INFO | SAC XC Championship results
 
Wingate, N.C.----The No. 2 Wingate University women's cross country team claimed its 10th South Atlantic Conference championship Saturday, sweeping the major awards and earning eight All-SAC honors in the league meet at the WU Cross Country Facility. The 'Dogs have won the last six SAC championship meets in a row.
 
Senior Evie Brooks said a fond farewell to her home course, taking SAC Women's Runner of the Year by virtue of her first-place performance Saturday. Brooks posted a personal-best 6K time of 20:33.67. Newcomer Guillemette Vincent is the SAC Freshman of the Year, thanks to her fourth-place showing (21:11.48 PR).
 
Wingate head coach Pol Domenech was voted the SAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year by his peers. His squad had eight student-athletes make the three All-SAC teams with three runners landing in the top five finishers.
 
Wingate had 26 points. No. 21 Catawba finished second with 51 points. Lincoln Memorial rounded out the podium with 111 points. The Navy Blue and Vegas Gold-clad Bulldogs earned their previous SAC championships in 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
 
Meet Information

Top five teams: No. 2 Wingate (26 points), No. 21 Catawba (51), Lincoln Memorial (111), Anderson (119) and Carson-Newman (120)
Individual finishers: 99 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 Evie Brooks (Horncastle, England)
 
"This was a really perfect race for me. Racing at Wingate as a senior and winning my first cross country race in seven years, on the Wingate cross country course with my Wingate team…even better."
 
Inside the 6K Race Results
 
- Wingate had five runners in the top 10 with three in the top five
- Senior Jacqueline Sanchez took second place (20:42.90)
- Sanchez and Vincent were making their first home appearances

Notables
 
- Eight Bulldogs made the three All-SAC teams
- Brooks, Sanchez and Vincent made the first team
- Sophomore Karlijn Mesman was one of three 'Dogs on the second team
- Mesman finished ninth, thanks to her 6K time of 21:30.04
- Juniors Baia Touza and Imane Jourji made the second team as well
- Touza took 10th place (21:36.85 PR), while Jourji was 13th (22:00.95)
- Freshmen Lena Llamas and Amparo Herrera were third team All-SAC
- Llamas took 17th place (22:10.85 PR), while Herrera was 19th (22:12.66 PR)
- Vincent, Llamas and Herrera 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 Bulldog women finished a program-best third in the '25 NCAA national championship meet. The Wingate men have won two of the last three NCAA Division II national championships events.
 
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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