Wheeling, W. Va. – As the marathon to the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship begins, the Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team kicked things off at the West Liberty Invitational. The Cardinals got things going with their first 6K of the year, finishing ninth overall as a team and posting a team total time of 125:03. With a young squad taking the course in 2024, the Cardinals are looking to build off these experiences and get better throughout the season.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was one of their most veteran runners in junior Hunter Tomich, who competed in his first collegiate 6K. Tomich was the lone Cardinal to crack the top 40 on the day, taking 38th overall with a time of 20:42 and a mile pace of 5:33. As he enters his junior season, Tomich look s to lead this Cardinal team, as he chases down his first career All-MEC honor this season. Finishing behind him was sophomore Shane Levesque, who made his Cardinal debut after transferring in as a sophomore. After suffering a injury as a freshman that forced him to miss Track & Field season, Levesque came back strong, taking 49th in the field with a time of 21:24 and a mile pace of 5:44. Head Coach Patrick Stanton said he wanted to see how Levesque would respond coming off of injury and he got things started strong in 2024.

Rounding out the top three for the Cardinals was freshman Drew Pierce, who made his collegiate Cross Country Debut. Pierce set a collegiate baseline mark of 27:02 in his first collegiate event, while posting a mile pace of 7:15. The Cardinal's most veteran runner was up next as senior CJ Anderson placed 59th with a time of 27:35 and a mile pace of 7:24. In his four seasons running in a Cardinal uniform, this was Anderson's first 6K event of his career as he got things started strong in his senior season. The final runner for the Cardinals was junior Joshua Boehm, who competed in his first collegiate Cross country event. He would end up finishing event. He would end up finishing 60th with a time of 28:20 and a mile pace of 7:36 to round out the day.

The Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team returns to action on Saturday, September 21st, when they compete at the Youngstown State Alumni Invitational.