FINDLAY — The University of Findlay men’s cross country team has a championship season to show for its work — and the honors to match. After winning the Great Midwest Athletic Conference championship on Saturday, November 7, the Oilers had five runners named to all-conference teams and head coach Eric Wymer named Great Midwest Coach of the Year, the University of Findlay announced on November 10.
The cross country all-conference teams are determined by individual finishes at the championship meet, with the top 10 finishers earning first-team honors and those placing 11th through 20th receiving second-team recognition, according to the university. Junior Benjamin Hall led the Oilers with a runner-up finish, earning first-team honors. He was joined on the first team by junior Asher Long and sophomore Ty Rosengarten, who placed fifth and seventh, respectively, and junior Erik Nygaard placed 13th to earn second-team honors, the university said.
Wymer was named Coach of the Year after guiding his squad to their first-ever conference championship title in program history, according to the university. Since taking over the cross country program in 2018, Wymer has built the Oilers into consistent conference and regional contenders.
During his tenure, Findlay cross country student-athletes have now earned 37 all-conference selections and nine all-region honors, alongside multiple individual national qualifiers, the university said — a record that makes the program’s first conference title look less like a breakthrough weekend and more like the finish line of an eight-year build.
For Findlay, the championship lands in the middle of a strong fall for Northwest Ohio college sports, and it gives the Oilers a banner to carry into the regional and national postseason — earned, fittingly, by a pack: five all-conference selections spread across the scoring lineup rather than a single star out front.
What happens next for the Oilers is the postseason that follows a conference title — regional competition, where Findlay’s all-conference pack will test itself against the best programs beyond the Great Midwest. The university’s full all-conference announcement is posted through Findlay athletics.
The championship was decided in Tiffin, where the conference meet was held on Saturday, November 7, according to the university’s announcement — the same day the all-conference teams were determined by the individual finishes there.
Photo: JJonahJackalope, CC BY-SA