One of the state's top cross country and distance runners, Drew Roberts has confirmed his verbal commitment to Walsh University. The Mapleton senior intends to represent the Cavaliers in both cross country and track.
Roberts is a versatile athlete who excels in the 1600 and 3200 (both indoor and outdoor) and the 5K during cross country season. His pr's are: 4:25.07, 9:44.97 and 15:41.20.
During his decorated high school career, Roberts has been a regular at the Indoor State, Outdoor State and Cross Country State Championship meets. He's also a veteran of the SPIRE Showcase and the Foot Locker Midwest Regional. Along with a hand-full of others, Roberts is expected to vie for the 2018 DIII OHSAA Cross Country State Championship individual title. He's currently ranked ninth in Ohio (overall) and sixth among 2019 grads.
MileSplit connected with Drew to gain insight on his exciting news.
There are several reasons why I believe Walsh University was the correct school for me. They have a phenomenal program that is continuing to get deeper and stronger. I am very excited to go to a school that is only an hour away yet has arguably one of the best programs in the state regardless of division. Also, I was welcomed by the team and coaching staff at Walsh and I felt at home immediately during my visits to campus. I am very excited to train with the guys on this team. I already have made quite a few friends. Some were guys that I competed against last season. Being a Division II school that focuses more on academics, Walsh's academic integrity not only as a university but as a cross country team was very impressive to me.
At the collegiate level, I seek to continue Walsh's tradition of excellence by assisting them in qualifying for the national meet. I look forward to being a part of a team that has the potential to be a leading program in the nation. My biggest dream would be to win a national cross country or track title as a team. Individually, I hope to achieve academic All-American status. In addition, a major goal I have is to break 30 minutes in the 10K someday. As a freshman, I want to break 15 minutes in the 5K. My main individual goals are to be an athletic All-American and win an individual conference title.
Coming from a small school, I am thrilled to get to run on such a deep team where I'm going to have many high-caliber guys to train with. I am excited to train under Coach Mizicko's expertise and see where it can take me!
