Wheeling, W. Va. – Entering the 2022 season, the Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team featured some young budding talent. All five of the runners on the roster were in their sophomore year or younger and the Cardinals were looking to build that talent from the ground up. The Cardinals had their share of ups and downs on the season, but in the end gained the experience they need to lay the foundation for a strong program for years to come.

After running in the Bob Creamer Memorial 3K to start the season, the Cardinals jumped right into the heat of competition at the Kutztown D2/D3 Challenge. It was their first chance to get to compete against a wide array of talent, and the Cardinals took advantage. As a team, they finished 11th out of the 14 teams in the field, but each runner who took the course had a big day  with three of the four competitors taking home PR marks. As the year went on, Head Coach Patrick Stanton continued to push his guys on the course, running in challenging meets that included the Live the Lou Cross Country Classic and the LHU Go Fast River Run. All tough opponents they faced led up to one of their most difficult courses of the year at Oglebay park for the 2022 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Cross Country Championships. 

The hilly course offered a challenge to every runner in the field, and for many of the Cardinal's runners it was their first conference championship event. The team finished ninth overall, but the experience was one that will help the program grow for the future. Freshman Hunter Tomich led the way for the Cardinals, finishing 29th with a time of 29:51.63, finishing just three minutes off the pace of the race winner. Overall, the Cardinals had two runners crack the top 65 in the conference as they put on a good show in their first conference championship event. The Cardinals would continue to gain experience as they got to compete in the 2022 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Championship race for the first time since the 2019 season. Once again, it was a good learning experience for the Cardinals as they had three runners finish in the event's top 150.

Leading the way for the Cardinals throughout the year was one of their veterans in sophomore Izaiha Browning. He was the Cardinals leading runner in every race this season except for the MEC Championships, with his season-best performance coming at the Live the Lou Cross Country Classic where he ran a 26:11.2 across the 8K course. Another Cardinal who made his impact felt in his first collegiate season was freshman Hunter Tomich. Tomich was the top Cardinal's finisher at the MEC Championships this past season, where he finished with a time of 29:51.63. Sophomore Julius Hobbs rounded out the top three for the Cardinals, running in his first cross country season since High School. He got progressively stronger in each race he competed in, and set his PR at the LHU Go Fast River Run where he ran a time of 29:30.20 in the 8K race.

Many of the Wheeling University Men's Cross Country runners now head to Indoor Track Season, which starts on Friday, December 2nd, at the YSU Icebreaker. They look to carry their momentum from Cross Country season into Track & Field as they continue improving their times in distance events.