RIVER FOREST, ILL. -- Returning to Concordia Stadium for the first time since 2019, the Concordia Unviersity Chicago men's track and field team dominated their home turf and secuerd a team first place victory among many other highlight moments.
During the meet, the Cougars honored their seniors in
John Cano (North Riverside, Ill.),
Adrian Mendez (Plano, Ill.),
CJ Morris (Douglasville, Ga.), and
Travon Thomas (Wauchula Fla.) for their years of dedication to the CUC Track and Field program.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
- There were seven first place finishes for the Cougars on the day,
- Austin Knight (Forest Park, Ill.) picked up a first place finish in the 100m with a time of 10.95 and the 200m with a PR time of 21.75.
- Miguel Sanchez (San Antonio, Texas) picked up a new PR in the 400m with a time of 49.97. This is the first time a Cougar runner has ran under 50 seconds in the 400m since 2014.
- Jamel Goins (Columbus, Ohio) picked up a first place finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.59.
- Darius Strother (Joliet, Ill.) picked up a first place finish in the high jump with a height of 1.82m.
- Dayton Merli (Union Mills, Ind.) picked up a first place finish in the pole vault with a height of 3.75m.
- The 4x400m relay team consisting of Sanchez, Vincent Scarnato (Pottstown, Pa.), Goins, and Knight picked up a first place finish with a time of 3:26.64.
- The 4x100m relay team consisting of Scarnato, Julian Switzer (Lake in the Hills, Ill.), Sanchez, and Knight picked up a new school record with a time of 41.97, breaking an eight year old record.
COUGAR PERSONAL RECORDS
- Jayden Taylor (Southfield, Mich.) picked up a new PR in the 200m with a time of 23.16.
- Manuel Mendoza (Ceres, Calif.) picked up a new PR in the 200m with a time of 23.61 and in the 400m with a time of 53.77.
- Emilio Calderon (Hamilton, Mich.) picked up a new PR in the 200m with a time of 23.72.
- Kyle Knutsen (Sterling, Ill.) picked up a new PR in the 200m with a time of 24.31.
- Scarnato picked up a new PR in the 400m with a time of 50.60.
- Cardwell picked up a new PR in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.71.
- Mendez picked up a new PR in the 800m with a time of 2:04.74.
- Cameron Mitchell (Racine, Wis.) picked up a new PR in the 800m with a time of 2:10.23.
- Alfredo Jaramillo-Ruiz (Lyons, Ill.) picked up a new PR in the 800m with a time of 2:39.23.
- Nathaniel Boksa (Norridge, Ill.) picked up a new PR in the 5k with a time of 17:37.62.
As a team, the Cougars placed first with a total of 236 points, more than 80 points more than the next closest team. The Cougars will be back in action next week, as they head to Milwaukee for the Green and White Invitational. Updates and coverage can be found at cucougars.com.
