RIVER FOREST, ILL. — The 70th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT) was celebrated this weekend after a full three years since its last gathering. As the winter sports enter the heat of conference competition, the spring sports are just around the corner.

Before traveling to CIT, the women's basketball team faced off against Rockford where they fell 66-50. This was capitalized by Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) who earned herself a double-double on the night with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Prentciss Gates (Gary, Ind.) also had 12 points off the bench, which marks her second game of the season with 10-plus points.

In the opening round of CIT, the Cougars women's basketball team were able to defeat Concordia Ann Arbor with a score of 71-65. Katherine Benes (Oconomowoc, Wis.) scored a staggering 30 points while going six for six on free throws. Melia Perry (Plainfield, Ill.) and Jaylene Wade (Lansing, Ill.) both scored in double digits with 16 and 12 points, respectively. In the championship game against reigning champions Concordia Nebraska, the Cougars fell 85-33. Perry led the way for the Cougars with 13 points and MacGregor had 15 total rebounds. After the championship game, Perry was recognized on the CIT All-Tournament Team for her performance. They will be back to work on Wednesday as they take on Benedictine back at home at 7 p.m.

Men's basketball debuted back on the court with a face off against Concordia Nebraska where they fell 89-70. Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led the offense with 23 points with three three-pointers made. Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.), William Bishop-Green (Chicago, Ill.), and Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) all brought 10-plus points towards the offense as well. The following day, the Cougars took on Concordia Ann Arbor where they fell 66-58 in their final game of the 2022-23 season. Wilson led the way for the Cougar offense with 18 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Matthews followed behind with 17 points and a game-high, five three-pointers. Matthews was also recognized, alongside women's basketball's Perry, for CIT All-Tournament Team recognition. This concludes the men's basketball 2022-23 season, they finish 8-4 overall.

Also participating in CIT, the dance team scored a 55.87 and placed second place in the competition. This beats their previous score that they received at the 2020 CIT competition. Additionally, CUC Cheer placed third in their competition with a score of 64.5. Both of these teams will be back in action on February 18th when they host the Cougar Collegiate Dance and Cheer Invite.

On separate days, both men's and women's track and field participated in the Aurora Grand Prix hosted by Aurora University. On the men's side, three Cougars had personal records in the 200-meter: Austin Knight (Forest Park, Ill.) with a 23.43, Logan Glancy (Princeton, Ill.) with a 23.70, and Vincent Scarnato (Pottstown, Pa.) with a 23.79. On the women's side, Madeline Bobinski (Des Plaines, Ill.) continues her notable indoor season with a fourth place finish in the shot put with a 12.21 meter throw. In the triple jump, Zahra Sammour (Berwyn, IL) placed fifth with a jump of 11.04 meters. Traveling to the University of Chicago on Saturday, they will be participating in the Windy City Rumble.

One of the first spring sports to start their season, men's volleyball went 0-3 over the weekend. Hosting the Concordia Invitational Tri, they first faced off against Adrian where they fell 3-1. Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) led the Cougars offense with 18 kills and three block assists. Van Gaetto (Darien, Ill.) opened up his collegiate career with 11 kills, five digs, and three block assists. Moving into their second match against Illinois Wesleyan, they were narrowly defeated with a score of 3-2. Vozenilek again led the offense with 18 kills and two service aces. Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) followed right behind with 15 kills and Blake Rosen (Aldie, Va.) tallied up 14 digs in the match. Keeping the ball moving into Saturday, the Cougars faced off against North Park and lost this match with a score of 3-0. Holubek led with 12 kills on the night, Rosen brought in 14 digs, and Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) registered a staggering 27 assists. Hunting for their first win, they travel to Wittenberg on Friday for a 6 p.m. EST start time.