On Saturday, June 20, B-G Senior Matthew Wombacker competed in the one-mile Race Walk at New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he came in second place. (Submitted photo from the Wombacker family)

PHILADELPHIA, PA—It was his last high school track meet and B-G Senior Matthew Wombacker saved his best for last.

On Saturday, June 20, B-G Senior Matthew Wombacker competed in the one-mile Race Walk at New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  

It was his fourth time in the championship at a New Balance meet. He placed seventh in 2024 at the outdoor meet as a sophomore. He finished third at the indoor meet in 2025 as a junior but then suffered a late DQ.  This spring, in March, at the indoor meet, he finished in third place again.

This year, he almost didn’t even get the chance to compete, spending two nights in the emergency room the week before the race with symptoms related to a tick bite.

Strong and ready on race day, Matthew started in last place but was able to move up and led for the last half of the race before finishing only three seconds behind the winner with his final time of 7:06:07. This earned him second place and All-American status.

Matthew graduated from Bainbridge-Guilford on Saturday, June 27, and will be attending University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky in the fall.  He will be studying Exercise and Sports Science and will continue to race walk for their Track and Field team.  

Congratulations, Matthew!

-Information from the Wombacker family