It has been a long road for senior Tyler Yunk, and it is nearing its end here at Eastern. He will have a couple of more opportunities to show his abilities as a runner, starting with the Ohio Valley Conference championships on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. Then the NCAA Midwest Regional at Iowa could be his final collegiate cross-country race.
Even though he started his collegiate career at the University of Kansas, he will end it as a member of the Eastern cross-country team. Yunk is a true veteran of the sport and knows what a well put together team looks like.
“I have been running since I was six years old and a thing that is always a large factor is how well your team works together,” Yunk said. “We have a very close-knit team that will put everything on the line for each other.”
Yunk knows that Eastern has a close cross-country program that supports one another and is built to make each other better. He has improved over his years as a college runner as well as during his time here.
He improved his times from the 2015 season in many of the races. For example, at the Walt Crawford Open he went from a ninth-place finish to the third-place spot. As well as having great improvement in the Notre Dame invitational, where a time decrease of 16 seconds got him a 20th-place finish in 2016, compared to the 33rd position from 2015.
Yunk has been consistent over the years in his preparation for race day, and he does not try too much to get into a strict routine that might trip him up.
“I do not try to sike myself out before races so I try to stay loose and not focus on it too much,” Yunk said. “However, I do make it a point to listen to ‘Defying Gravity’ from the musical ‘Wicked’.”
Yunk will strive to end his running career at Eastern on a positive note, such as getting an All-OVC honor, which he just missed in 2015 and compete in the Midwest Regionals on Nov. 11.

Alex Hartman can be reached at 581-2812 or aihartman@eiu.edu