Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

DOWAGIAC — Southwestern Michigan College has added another runner to its 2023 recruiting class.

Roadrunner Coach Zac Sartori announced that Niles’ Tori Yates has signed a National junior College Athletic Association letter of intent to run cross country at Southwestern Michigan College.

Yates ran her senior year at Niles for Vikings’ Coach Jami Roden. Yates finished 15th overall in her first race at the Viking Stampede with a time of 24:19.30. In her final race of the year at the Division 2 Regional hosted by Bangor, Yates posted a time of 22:36.31, which was good for 44^th place out of 82 runners.

“Tori Yates is an outstanding young lady, who is well-respected by the teaching staff and administration,” Roden said. “I am so grateful for Tori running her senior year. She brought a competitive attitude to the program and her work ethic was admirable. She will do well at SMC and I can’t wait to follow her at the next level.”

Sartori sees a runner who is just finding her stride.

“Tori is one of those young runners who’s just beginning to tap into her potential,” he said. “She’s been competing at the distance events for just over a year now and I’m really excited to see what she can do. I’m confident that she’ll be a major contributor to our success in her first year. We are very lucky to have her joining the program.”

Yates joins Camryn Brown, of Coloma, and Taylor Meier, of Paw Paw, as a member of SMC’s 2023 recruiting class.