Qualifying for nationals, a feat so nice. Aubrey Wingeart just did it twice.

The selections for the NCAA Division III National Cross Country Championships aren’t made until Sunday. However, Wingeart put herself in a position to guarantee herself a spot at the championships for the second time in her collegiate career.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Wingeart said. “I didn’t come into this race very confident at all, I was very nervous.”

Despite the nerves, Wingeart finished eighth and became the first Waynesburg cross country runner to qualify twice for the NCAA National Championships. Waynesburg cross country head coach Chris Hardie is pleased with Wingeart’s performance at this meet and dedication all season long.

“I’m really proud of her,” Hardie said. “I think that she was willing to put the work on her own, which to me is the most astounding part of it all is that she did this all by herself.”

Wingeart will be the fifth women’s runner that Waynesburg will send to nationals. It is even more impressive that Wingeart, a transient student at Coastal Carolina, had to train alone all season due to being almost nine hours away from Waynesburg.

“She didn’t have teammates around, didn’t have coaches around, didn’t have anyone pacing her,” Hardie said. “To do it by herself was a pretty amazing thing and something I’ll probably never forget.”

She’s also had to adjust to running hilly courses and colder weather compared to practicing in warm weather and flat terrain.

Even in the regional competition, the conditions were not ideal with a muddy course and 40-degree temperatures.

All of that didn’t stop Wingeart’s sight on her goals.

“[The course] was extremely muddy,” Wingeart said. “I wasn’t focused on a time; I was focused on a place. I was just very happy [with my results].”

The results weren’t the only things she was happy about, Wingeart was also joyful to spend time with her teammates.

“I was really happy I got to come up and run with my team,” Wingeart said.

Wingeart won’t run again with any of her teammates this season, but will instead compete solo in Louisville, Kentucky for nationals Saturday Nov. 20.

The second highest placer for the women’s team was Gloria Reed, who finished 39th out of 218 runners.

“[Gloria] really made a great effort and I’m proud of her today,” Hardie said.

More history was made as Jac Cokley finished 57th, the highest individual finish for a Waynesburg men’s runner at regionals.

“That’s history made from Jac today,” Hardie said. “Jac ran great. He loves running in conditions like the one today.”

Cokley and Andrew Kasper, who finished 66th, pushed one another to finish as high as they did.

“Really proud of those guys,” Hardie said. “We don’t typically have our men run together on the men’s side so for those guys to do that today and work together was very special.”

The men’s team placed 20th out of 31 qualified teams that competed. The women’s team walks away placing 11th out of 31 qualified teams.