Andrew Wyllie, a sophomore out of Wahoo, originally from Bend, Oregon, who transferred from Benedictine College in Kansas, is a member of the Wayne State College Cross-Country team and the track team as an 800-meter runner. Wyllie currently studies Chemistry and is in his second semester at WSC. 

Wyllie is one of three sophomores on the Men’s Cross Country team and one of three transfer students on the team, alongside Quentin Dryer from Des Moines and Titus Kiptoo from American International College. 

 “Benedictine wasn’t a good fit for me, I wanted to be closer to home and I had some friends here,” Wyllie said. 

 The athlete never did cross-country in high school, but he decided to do the sport to keep in shape for track and made his way onto the team. He feels happy with his choice of Wayne. “I really like the team. I like the campus and classes are good. I am happy to be here,” Wyllie said. 

Wyllie credits his improvement to both the graduate assistants last year and his teammates. “Those guys (grad assistants) really helped me get into the team spirit and learn what to do,” Wyllie said. “Everyone has been a huge help, Will McGonigal, Brandon Mundorf, everyone.” 

His first ever cross-country meet was on Sept. 2, at the Augustana Twilight Invite in South Dakota. Where he finished 298th in the 4-mile race with a time of 24:54. In his second meet at the Nebraska-Greeno Invite (5 mile), Andrew placed 265th with a time of 30:52.  

“Andrew is doing alright, he’s a hard worker,” Head Cross Country Coach Marlon Brink said. “He’s never ran cross country before, but he is improving.” Wyllie had kept in contact with Brink when trying out for the team. 

Wyllie is keeping a modest approach to this year, wanting to get a good frame of reference in his ability so that he can improve moving forward. “Last year was kind of overwhelming,” he said. “I had a lot going on.” 

The cross-country team will run again Friday, Sept. 23 here at the Wayne Country Club, located north of the college, at 4:45 p.m.