STILLWATER, Okla. - Achieving a goal that had eluded him last year,
George Wheeler represented Lamar University's cross country team with pride as he partook in the NCAA DI Cross Country Championship meet in Stillwater hosted by Oklahoma State University. Wheeler managed to crack the top 150 by placing 149th and setting a new PR in the 10k meet with a time of 30:36.4.
After three kilometers, Wheeler was running in 194th place after timing in a split of 3:01.7. But over the next six kilometers, he moved up 42 spots to be in 152nd. This would include split times of under three minutes on three different markers including 2:30.0 (5k), 2:48.8 (5.93k), and 2:53.6 (8.93k).
Running his final split of 3:19.8, Wheeler crossed the line in 149th place to finish 30:36.4. He also became the first Southland Conference runner to cross as he bested Dennis Kipngeno of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by 72 spots.
"I really went to the well last week to make it here, and being able to compete against the best in the country was probably the highlight of my running career to date," said Wheeler. "I came in wanting to challenge myself and see where I stacked up, but admittedly I was still a bit exhausted physically and emotionally from Regionals. The downhills in particular were tough on my legs, but all in all it wasn't a poor result. I know I've got more in me than what I showed, but it was a fun way to end my cross country career. The best part was getting to compete against my brother Charlie, who runs for Wisconsin, for the first time in years."
"Any time you finish your season at the NCAA Championship Meet, you know it was a special year," said assistant coach
Andrew Sweeney. "This is an incredibly difficult meet to make and an even harder one to place well at. It's hard for the average person to comprehend how incredibly deep and competitive this field is. George was 149th overall but beat a handful of athletes with All-American credentials, which included an NCAA Champ and Olympian. It's just a testament to the level George is at to have made it here, and coming away as the top individual finisher from our region is a great way to end his cross country career."
Northern Arizona claimed the men's team title over OKSU while Stanford's Charles Hicks won the individual title over NAU's Nico Young. On the women's side, North Carolina State won both the team and individual titles as they were led by a first place finish from Katelyn Tuohy.
