INFO | SAC XC Championship results
 
Wingate, N.C.----Freshman Ewen Guilmois will have great stories to tell his grandkids about his first home cross country meet, as he led the No. 1 Wingate University men's XC team to its sixth consecutive South Atlantic Conference championship Saturday. Guilmois won the race and SAC Men's Runner of the Year honors with his personal-best 8K time of 23:43.03. He was also the league's Freshman of the Year.
 
The defending NCAA Division II national champions swept the major awards, as head coach Pol Domenech was voted the SAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year by his peers. His troops had 10 student-athletes make the three All-SAC teams with seven runners landing in the top nine finishers.
 
Domenech's top-seven men's student-athletes finished 1-2-4-5-6-7-9 as the Bulldogs topped the team leaderboard with 18 points. No. 23 Anderson was second with 58 points. Lenoir-Rhyne completed the podium with 85 points.
 
Meet Information

Top five teams: No. 1 Wingate (26 points), No. 23 Anderson (58), Lenoir-Rhyne (85), Catawba (91) and Mars Hill (156)
Individual finishers: 115 student-athletes representing 12 schools
Location: WU Cross Country Facility, Wingate, N.C. (Wingate University, host)
 
What They Are Saying
WU director of cross country and track and field Matt van Lierop
 
"Today was a big day for the Bulldogs. Team champions, individual champions, freshmen of the year awards, endless All-SAC honors, numerous surprise performances and finally…the ever elusive, Coach of the Year awards for Pol Domenech…certainly the most accolade-laden day for the Bulldogs…in the program's history."
 
"Overlooked for years, Coach Pol's hard work is recognized by his peers…and in front of the hometown crowd. None of what we do is accomplished without the support from the Bulldog fans, the Wingate administration and the teammates all over the course who were cheering just as hard as their teammates were racing…who was in that Victor E. Bulldog costume this year?"
 
WU senior student-athlete Alexis Collomb (Abbeville, France)
 
"We have never had a team this strong on the start-line for the South Atlantic Conference meet, so I was really confident about winning the team title like we have the last few years. For my race, the plan was to stick with the front group composed of my teammates, which I did."
 
"On the last lap, it's where things started to move a bit quicker as expected. Thankfully, I felt strong today, so I've been able to follow that move. This was my last conference championship, so nothing better to end it than to get a win at home."
 
Inside the 8K Race Results
 
- Wingate had seven runners inside the top nine with six in the top seven
- Senior Alexis Collomb took second place (20:42.90 PR)
- The WU top seven includes two seniors, two juniors and three freshmen

Notables
 
- A whopping 10 Bulldogs made the three All-SAC teams
- Six WU student-athletes made the first team
- Junior Mohamed Dahmouch took home fourth place (24:12.76)
- Classmate Charlie Stephenson was next in fifth (24:14.97 PR)
- Senior photographer extraordinaire Emanuele Ferrari was sixth (24:19.58 PR)
- Freshman Jake Lomas rounded out WU's All-SAC first teamers (24:21.33 PR)
- Freshman Ylian Jacquin led three 'Dogs on the All-SAC second team
- Jacquin finished ninth, thanks to his 8K time of 24:25.47
- Sophomore Nate Mueller and senior David Holman were 12th and 13th, respectively
- Saturday's 8K times: Mueller (24:31.11 PR), Holman (24:35.19 PR)
- Junior Izan Rodriguez was 17th as WU's lone All-SAC third team member (24:49.13 PR)
- Guilmois, Lomas and Jacquin made the five-person SAC All-Freshman team
 
Up Next - NCAA Southeast Regional XC meet Nov. 21
 
The defending region champions will compete in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Cross Country meet Saturday, November 21. The championships are hosted by Converse University at the Milliken Research Park.
 
The Bulldogs are the defending Southeast Region champions in both men's and women's cross country. The Wingate men have won two of the last three NCAA Division II national championships events. The Bulldog women finished a program-best third in the '25 NCAA national championship meet.
 
Wingate University
 
Wingate University is a lab of difference-making that serves more than 3,600 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 30 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award the past 18 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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