisher, crossing the finish line in 26:03.7 in 20th place. Teammate Evan Whitaker finished six spots behind his teammate with a time of 26.11.8 on the eight-kilometer course.
Seth Farmer of Shawnee State University won the meet individually with a mark of 24:36.5. Sair Salgado of Berea was the top NCAA Division III individual – 12th place in 25:47.2.
Taton Bertsch and Ryan Honkomp were next to cross for Wilmington, doing so within seven spots of each other. Bertsch placed 51st with a time of 27:09.9 while Honkomp crossed the finish line in 27:18.5. Josh Cyrus rounded out Wilmington’s top five with a 70th place finish in 27:41.8.
“A fifth-place team finish for the guys is a great finish as we were 19th two years ago,” WC coach Ron Combs said. “Simon [Heys] and Evan [Whitaker] both ran strong up front and we had some great performances from our 3-7 runners. I think we still have another level to get to if we can put it together.”
Wilmington is next in action at home for a dual meet against Muskingum University.
