By: Jeff DeGraw
The Joliet Junior College cross country teams opened their 2025 campaign this past Friday at the USF Twilight Invite at Channahon Community Park.
Nathan Ciarlette was the overall winner of the men's race, covering the 5,000 meter course in 15:27. Ciarlette was with the pack of front runners at the mile mark, then blew the race wide open on the second mile and ran uncontested the rest of the way.
"Nathan looked strong and ran the race according to what we set out to do," Wolves coach
Jeff DeGraw said. "Having practiced so long without a race and just doing distance work, he (Ciarlette) looked relaxed and strong on what was a slower course due to recent rains."
Ciarlette was followed by
Gavin Carlson,
Logan Schmidt and freshman
Adrian Castillo for a strong top four.Â
"Our top three returners ran faster than a year ago and I thought Castillo was very competitive in his first collegiate race," DeGraw said.
On the women's side, Sophomore Gabby Zid led the Wolves and was followed by
Allison Behounek, who ran her best cross country race as a Wolf.
"Gabby has been battling some injury issues, but ran decently and I was really happy with Allison's performance," said DeGraw. "She has shown in practice that she can be right there and race well and it shows that she put in the work over the summer.
"It was the first race for both teams and it was good to compete against other teams instead of yourself. It's a great starting point, but to be where we want to be at the end, there is still much more work to be done."
The Wolves travel to St. James Farm in Warrenville, IL next Friday afternoon for the North Central Invitational.
