DEARBORN, Mich. – Ryan Exell and Victoria Hebda were both honored by the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference on Monday. Exell was named the WHAC Men's Runner of the Week, while Hebda earned WHAC Women's Runner of the Week.
The awards are the first for each student-athlete and are the first for any UM-Dearborn cross country runner in the history of the programs.
A freshman from Canton, Mich., Exell has had a tremendous start to his career at UM-Dearborn, including in the 8K race at the Jayhawk Invitational on Friday in Muskegon, Mich.
After becoming the first Wolverine runner to break the 26-minute mark in the 8K last week at the Lansing Invitational, Exell followed it up by breaking his own school record by more than 30 seconds on Friday. Exell finished 20th overall at the Jayhawk Invitational with a final time of 25:20.25 to help the Wolverine men finish fifth out of a field 20 schools.
Hebda, a sophomore from Trenton, Mich., has continued to lead the Wolverine women in her second year with the program. Hebda posted a final time of 19:25.47 in the 5K race at the Jayhawk Invitational, finishing 33rd and helping the Wolverine women finish fifth out of a field of 19 schools. Hebda has finished first among the Wolverine women in all four events in 2018 and continues to improve her times heading towards the postseason.
The cross country program return to action at the Great Lakes Invitational hosted by Aquinas College at 11 am Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich.
