Wilmington College men’s cross-country looks for big 2024 season
The Wilmington College men’s cross-country team opens up their 2024 season on Friday at the Wild Witt Exhibition, hosted by Wittenberg University. The team will be running a 6k to begin their season.
A Look Back
The 2023 season was a successful one as the team finished fifth at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships and 13th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
The year was highlighted by Simon Heys, who won five races during the season. He entered the NCAA Division III cross-country Championships having not lost to a single Division III runner all year, and his lone race loss was a second-place finish to a Division II runner at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate XC Challenge. Heys finished 33rd at the national meet and finished his Quakers cross-country career as a three-time All-American.
Noah Tobin also was a Second Team All-OAC performer for the Quakers, finishing 14th at the OAC Championships. He finished his season with three Top-5 finishes, six Top-20 finishes, and an 18th place mark at the NCAA Great Lakes regional.
Key Pieces Lost
Three-time All-American Simon Heys graduated as arguably the best cross-country runner in Quakers program history. His presence on the course will be sorely missed.
Wilmington only lost one other graduate from the 2023 team, as the Quakers return the core of their squad.
Key Returners
Noah Tobin returns for his senior season with the Quakers. Tobin is a former national qualifier from 2022, where he finished 56th at Michigan State University with a time of 25:47.8. He will look to build on a strong 2023 campaign to try and make it back to the national meet, while also vying for the first OAC Championship of his career.
Tate Yoder will be a junior for the Quakers. He had a pair of Top-10 finishes last season and finished 40th at the OAC Championships and 67th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
Other upperclassmen returners for the Quakers are Gabe Moore and Tyler Parks. Moore had a pair of Top 40 finishes last season, while Parks had one Top 40 finish during the 2023 campaign.
Newcomers
Wilmington welcomes four new freshmen to the team in Dominic Capocciama, Henry Hildebrandt, Blake Kanniard and Keegan Kidd.
Capocciama is from Chillicothe and went to Chillicothe High School. Hildebrandt is a Wilmington High School alumnus who lives in Wilmington. Kanniard and Kidd both hail from Circleville and Logan Elm High School.
Coaching Staff
Returning for his 28th season at the helm of the program is Ron Combs. He is a Wilmington College graduate that has coached countless All-OAC performers and All-Region performers, while coaching his first All-American in cross-country a few seasons ago in Simon Heys. Under Combs’ guidance, the Quakers have finished as high as third in the OAC and sixth in the region.
Tristen Durr is in his second season as the head men’s and women’s track & field coach, while also helping with the cross-country programs. Durr is a graduate of Tiffin University, where he was a thrower, and has grown the Quakers program into one of the nation's elite throws programs.
Josh Cyrus enters year three as an assistant coach for both the cross-country and track & field programs. Cyrus is a Wilmington graduate who competed for four years within the program. Cyrus brings an electric personality and approach to coaching. He works hard to get the best out of the Quakers runners and is the team's sprints coach during track & field season.
Hannah Jones is in her first year as the graduate assistant coach for the men’s and women’s cross-country and track & field programs. She graduated from North Central College in 2024 and was a two-time Second Team All-American during the 2023-24 season in the Pentathlon and Javelin Throw.
What to Watch For
The Quakers have seven meets on the schedule, along with the National Championship meet, if someone were to qualify. Big meets include the Pre-Nationals Meet in Terre Haute, Ind. on Oct. 4 and the always exciting JennaStrong Fall Classic in Wilmington on Oct. 18.
Following JennaStrong, the Quakers compete at the OAC Championships in Tiffin on Nov. 2 before the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet on Nov. 16.
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