Wingate University Cross Country

The Wingate University WOmen's Cross Country team is part of NCAA Divison II sports.

Coaches
Head Coach: Joe Soehnlen

Assistant Coach: Dennis Johnson

Women's Cross Country
The 2012 Women’s cross country team had 15 members. Two seniors, eight juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen make up the team. Their majors range from community and commercial recreation to accounting, biology, communication and several others. The team members are from all over the country. There is a girl from California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and several girls from North Carolina and Ohio. Some of the girls are more track runners who enjoy distance running and the others girls are strictly distance runners.

                 The cross country teams have traveled to many different schools in many different states the past several years. There have been meets as far north as Ohio and as far south as Orlando. The teams encounter different types of teams, many of which are NCAA Division I, II, and III and some teams that aren’t apart of the NCAA. The team has raced at pre-nationals with hundreds and hundreds of other runners as well as at the Walt Disney Cross Country Classic where there is also a great deal of runners. This past year one of the women’s team members qualified for nationals and flew to St. Louis to run at the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship. She ran her fastest times ever at this race.

                 Workout schedules and mileage schedules are sent out to each athlete at the beginning of the summer. So, most of their training is done on their own in the summertime. When the athletes arrive to school in the fall, they have practice each afternoon. Some days practices will consist of distance runs and other days will be speed workouts. Training for cross country can be very strenuous. It is very hot during the summer and early fall months so athletes have to be precautious about what time of day they should run, making sure to always stay hydrated, as well as eating the right foods to make sure they give their bodies as many calories as they are burning during their running.

                 Wingate Cross Country’s main goal is to prep students for their futures and make sure that they are well-rounded student athletes. Academics always come first for cross country team members. Each individual maintains a GPA of 3.0 or higher and the team average is a 3.0+ GPA year-round. Athletes are often members of the President’s and Dean’s lists. They are also active participant in school organizations outside of the cross country team. Some are on the newspaper staff, some are academic tutors, some work for the writing center, and some are part of many other on-campus student organizations.

                 The Wingate University Women’s Cross Country team has members that are well-rounded student athletes. They make a positive impact on each other and other students around them. The leave an impact on Wingate and Wingate on them.