Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team's motto for the 2022 season was "gritty." That gritty nature applied both on the course and in the classroom as the team was named a USTFCCCA All Academic Team. It was the first time in program history that the Men's team has earned the honor as they put their hard work on the course and brought that to their classes.

In order to qualify for a team all academic award, the team must have accumulative GPA of 3.0 to 4.0 during the last grading period The Team must also put up a team score at their respective conference championship. The Wheeling Men's Cross Country team produced a 3.44 team GPA during the fall semester and put up 270 team points at the 2022 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championships. All five members of the 2022 roster produced at least a 3.25 GPA as the team had two players on the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Commissioner's Honor Roll and three on the Academic All-MEC Team. Not only was it a strong year in the classroom for the Cardinals, but a strong one on the course as the program continues to grow.

Sophomore Izaiha Browning led the way for the Cardinals, being the team's top racer in all but one of the competitions this season. One of his fastest runs of the season came at the LHU Go Fast River Run, where he ran a time of 27:18.30. The 2022 season also saw the emergence of freshman Hunter Tomich, who was the Cardinal's top finisher at the 2022 MEC Championships. He was competing in his first collegiate conference championship event and took 49th place with a time of 29:51.63. The Cardinals also produced their first team score at an MEC Championship event since before the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. With a program that is continuing to grow the Cardinals look to keep the success going on the course and in the classroom.

Many of Wheeling's Cross Country athletes are currently competing in Indoor Track & Field season and will return to action on Friday, February 3rd, at the Ashland Judd Logan Invitational.