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West Jessamine's Yoder, Smith sign with Asbury cross-country

West Jessamine cross-county

May 30, 2012|By Jonathan Stark | jstark@jessaminejournal.com

Photo by Jonathan Stark/jstark@jessaminejournal.com

Asbury University’s cross-county program scored two major recruits this past month with the signing of West Jessamine’s state-championship runners Todd Yoder and David Smith.

Smith

Smith placed 74th at state with a time of 18:32.41.

“I started running a couple years ago and loved it because it’s such a great way to get out and anyone can do it and really improve,” Smith said. “It was really exciting when I found out I could do it at Asbury and get a decent scholarship for it.”

For Smith his college choice came down to Asbury and the University of Kentucky. In the end, Asbury won out because of he thought it was the better fit.

“It was great to run for West Jessamine and I’m not super competitive but I feel like I have a lot of potential and if I was going to UK I wouldn’t be able to continue down this road,” Smith said.

Smith credits West’s AP classes and teachers with his academic success.

“(I’m looking forward to) something new and getting to meet a lot of new people,” Smith said.

He will major in adventure leadership and either biology or social work.

“With adventure leadership I get to do a lot of work outdoors with people,” Smith said.

Yoder

Yoder finished 14th in the state at last fall’s state cross-county championships. He came in with a time of 17 minutes 18.22 seconds.

He looked at a couple colleges but “felt God saying Asbury is definitely the place for me.”

“The entire senior year I’ve known,” Yoder said. He took to courses at Asbury this past spring.

“I know a lot of people in the cross-country program and I just love all the people and love getting to run and see people at meets that I know,” Yoder said.

He has also worked with some of the mission trips associated with Asbury.

“I knew that running built character and perseverance and things like that, but I never gave it a whole lot of thought (in terms of earning a scholarship),” Yoder said.

He plans on majoring in media communications with an emphasis in film.

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