Wheeling, W. Va. - As the month of September came to a close, the Wheeling University Athletic department fall sports teams begin the final stretch run to the postseason. On Tuesday, the Wheeling University Athletic Department announced their weekly Cardinal High Flyer of the Week awards, before opening up the October portion of their schedule on Wednesday. Wheeling Men's Cross Country runner Magnus Polkner would earn Male High Flyer of the Week honors, while Women's Soccer Player Akyla Walcott took home the Female High Flyer of the Week award.
The week would start out on the golf course, with the women's golf team traveling to Fairmont State, while the Men's Golf team hosted the Hannastown Classic. The women continued their strong stretch of individual performances, placing one golfer in the top 15 of the event. On the men's side, the Cardinals secured their second top 10 finish of the season, finishing 5th overall with a three-day score of 903. Wednesday would bring the first soccer action of the week, and the Women's Soccer team kicked things off with a bang beating Salem 3-1. Men's Soccer would be at Bishop Schmitt Field later that night, and the Cardinals fell to Concord 1-0.
As the weekend rolled on, Wheeling Volleyball would travel to West Virginia State as they opened their MEC schedule against West Virginia State. The Cardinals came away with a 3-1 victory and started 1-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2022 season. Saturday saw the Women's Golf team start their final tune-up at the Bull Dog Fall Classic, and the team walked away with a top 20 finisher in the Atlantic Region. The Wheeling Men's and Women's Cross Country teams got a tune-up for the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships, running at the Lock Haven Invitational, and both teams walked away with a top 10 finisher. The Wheeling Women's Soccer team would round out the day, and earned a big point in conference play with a 1-1 tie against Fairmont State.
Magnus Polkner earned his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award this season after a career day at the Lock Haven Invitational. Polkner would pick up his second top 10 finish of the season, taking 7th overall including the top spot in the MEC and the third overall spot in the Atlantic Region. Polkner would shave 21 seconds off his previous PR, running a time of 26:50.7, and battled back throughout the day. After sitting 13th overall at the 3.5K mark, and climbed six spots in the pack before rounding out his day. It shaved just under a minute off his time from his first race of the season, as he continues to build on his success as he gears up for the MEC Cross Country Championships in just under a month.
Akyla Walcott is also earning her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award this season, after leading the team's defensive effort against Fairmont State. She got the start for the Cardinals on Sunday, and would make nine saves on 10 shots faced throughout the contest for a .900 save percentage on the day. After making three saves over the first 45 minutes of play, Walcott would turn it up in the second half, saving six shots across the final 45 minutes. She kept a Fairmont State team that was averaging 4.6 goals per game off the board until the final seconds of the match. Her other appearance of the week would come in the final minutes against Salem, where she conceded a goal on a Penalty Kick in the final minute. Walcott would finish the week with an .818 save percentage and was a big part of the Cardinal's point streak continuing.
Magnus Polkner is the first Wheeling Men's Cross Country runner to earn High Flyer of the Week honors this season, while Akyla Walcott is the first Women's Soccer player to earn the honor. Last week, Wheeling honored Football player Leonard Sherrod III and Volleyball player Camryn Matus with the awards after both put together breakout performances to lead their teams on the field.
The next Wheeling University Athletic event is scheduled for Tuesday, September 30th, when the Wheeling University Volleyball team takes on Fairmont State with tip-off at 7 PM.
