INFO | NCAA Division II XC Championship results (HTML)
INFO | NCAA Division II XC Championship Central
 
Joplin, Mo.----The Wingate University men's cross country team won its first-ever national championship Saturday, edging '22 national titlist Colorado School of Mines 70-79 at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. The Bulldogs had five All-American performances, led by freshman Hamza Chahid and his fourth-place 10K time of 29:15.3.
 
Senior Soheil Boufrizi finished 10th with his 10K time of 29:34.2. Junior Ricardo Barbosa and senior Cas Kopmels were 24th (30:02.2) and 26th (30:04.5), respectively. Junior Titouan Le Grix rounded out Wingate's top five, finishing 29th (30:09.9). Two weeks ago, Le Grix was the NCAA Division II Southeast Region individual champion with his 10K school-record time of 28:45.0.

"We are very proud of our men's and women's cross country student-athletes and our XC coaching staff," Wingate director of athletics Joe Reich says. "What an outstanding accomplishment!"
 
Wingate's national championship gives the University three NCAA team crowns since 2016. The Bulldog men's soccer team won an NCAA title in 2016, while the WU baseball squad claimed an NCAA championship in 2021. The Wingate men's tennis team won back-to-back NJCAA national championships in 1970 and 1971.
 
Meet Information

Top five teams: Wingate (70 points), Colorado Mines (79), East Central, Okla. (108), West Texas A&M (142) and Western Colorado (168).
Individual finishers: 260 student-athletes with 34 schools recording a team score
Location: Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course, Joplin, Mo.
Host institution: Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, Mo.

Quotables
 
Wingate freshman student-athlete Hamza Chahid:
 
"Everything today was so good and the team was spectacular. We won as a team and from the program, the student-athletes and the coaching staff, I say thank you. From Coach Pol to Wingate's athletic training staff, I say thank you. I want to thank the whole Wingate family for this opportunity."
 
Wingate senior student-athlete Soheil Boufrizi:
 
"I don't think this has set in yet. Four years ago, I came to Wingate University and now we can finally say we've checked the box. For the Wingate team, we were down nine points to the second-place team and came back to win in the last kilometer. We ran fast and we really worked hard from the start to finish with the win."
 
Lees-McRae College vice-president for athletics and club sports Craig McPhail:
 
"It has been good to see the continued success of Wingate University's Cross Country program. From my time coaching against the Bulldogs to now as an administrator, one has to appreciate the effort made to become a nationally-recognized program. With their success, it has also helped grow the sport within the region as you see more teams taking strides to build their programs to Wingate's level. Coach Pol Domenech and Coach Matt van Lierop and the entire staff has done a remarkable job assembling, developing and retaining top talent to give Wingate a chance to compete for and win a national championship. Congratulations!"

Wingate University
 
Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,400 students in North Carolina and offers 60 degree pathways, including 37 undergraduate majors, 10 pre-professional tracks and five dual-degree programs. Graduate students choose from seven master's and five doctoral programs. 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.
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a leader in healthcare education where nearly one in five 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 the past 15 times it has been awarded. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.
 
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