(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) – The Wilmington College men's cross country team heads to Kentucky to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional tomorrow morning at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park, with their race slated for 10:00 A.M.
Leading the way for Wilmington are seniors
Tate Yoder and
Gabe Moore, who are coming off their first career All Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) performances a few weeks ago in Westerville at the OAC Championships. Yoder took sixth place at the OAC Championships in 25:41.9, while Moore finished eighth in 25:47.1.
Yoder has had three Top-5 finishes this season, including a pair of victories at the Pat Thomas Invite and the JennaStrong Fall Classic. When the Quakers competed in Louisville earlier this season at the Louisville Classic in the blue division, he finished in 65th in a time of 26:09.1.
His best time of the season came in Wilmington at the aforementioned JennaStrong Fall Classic, where he finished in 25:28.6. Yoder's best finish at the regional race was last season, where he finished 22nd to be named All-Region in a time of 25:34.0. Two years ago at the regional, he finished 67th with his best cross country time of his career in 25:07.4.
Much like Yoder, Moore has had a fantastic senior season, putting together three Top-10 finishes and two Top-3 finishes. Just like Yoder, his best race of the season was at the JennaStrong Fall Classic, where he took third in a career best time of 25:35.9. He has finished in under 26 minutes in four of the Quakers five 8k races this season.
Moore had a great race during the Quakers trip to Louisville earlier this season, as he was the top finisher for Wilmington at 37th in 25:53.7, as he looks to better that performance tomorrow morning. In his two previous trips to the regional, Moore finished in 61st last year and 140th during his sophomore campaign. He will be looking for the first All-Region performance of his career.
Junior
Bryson Robinette is the final Quaker to have experience for Wilmington at the regional race, having competed the last two seasons. During his freshman year in 2023, he ran the best 8k of his career in 27:59.8. He had a Top-10 finish at the 5k Pat Thomas Invite to start the season and has consistently ran faster throughout the year, breaking 29 for the first time this season in his last race.
The rest of the runners for Wilmington tomorrow are freshmen in
Simeon Williamson,
Braydon Buchanan,
Ethan DeRoest, and
Cameron Adkins, as they will be running at the regional for the first time in their careers.
Williamson and Buchanan have run the best times of the freshmen this season. Williamson ran a season best 27:41.4 during the OAC Championships a few weeks ago that gave him a 67th place finish, as he has finished in the Top-100 of four races this season. During the Louisville Classic, at the host course tomorrow, Williamson finished with a time of 27:47.7.
Also breaking the 28-minute barrier this season is Buchanan, who had a season best race of 27:58.0 at the All-Ohio InterCollegiate Challenge in mid-September. In Louisville, Buchanan crossed the line in 28:29.4.
DeRoest has come close to breaking 28 minutes this season, finishing in 28:05.3 at the JennaStrong Fall Classic on Wilmington's campus in mid-October. He has run his best two races of the season his last two times out, also finishing in the Top-100 at the OAC Championships, running a 28:09.0 for 82nd place. He finished in 28:32.1 during their first trip to Louisville.
Adkins best race also came at home in the JennaStrong Fall Classic, finishing in 29:33.3. His first race in Louisville, saw him cross the line in 30:03.3.
