Schiller Park, Illinois - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's cross country team officially kicked off their 2025 season on Friday at the NPU-CUC Early Invite. For the second consecutive year, CUC co-hosted the 5k event where they placed sixth as a team.

The Cougars also celebrated four seniors: Alfredo Jaramillo-Ruiz (Lyons, Ill.), Kam Jackson (Chicago, Ill.), Kam Jackson (Chicago, Ill.), Jazael Rodriguez (Berwyn, Ill.), recognizing their contributions to the program and setting the stage for their final season. The leadership and experience of these four athletes will be crucial as the team navigates its upcoming schedule.

The RUN-down

Leading the charge for the Cougars was Dominic Carlson (Loves Park, Ill.), a freshman, who finished 16th overall with a time of 17:51.5. His performance set the tone for the rest of the team. Not far behind was a strong pack of his teammates, including Donovan Depakakibo (Norridge, Ill.) with a time of 18:31.2, Nathaniel Boksa (Norridge, Ill.) recording a time of 18:31.7, and Nathaniel Hernandez (Harwood Heights,Ill.) running in a few seconds later at 18:40.7. Leonard rounded out the top five with a time of 18:56.70.

The Cougars' depth was on display as the next group of runners all finished under the 21-minute mark. This group included Andrew Paz Ponce De Leon (Harwood Heights, Ill.), followed by Jackson, Cameron Mitchell (Racine, Wis.) and Camari Edwards (Milwaukee, Wis.) with times of 19:37.7, 19:56.8, 20:41.50, and 20:51.20. The final two Cougars to cross the finish line were Rodolfo Hill and Rodriguez with times of 23:05.10 and 26:24.50, respectively.

Words from Coach Dvorak
"The men had a strong start to their season with smart racing and staying tough. Our team has good pack runners which will help us get in the mix at the bigger meets as the season progresses."

What's Next

The Cougars will be back to compete in their next meet September 13th as they head to the Spartan XC Classic in Geneva, Illinois. Coverage for all things CUC cross Country can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.