INFO | Converse Kick-Off men's results
 
Spartanburg, S.C.----The defending national champion Wingate University men's cross country team had five of the top 10 finishers to take a convincing 44-point victory in the 2026 Converse Kick-Off at the Milliken Research Park Saturday. The Converse Kick-Off serves as a preview race for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional in November.
 
Wingate compiled 26 points, while SAC rival and No. 22 Anderson finished second with 70 points. Individually, Bulldog senior Emanuele Ferrari motored to a second-place showing with his 8K time of 24:53.8. Sophomore teammate Julio Espinoza earned a bronze medal, finishing third with his 8K time of 24:55.2
 
What They Are Saying
Wingate senior student-athlete Nate Olsen
 
"This race was a great opportunity to get my feet wet this cross country season. I'm happy with how the team competed and I'm really excited for the rest of the season."
 
Meet Information

Top five teams: Wingate (26 points), Anderson (70), UNC Asheville (100), Catawba (122) and Emory (127)
Individual finishers: 190 student-athletes with 15 schools recording a team score
Location: Milliken Research Park, Spartanburg, S.C. (Converse University, host)
 
Inside the 8K Race Results
 
- Senior Alexis Collomb finished fourth with his 8K time of 24:56.4
- Ferrari, Espinoza and Collomb gave Wingate a 2-3-4 finish Saturday
- Junior Charlie Stephenson claimed seventh place with his 8K time of 25:01.9
- Junior Matthew Brunnock rounded out the WU top five, taking 10th place (25:10.2)
- Wingate had eight runners in the top 15 individual finishers
- Olsen led a 12-13-14 Bulldog push, earning a 12th-place finish (25:20.0)
- Junior Alejandro Berrio and sophomore Damon Cook were next
- Berrio finished 13th (25:21.0), while Cook took 14th place (25:21.0)

Notables
 
- Anderson sophomore Grayson Gibbons won the race
- Gibbons posted a triumphant time of 24:44.3
- Six South Atlantic Conference schools competed Saturday
- Anderson, Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, LMU and Mars Hill joined Wingate
- Allen (S.C.) University has a runner named Tristan Wingate
 
Up Next for the No. 1 Wingate Bulldogs
 
Wingate ventures to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the Paul Short Run October 2. Lehigh University hosts this race on its Goodman Campus Cross Country course. Lehigh is WU director of cross country and track and field Matt van Lierop's alma mater.
 
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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