LAKELAND, Fla. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the 2022 NCAA Division II South Region Championships on Saturday morning, as the Chargers finished fourth on the men’s side and sixth on the women’s in the team standings.
Sophomore Sam Wilhelm highlighted the Chargers performance with a second-place time of 30:49.2, which earns him an individual berth to the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships on Dec. 3 in Seattle, Washington.
Wilhelm’s time on Saturday was the fastest 10K clocking in program history, topping the previous record of 31:11.8 set by teammate Allan Anderson at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
Wilhelm joined as an All-South Region honoree by Gabe Henneberger, who completed the course in 14th place at a time of 31:28.8
Three more Chargers notched top-30 times on the men’s side including Allan Anderson (27th, 32:01.3), Jack Elliott (28th, 32:01.8), and Nathan Knox (30th, 32:11.3). Nate Pohlsander (35th, 32:30.4) and Will Thompson (53rd, 33:07.1) rounded out the UAH men on Saturday.
On the women’s side, Emily McMurry registered All-South Region honors by placing 16th overall with a time of 22:09.5 to lead the Chargers.
UAH had a total of three All-South Region performers on the women’s side, as Tatiana Padgett placed 22nd at a time of 22:21.5 and Taylor Engram finished 25th at a time of 22:21.5.
Amelia Brady (39th, 22:53.0), Claudia Dassow (45th, 23:10.1), Abby Weist (49th, 23:19.4), and Caroline Ursprung (77th, 24:17.2) also competed on the women’s side for UAH.
Fellow Gulf South Conference member Lee won both the men’s and women’s races.
Teams and individual runners who did not earn qualify automatically will now wait for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship committee to make its at-large selections. The full field will be announced via press release on Monday, Nov. 21 on NCAA.com.
