The Emory Men's Cross Country Program was recognized by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association today following its performance at the NCAA DIII South/Southeast Regional Championship this past weekend. Junior standout Jack Whetstone was named the USTFCCCA DIII South/Southeast Male Athlete of the Year after he captured the Regional Championship at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, Tennessee, while Head Coach Linh Nguyen was picked as the Men's Coach of the Year. In his first year at the helm of the program, Nguyen helped bring a Men's Regional Championship to Emory for the first time since 2015.
Whetstone clocked a time of 24:49.3 in the 8K event to take the title out of 239 participants. He is only the seventh Eagle to ever win the individual Regional Championship and the first since 2015, when Lukas Mees was the first competitor to cross the finish line at the South/Southeast Regional Championships in Kernstown, Virgina. Whetstone has led his team in all six meets that he has participated in. In those six appearances, the Glenview, Illinois native has produced five finishes among the top-10. He also placed as the top scoring runner in both the JSU Strut's Opener and the Berry Invitational earlier this season.
Guiding Whetstone and his teammates throughout the year, Linh Nguyen spurred the men's team to three wins this season including the Regional Championship. The Eagles also took home team titles at the Berry Invitational, where four Emory runners placed within the top-10, and at the Jacksonville State University Strut's Opener, where nine of the first 20 participants to cross represented Emory. At the South/Southeast Regional Championship, every Eagle was able to register a time under 26 minutes, a feat that Emory has not achieved in a regional event in recent memory.
Nguyen will be preparing both the men's and the women's teams for the NCAA National Championships this week. The event is set to take place at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky starting with the men's 8K at 10:45 a.m. The women's 6K race is scheduled for 10:45 a.m.