Wawasee High School senior Austin Yoder has chosen to continue his running career with Grace College. Pictured at the signing are, in front from left, father Gene Yoder, brother Easton Yoder, Austin Yoder, and mother Loretta Yoder. In the back row are WHS principal Mike Schmidt, Wawasee track coach Scott Lancaster, Wawasee cross country coach Doug Slabaugh and Grace College track and field coach Jeff Raymond. (Photo by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – Wawasee High School’s Austin Yoder signed his letter of intent to continue his running career at Grace College.

Yoder is both a cross country and track athlete for the Warriors and will continue as such with Grace and head coach Jeff Raymond.

“Austin comes from a good program, as both the cross country and track programs have been competitive for several years,” Raymond said Friday morning at the signing at WHS. “There have been several quality runners at Wawasee, and it helps that Austin has been training with them. He ran his best times of the cross country season in the state tournament, which is an appealing quality.”

Yoder, who was part of the semi-state cross country team and a four-year letterwinner in the sport, joined the track program this spring for the first time after playing baseball in previous springs. The choice to switch spring sports was purely academic.

“I decided to run track this spring in case I didn’t get a call for a cross country scholarship,” Yoder stated Friday morning. “I was actually split between two schools in IUSB and Grace, but when coach Raymond called, and after a campus visit, I knew Grace was the perfect fit for me.”

Yoder will study biology at Grace and is currently ranked in the top 15 of his graduating class with a 10.6 grade point average on a 12-scale.