Wheeling, W. Va. - Over the last couple of years, the Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team has been developing talent to lay a strong foundation for their program. As they enter 2026, that talent now has experience under its belt, and looks to lead the new young talent into the future. On Wednesday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released its annual Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll, and the Cardinals earned the #11 spot in a vote of the conference's head coaches. 

In 2025, the Cardinals came into the year with a young program, with three of their top five runners competing in their first college season. They competed in a heavy local schedule during the 2025 season, with two Division II and two Division III meets on the schedule. Wheeling's top finish came at the Bethany Invitational, where they finished 5th overall, and they picked up two top 10 team finishes during the regular season. As they headed into the 2025 MEC Men's Cross Country Championships, the majority of the runners were facing the challenging Oglebay course for the first time, but put together a strong showing. They would place one runner in the top 50 of the event and finished 10th overall in the team standings. The year would round out at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championships, with three runners competing, and one of those getting into the top 70 of the event. 

As they head into 2026, the Cardinals will be looking to Magnus Polkner to lead the squad, after a breakout year on the course a season ago. He would set a PR almost every time out, setting his 8K PR in three straight events leading up to the conference championships. He would end up being the Cardinals' top runner at the conference championships, finishing 42nd overall, and would be the lone Cardinal to crack the top 70 at the Regional Championships. It would round out a year of PRs for the sophomore, as he finished 62nd at Regionals with a time of 33:03.8 to round out the season. After wrapping up his first collegiate cross country season, Courtney Rider is looking to build off last year's success in his second season. Rider continued to get better meet by meet, running his top 8K time in 29:58.1 at the Lock Haven Invitational, and will look to continue his growth this season. 

As they enter 2026, the Cardinals will challenge themselves with a schedule featuring their first NCAA Division I tournament since 2023. They start the year off at conference opponent West Liberty on September 3, giving them a chance to see the rest of their conference competition. Then, the team heads into back-to-back NCAA Division I meets, further challenging themselves against some of the best in the country. They start things off against Robert Morris on September 11, and return two weeks later to compete at Youngstown State on September 26th. The final tune-up comes at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational, an event the Cardinals have ended with over the last few seasons, before they head to the conference championships in late October. With experience under their belt and a more challenging schedule, the Cardinals are looking to build off last year's success and climb the MEC standings. 

Leading the way in the 2026 MEC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll was the University of Charleston, who received 10 first-place votes and 120 points in a vote of the conference head coaches. Finishing behind them was Davis & Elkins, two first-place votes and 111 points, and Concord, 84 points to round out the top three. The rest of the MEC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll is listed below: 

The Wheeling University Men's Cross Country team begins the 2026 season at the West Liberty Invitational on September 3.