Wheeling, W. Va. - Following Saturday's Mountain East Conference (MEC) Men's Cross Country Championship event, the top 20 finishers were rewarded as All-MEC Award winners. Among the honorees was Wheeling University Men's Cross Country runner Izaiha Browning, who finished 20th overall to earn Second Team All-MEC honors. It was the first all-conference honor for Browning in his collegiate career and the first All-MEC honor for a Wheeling Men's Cross Country runner since former Cardinal Devin Rich won First Team All-MEC honors during the 2018 MEC Championships.
After not being able to finish last year's MEC Championship race due to injury, Browning was determined to come back stronger than ever in this year's event. He had been the top finisher for the Cardinals in every race during the regular season and, in events where they ran against MEC competition he had finished 15th or better in the conference in every race. He would stay with the top of the pack for a majority of the challenging 8K course, attacking the uphill and taking advantage of the downhills. Coming down the final stretch, it would be a foot race between Browning and Frostburg State's Kaleb Berhanu, and Browning would beat him out by 1.09 seconds to take 20th overall with a time of 27:32.49. However, both athletes would earn All-MEC honors after a disqualification moved them both up a spot to earn Second Team All-MEC honors.
For the Cardinal's senior runner, it was a comeback story that ended with the prize of an All-Conference title. It was a nearly three-minute improvement over the first time he finished the Championship event during his freshman year, when he ran a 30:22.93, and a 13th place finish. He finished just two minutes off the pace of the top runner in the event and finished his conference cross country season on a high note. With one more postseason event in front of him, Browning will look to continue his success as he now prepares for the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships in two weeks.
With the release of the All-MEC Cross Country teams, Browning is the first Wheeling University student-athlete to earn All-MEC honors this season. Last year, the Cardinals had 33 student-athletes earn All-MEC honors and, as the Fall sports continue, look to once again reach at least that number for the 2023-2024 season.
The Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team returns to action on Saturday, November 4th, when they run at the 2023 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships, hosted by Lock Haven University.
