Wheeling, W. Va. – After welcoming in the Wheeling Football team a week ago, the Fall Sports Report Day schedule continued for the Wheeling University Athletics Department on Friday. Six more sports joined the fray, with Volleyball, Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Men's & Women's Cross Country, and Men's Rugby all reporting for fall camp. In total, the department has welcomed seven of the 10 fall sports back to campus, with the 2026-2027 athletics season sitting just 20 days away.
With the athletics season 20 days away, the Cardinals begin preparations for the season, with many of the teams' official first practices beginning on Monday. Combined, the six returning programs racked up 25 wins a season ago, with half of the returning programs having competed in either their Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament or their MEC Championship event. Day one will see them go through their check-in procedures, getting their room keys, athletic training forms, and the rest of their necessary documents filled out, while the weekend brings training and team bonding events ahead of their first practices of the year. The weekend will wrap up with photo day activities for Volleyball, Men's Soccer, and Women's Soccer before preparation for the season begins.
Two of the returning six programs will be under new leadership, with Men's and Women's Soccer each taking on a new leader. Jack Shearer steps into his first season as Head Men's Soccer Coach, looking to turn around a Cardinal team that had one win a season ago. Shearer hit the recruiting trail this offseason, bringing in a class of freshmen and transfers to add to a group of 18 returners from a season ago. Last year, the Cardinals were led by mostly freshmen on the pitch, and those freshmen have each grown with a year of experience. Shearer brings over 10 years of experience as both a player and coach and looks to help turn the program around on the field. His stated goal is to get back to the MEC Tournament in 2026, with his team fighting for one of the top six spots in the tournament field.
"I'm excited for the challenge ahead, it's a great opportunity to turn this program around and put Wheeling back on the map as a soccer school," said Shearer. "Our goal this first season is to build a culture that our players, alumni, and our entire Wheeling community can be proud of. We want to be a team that competes with passion, works relentlessly, and represents the university the right way. The goal is to compete for a MEC playoff spot by making the top six in the conference standings. I want our players to approach every training session with belief, confidence, and a winning mentality."
The other rookie head coach for the 2026 season is Jaclyn Ketter, who has been working with the team since the spring season. Ketter, who took over as Head Women's Soccer Coach in mid-February, led the team through a spring season of growth. After going 3-11-4 a year ago and averaging 1.11 goals per game, Ketter and her team got to work this offseason. They were able to eclipse their total goal output from the fall across four games played and gained some much-needed experience on the field. As they prepare to enter their fall camp, Ketter is looking for her team to focus on their fitness this season and build off the momentum they created throughout the spring.
"We had some struggles with injuries last season, so we really focused on strength and conditioning and fitness this season," said Ketter. "The expectations are mainly going to be on our fitness and physicality. We are going to be a goal-scoring team this season, and I'm very excited to see what we can do this year."
After a season of youth on the cross country course, both teams come back ready to build off their experience. On the women's side, Madison Conrad leads the way in her senior season, with the rest of the squad entering their sophomore campaigns. The Cardinals had a flurry of individual successes during the 2025 season and finished 10th in the field at the MEC Cross Country Championships. On the men's side, it will be Magnus Polkner taking the reins after putting together a breakout sophomore campaign. He will be one of three returning runners for the program, with the other two entering their first or second season with the team. The Cross Country team will also be under new leadership, with Ben Healy entering his first season as Cross Country Coach after serving as an assistant the last two seasons before taking over as Head Track & Field Coach last season. He has brought in some help on the coaching staff and looks for his distance runners to continue their growth.
"Last year, the team saw a lot of growth and success both individually and as a team," said Healy. "This year, we look to continue that growth. Our distance runners have been working very hard through the summer and battled a lot of injury last year. They are coming in healthy and strong and look to build on that success this season. We are looking forward to the season ahead."
After taking home their third straight 7s national title in the fall, 2026 will see the Wheeling Men's Rugby team look to earn a sweep of the national titles. They have made it to at least the quarterfinal round of the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) DI 15s National Playoffs. 2025 was another year of success on the national stage, after the Cardinals finished fifth in the inaugural season of the Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC). They earned a come-from-behind win in the wildcard round against Dartmouth, setting up a showdown against Queens University of Charlotte. The Cardinals would end up falling, but continued the winning tradition of Men's Rugby on campus. Entering his second season, Head Coach Maxwell Hamilton is looking for his veterans to continue that winning tradition as they search for their first 15s National Title.
"As we begin this season, our expectations remain high, and we know the work that lies ahead, and we are excited to embrace that challenge together," said Hamilton. "We return an experienced core of veteran leaders who understand what it takes to compete for championships. Their leadership throughout the offseason has set the tone for our fall camp, and they have embraced the challenge of mentoring our newest Cardinals."
The final team that reported on Friday was the Wheeling Volleyball team, fresh off another run to the MEC Tournament. The 2025 Cardinals welcomed in 10 freshmen, who played significant time on the court for the team during the season. Throughout the spring season, the young Cardinals continued to build chemistry on the court and look to turn that into more success in 2026. The Cardinals would earn the MEC Co-North Division title a season ago and earned the No. 3 seed in the MEC Volleyball Tournament. As they enter the 2026 season, the Cardinals will be looking to get even farther in this year's tournament and try to bring the MEC Volleyball Tournament back to Wheeling for the first time since the 2019 season.
"Last year we were very young, one of the youngest teams that I have ever had," said Benner. "I think that being here this long, I expect the highest of standards for the Volleyball program, and I feel that Carrie Hanna and the department have supported myself in that journey to be the best, and one of the best in Division II. I always want to be a shining star for Wheeling, and I hope that we are something that the university can always be proud of."
The six reporting programs will begin their fall sports camps on Monday, August 10th, as they begin preparations for the 2026-2027 season.
