Lock Haven, PA. – After a long run through the season, the Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team brought things to an end at the 2025 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships. The Cardinals had three runners in competition and while they did not produce a team score, the Cardinals had a runner crack the top 100 of the event. It was the best finish by a Cardinal in the regional championship event since 2018 as they continue to grow their young talent.
The top run came from sophomore Magnus Polkner, who finished 62nd in the field, and was the first Cardinal to crack the top 75 since the 2022 season. He would end up running a time of 33:03.80, cutting his time from last year's regional championship event by over 40 seconds. I'm his first mile of the race, Polkner got out to a fast kick, running the first mile in 4:57.6 to get ahead of the pack. He kept a strong pace throughout the race, running two separate five minute miles in the middle of the race and used that to build his hold on the top 75. The final kick was a sprint to the finish, with Polkner needing just 59 seconds to get the final 0.2 miles of the race. It was a strong cap to his cross country performance and he looks to use his momentum as he transitions into the 800-Meter events during indoor and outdoor track & field seasons.
Finishing right behind him was graduate student Hunter Tomich, who finished 113th with a time of 34:54.0 to round out his cross country career. Tomich competed in the event for the third time in his career and just missed out on the top 110 by just 13 seconds. Tomich has been the veteran leader of the Cross Country program throughout the year and looks to continue that leadership into the track & field season. The final runner on the day for the team was Aidan McKenna, who finished 153rd overall with a time of 40:25.70. McKenna rounded out the year strong, finishing with PR's in each of his final two regular season events and put together a strong performance in his first Regional event.
The Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team now heads into the off-season as many of the athletes will compete in both indoor and outdoor track seasons.
