Rock Hill, S.C.----The Wingate University women's cross country team is picked to win the 2014 South Atlantic Conference title, the league announced today. The Bulldogs earned 11 first-place votes and 121 points. Twelve schools compete in SAC women's cross country.
Wingate won the 2013 SAC meet with 19 points, tying a league record set in the SAC's first championship season (1993). Carson-Newman won the first-ever SAC XC meet with the identical score. The Bulldogs have two SAC championships, as Wingate won the 2007 event.
Six Bulldogs received All-SAC honors; three return for the 2014 season. Sophomores
Morgan Neher (Sedalia, Colo.) and
Alyssa Johnson (San Jose, Calif.) were third (19:04.9) and fourth (19:07.2), respectively, in the 2013 race. Neher and Johnson were members of the 2013 SAC All-Freshman team.
Graduate student
Brianna Stevens (Coshocton, Ohio) was ninth (19:43.2) in the 2013 event. Sophomore
Ashley Hinderer (Uniontown, Ohio) was 16th (20:16.9), while junior
Samantha Haering (Chalfont, Pa.) was 26th (20:53.0), rounding out the Bulldog top seven in the 2013 SAC race.
Wingate won 2013 Southeast Region championship meet, advancing to the NCAA Division II nationals in Spokane, Wash. Johnson and Stevens were named to the All-Southeast Region team. In Spokane, the Bulldogs
finished 26th (out of 32 teams). Wingate defeated Alabama-Huntsville, Tampa, Columbus State, Nova Southeastern, Merrimack (Mass.) and Flagler in its third visit to the national championship meet.
Queens finished second in the women's poll with 110 points, while Mars Hill was third with 97 points. Anderson was fourth (91 points) in the poll, edging Lenoir-Rhyne (86 points). The L-R Bears received one first-place vote. Queens, Mars Hill, Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne occupied the same spots in the 2013 SAC race.
Brevard landed in the number six slot with 69 points, followed by Lincoln Memorial with 59 points and Catawba with 44 points. Carson-Newman (39 points), Tusculum (32 points), Coker (23 points) and Newberry (21 points) complete the women's poll.
The 2014 South Atlantic Conference women's cross country season is set to get underway on Friday, Sept. 5. Wingate opens the 2014 campaign on Sept. 13, venturing to Greenville, S.C. to participate in the Furman University Cross Country Classic.
WINGATE UNIVERSITY Wingate University, ranked as the 8th "best value" in the South by
U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,000 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.
With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit
www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity.
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past eight years. For more information, go to
www.wingate.edu.
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000's with 67 selections. Among North Carolina's colleges and universities, Wingate's 67 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate's 76 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to
www.wingatebulldogs.com.
2014 Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
School Total
1. Wingate (11) 121
2. Queens 110
3. Mars Hill 97
4. Anderson 91
5. Lenoir-Rhyne (1) 86
6. Brevard 69
7. Lincoln Memorial 59
8. Catawba 44
9. Carson-Newman 39
10. Tusculum 32
11. Coker 23
12. Newberry 21
