It was a big week of playoff action for the Wheeling University Athletic Department as four programs were competing in Postseason play. The Cardinals saw some big performances in those postseason contests as they release their weekly male and female Cardinals High Flyers of the Week. On the women's side, Wheeling Cross Country Runner Sydney Hambel took home the award for the first time this season while Wheeling Rugby's Ayoub Jalli took home the Male High Flyer of the Week.
The Cardinals had four different teams competing in playoff competition this past week, with Women's Soccer and Men's Soccer both in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament, Cross Country at the MEC Championships, and Rugby competing in the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) Wild Card Game. Along with that, Volleyball wrapped up their regular season play, and Football continued through their MEC schedule. Overall, the Cardinals went 4-3 in their record sports while adding a fourth, an eighth, and a ninth-place finish for their team scores. The Winter sports also began their seasons with Wheeling Wrestling kicking off their year and Men's and Women's Basketball getting started this weekend.
Sydney Hambel was our first Cardinals High Flyer of the Week, competing in her first conference championship event at the MEC Cross Country Championships. She finished with her highest individual finish at a collegiate event this season, finishing 13th overall with a time of 25:38.74. Hambel had been running with Wheeling's top three throughout the season but had never been the Cardinal's lead runner. She accomplished that this past week and earned All-MEC Second team honors along the way. It was a strong start to her conference championship career and gives her something to build off as they prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.
Ayoub Jalli and the Wheeling Rugby team were at Bishop Schmitt Field for their playoff action as they hosted Adrian College in the first-ever BRRC Wild Card Game. While Jalli didn't push any balls across the try line, he was able to make a big impact in the Cardinal's kicking game. He attempted five three-point kicks throughout the night, making four of them, while going a perfect 3-3 on conversion kicks. In total, the junior accounted for 18 of his team's 33 points on the day, the most for Jalli in a game this season. Jalli has been a leader for this team during their transition to DI play and has helped them return to the National Stage.
Tuesday marks the second time that both the Women's Cross Country and Rugby teams have received a Cardinal's High Flyer of the Week Award winner this season. Savanaugh Anderson earned the Cardinals High Flyer of the Week award back in week six of the season and Aaron Juma took home the male award back in week eight. Both teams are now preparing for trips to the national stage with Cross Country heading to the NCAA Regional Championships on November 19th and Rugby awaiting their opponent for the first round of the NCR Playoffs.
The next Wheeling University Athletic event will be on Thursday, November 10th, when the Wheeling University Volleyball team opens the MEC Tournament when they take on #4 seeded Glenville State University at 2:30 PM.
Original source can be found here.
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