By james art 
The Wilmington College men’s cross country team finished fifth as a team with a score of 158 Saturday afternoon at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships hosted by Heidelberg University at Hillcrest Golf Course in an 8K event.
After being a two-time All-OAC honoree in his career, once on the first team and once on the second team, Noah Tobin broke through Saturday afternoon to win the OAC individual championship with a time of 24:20.9.
Tobin (St. Mary’s, OH/Memorial HS) edged John Carroll University’s Barrett Scheitzel by just under 19 seconds in a dominant effort. It was his second first-team all-OAC honor and fourth win of the season. It was a career-best time for Tobin.
Just missing his first All-OAC honor was Wilmington College junior Tate Yoder (West Liberty, Ohio/West Liberty-Salem HS), who finished 21st in 25:41.7, just one second off 20th place and the honors of the second team.
Gabe Moore (Winchester, Ohio/Eastern HS) broke his previous personal best time of 25:54.8 to finish 32nd, which was a huge jump from 70th last season.
Tyler Parks (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington HS) also made a huge jump from 2023, running a personal best time of 27:14.7 to finish 85th after finishing 103rd last season .
Freshman Henry Hildebrand (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington HS) finished his first OAC Championship in 134th place with a time of 28:44.3.
Bryson Robinette (Amelia, Ohio/West Clermont HS) crossed the line in 29:13.5, Keegan Kidd (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm HS) ran a personal best of 29:52.6, and Cameron Chatfield (Springfield, Ohio/Northeastern) HS) set a new personal best by more than a minute at 30:25.9.
Bryce Hensley (Wilmington, OH/Clinton-Massie HS) finished in 31:05.0 and Isaiah Early (Brookville, OH/Brookville HS) ran a huge personal best by over two minutes, finishing in 35:10.6.
The Quakers compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Shelbyville, Ind., hosted by Franklin College on Nov. 16.
Publisher’s Note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or expensive paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the past 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, we would greatly appreciate it. Donations can be made to: The Highland County Press, PO Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include “for website” in the memo line.