SAC XC Championship results
SAC XC Championship Central
 
Salisbury, N.C.----Wingate University junior Soheil Boufrizi won the individual title, leading the No. 4 Bulldogs to their second consecutive South Atlantic Conference men's cross country title at the Salisbury Community Park Saturday. Wingate had five of the top seven and nine of the top 18 finishers to notch 23 points. Host Catawba was second with 54 markers. Boufrizi completed the 8K Salisbury Community Park layout in 25:22.6.
 
Wingate had five of the top seven and nine of the top 18 finishers to notch 23 points. Host Catawba was second with 54 markers. For the second season in a row, Bulldog head coach Pol Domenech was voted the SAC men's cross country Coach of the Year by his peers. The Bulldogs had nine student-athletes make the All-SAC teams, including five first-team members.
 
Meet Information

Top five teams: Wingate (23 points), Catawba (54), Anderson (67), Lenoir-Rhyne (131) and Carson-Newman (142)
Individual finishers: 102 student-athletes representing 13 schools
Location: Salisbury Community Park, Salisbury, N.C.
 
Quotables

Wingate head coach Pol Domenech
 
"We are incredibly proud of all the men and women who represented our program today. Both teams performed exactly like we knew they could…this is not an easy thing to do when all our eyes were on us. This is the beginning of the last four weeks of training and both teams showed our strength and depth. We are looking forward to the next few weeks of training and are very excited to compete for a regional championship in a couple weeks at home."
 
Wingate junior Soheil Boufrizi
 
"I am very pleased for the result of the team. Wingate supporters showed up for us today, which plays a huge role into the team's performance. I am really happy to bring the individual title back to Wingate as well. Today's performance is another huge motivational booster heading to regionals and nationals. Go Bulldogs!"

WU director of cross country, track and field and triathlon Matt van Lierop on Pol Domenech
 
"Pol Domenech is the mastermind for all things distance running at Wingate. I get to sit back and watch his vision become reality. It doesn't matter who toes that line, Pol always has a plan for success…today it was to defend those SAC titles. Once again, I'm proud of his accomplishments, as he was chosen by his peers as COTY. I'm just as excited as for the student-athletes, a part of the continuing history in the making…" 
 
Inside the 8K Race Results
 
- Boufrizi edged second-place finisher and Anderson sophomore Spain Vaughan for the gold medal
- Boufrizi's 25:22.6 8K posting helped him outlast Vaughan (25:27.4) by almost five seconds
 
Notables
 
- For the second consecutive year, nine Bulldogs made the All-SAC teams
- Boufrizi, Saul Valdez, Brent Surratt, Jakob Rettschlag and Henning Kunze made the first team
- Seniors Valdez (25:32.9) and Surratt (25:45.5) finished fourth and fifth, respectively
- As if following a pattern, junior Rettschlag (25:52.5) and senior Kunze (25:53.5) finished sixth and seventh, respectively
- Leo Freeland, Luis Hernandez-Perez and Jacob Pickering made the second team
- Jan Bayona earned third team laurels
 
Up Next - NCAA Southeast Regional XC meet Nov. 19 at Wingate
 
Wingate University is hosting the 2022 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional cross country meet Saturday, Nov. 19 at the WU Cross Country Facility. NCAA officials made the change, moving the site from McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte to the University's 540-acre campus in Eastern Union County.
 
Championship information
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional XC meet / Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022
Wingate University (host), Wingate, N.C.
 
Men's 10K race – 10 a.m.
Women's 6K race – 11:15 a.m.
 
Regional XC championship fun facts
 
- This year will mark the 10th year Wingate has hosted this event
- The Bulldogs served as hosts in 2019, 2017, 2015 and 2004-09
- Wingate won the 2021 NCAA SER men's XC event in Spartanburg, South Carolina
- The Bulldogs finished second in the 2021 NCAA SER women's XC meet

Wingate University
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a laboratory of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina. Wingate offers 38 undergraduate majors as well as seven master's and four doctoral degrees. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences; the Levine College of Health Sciences; the Byrum School of Business; the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences. 

Wingate is a leader in healthcare education, and nearly one in five Wingate undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Student-athletes on Wingate's 25 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award for 14 years straight. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.