Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
ISU Results
Aurora Team Results
Aurora Individual Results
Sept. 8, 2017 - Split up into two separate locations, the North Central College men's cross country team still won with room to spare twice on Friday, cruising past a field of NCAA Division I competitors at the Illinois State University Invitational while also crowding the front of the field at the Aurora University Spartan Classic.
Ranked No. 1 among their NCAA Division III brethren heading into the day, the Cardinals made quick work of their Division I foes at ISU, scoring just 24 points as their top five individual finishers were separated by just 17 seconds. The host Redbirds were second with 68 points, followed by Loyola University Chicago (96), the University of Wisconsin (108) and the University of Toledo (114).
Loyola's Alex Baker won the individual title with a time of 25 minutes, 2.7 seconds on the 8,000-meter (five-mile) course. Close behind in second place was North Central's Zach Hird (25:04.2), and the Cardinals sealed the victory shortly thereafter as Dan O'Keefe placed fourth (25:09.9) and was followed in succession by Dhruvil Patel in fifth (25:14.9), Matt Norvell in sixth (25:15.8) and Argeni Bailon in seventh (25:21.2). North Central's fifth runner crossed the finish line nine seconds before any other team's second finisher. The Cardinals' Jared Borowsky also cracked the top 10, placing ninth (25:27.3).
North Central's contingent at Aurora fared nearly as well, totaling 41 points to pace an 11-team field. The Illinois Cross Country Club placed second (55), with Harper College a distant third (113).
The Cardinals also claimed the individual crown at Aurora, as Aaron Spivey finished 25 seconds ahead of the field in 25:14.1. Nebil Mohamed came in seventh (26:03.5), followed by Bjorn Shroda in eighth (26:03;6) and Nick Licari in ninth (26:04.9), and Zach Michael completed the scoring in 16th (26:23.9).
North Central travels to St. James Farm in Warrenville Sept. 16 for the Wheaton College Gil Dodds Invitational.
