River Forest, Ill. - The 2024 Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars men's cross country season has officially come to an end. The team competed in seven races in total against heavy competition, where the races highlighted great effort and success from the runners. Many runners continued to push their limits throughout the season and hit several new benchmarks.

Here's What Coach Allgood Had to Say About the Season

"I think the most rewarding part of the season is seeing the team grow and develop as a whole unit. To have such a hardworking group of young men and women coming to practice every day makes the job that much easier. There's been a confidence in our execution, trust in our process, and a hunger for more. Those components carried us these last 14 weeks and they'll continue to do so into the future."

Season Recap

Starting off the season, CUC hosted their first home meet in almost two decades, where the majority of Cougars picked up personal records. Before the multitude of PR's, junior William Leonard (Oskaloosa, Iowa), crossed the finish line first for the Cougars. For the rookies on the team, Nathaniel Hernandez (Harwood Heights,Ill.), Nathaniel Boksa (Norridge, Ill.), and Lloyd Clemons (Hazelwood, Mo.), this race was their debut in collegiate sports. Finishing consecutively, Hernandez finished second for the Cougars with a time of 18:21.9, Boksa finished third with a time of 18:42.1, Donovan Depakakibo (Norridge, Ill.) finished with a time of 19:14.9, less than a second behind his teammate was Miguel Sanchez (San Antonio, Texas) with a time of 19:15.6, and wrapping it up for the Cougars was Clemons with a time of 19:18.9.

On September 14th, the Cougars traveled to Mequon, Wisconsin to compete at the Ken Weidt Classic. The race was highlighted by freshman Hernandez, with an 8k personal record (PR) with a time 31:54.1 and was followed by four other PRs on the team. Depakakibo had the second best finish for the Cougars and his new PR was a time of 32:53.5. The next PR came from Boksa with a time of 33:25.3. Clemons, finishing just over 10-seconds after his teammate, had a new PR of 33:36.2, and the last PR of the day came from Sanchez with a time of 35:01.4.

Traveling to Warrenville, Illinois, the Cougars competed in the Gil Dodds Invitational where the team brought even more PR's, where several beat their previous times set the week before. Hernandez had another strong finish for the Cougars crossing the line first and beating his previous PR with a time of 31:03.8. Depakakibo, with another PR and finishing closely behind his teammate, crossed the finish line with a time of 31:27.7. Sanchez had a fantastic race, where he demolished his previous PR by over three minutes, his new PR was 31:43.1.  The final PR of the night came from Boksa with a time of 31:52.1.

The next race up was the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational, where the team traveled to Rock Island to compete. This race was highlighted by Leonard who crossed the finish line first for the Cougars with a time of 30:49.9. This race also capitalized a PR from junior Gael Arroyo (Cicero, Ill.) with a time of 40:04.2.

After two weeks off of competition to rest and prepare, the Cougars traveled to Peoria, Illinois to compete in the Bradley Pink Classic. In the race, three Cougars destroyed their previous PRs. Hernandez, finishing first for the Cougars, shaved nearly two minutes off of his old PR where he finished with a time of 29:39.6. Finishing five seconds behind his teammate, Leonard surpassed his old PR and finished with a time of 29:45.0. The last PR of the day came from Clemons where he ran in a new PR of 32:26.1.

Nearing the end of the season, the Cougars traveled to Geneva, Illinois to compete in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) Cross Country Championships. Finishing three seconds apart, Hernandez and Leonard crossed the finish line first and second for the Cougars. Hernandez had a time of 29:42.19 and Leonard had a time of 29:45.21. Runners Boksa and Sanchez ran in new PRs where Boksa had a time of 30:20.74, and Sanchez had a time of 31:15.2.

For the final race of the season, the Cougars traveled to Rock Island once more to compete in the NCAA DIII Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships. The team ran great overall, and four runners ran in new PRs to cap off the season. Keeping the season tradition alive, Hernandez finished first overall for the Cougars and had his final PR of the season with a time of 29:13.0. Boksa ran a PR time of 29:23.1, just 10-seconds behind his teammate. Nearly five-minutes faster than his first race of the season, Sanchez's new PR was a time of 30:25.9. The final PR of the race and season came from Depakakibo with a time of 31:14.2. 

First Year Runners

The Cougar team added three new runners who had great showings their rookie season. Hernandez led the Cougar team in most races this season where his best time came from the final race of the season at the NCAA DIII Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships with a time of 29:13.0. In the same race, Boksa had his best time of the season where he ran a time of 29:23.1. The final fresh face for the Cougars was Clemons, where he raced his best time was at the Bradley Pink Classic with a time of 32:26.1. 

What's Next

To keep up with the runners, several will be competing on the track & field team in the upcoming season. For any and all updates about CUC cross country, take a look at our athletic website at cucougars.com. The team will be anxiously awaiting the next cross country season.