Rio's Wilson earns MSC's top runner honor

Louisville, Ky. --- The University of Rio Grande's Bryce Wilson was named the Mid-South Conference Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.

This is Wilson's first award of the season. Wilson is the first Rio athlete to claim a league honor in the Mid-South Conference.

Wilson, a fine woodworking major, earned the honor with a first place finish at the Rio Grande Invitational. The Jackson, Ohio, sophomore finished the 8,000 meter course with a time of 26:54 to earn the MSC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week.

"We're excited for Bryce," Rio Grande head coach Bob Willey said. "Bryce worked really hard last spring and developed really well. He went to Colorado this summer and worked and trained at altitude, obviously it's helped him."

"Bryce was one of those guys in high school that had a lot of talent, but didn't do a lot of training," Willey added. "But now he has bought into the program and is training at 12 miles a day now and obviously it's paying off for him."

Rio Grande finished first overall in an eight-team field.

Wilson and the RedStorm will be back on the course on Friday, October 2 competing at the All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Wesleyan.