Making a strong start to his first year as a Keydet, Kevin Shank ’27 was named the Southern Conference Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week for his performance at the Spider Alumni Open in Richmond, Virginia, Sept. 2, 2023.
Hailing from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Shank led the VMI men’s team at the race with a 6K time of 19:02.4 to place 35th overall in the field.
His performance helped VMI to an eighth-place finish in a field including No. 10 Virginia and several other traditionally strong running programs. The race was also just one week separated from the rats completing Matriculation Week.
The Keydets next compete at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University Sept. 30 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
“Kevin Shank, as a VMI freshman running in his first collegiate meet against two Division 1 NCAA preseason top 10 teams, did not care and just ran,” said Zack Scott ’89, VMI director of cross country. “He paced himself well throughout the race and ran a great final leg of the course.”
Editor’s note: This article was originally published at vmikeydets.com.