Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams Open Season Friday at Channahon Community Park Race
Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams Open Season Friday at Channahon Community Park Race, St. Francis Invitational, 6:00 p.m. start in Channahon, IL.
GSU Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach John Niendorf is looking forward to the 2024 season ahead for the Jaguars.
"I am eager to start the 2024 cross country season on both the men and women's side. On the men's side, we have brought in an extremely talented group of freshmen. Samuel Rocio and Branden DeLeon are both joining us from Auroa West and ran a 15:12 and 15:27 three mile last year for their high school team.
Colin O'Brien also ran in the high 15:52 in high school after just one year of cross country at Oak Forest. Omar Mohamed joins us as a transfer from Mohawk Valley. He was the JUCO DIII national champion last season and should provide a boost to our top five. I am also excited to see the development of Alejandro Vieyra and Elija Jones out of Joliet West. I think both will have a good opportunity to work on making the top 7 on the team. We lost some key runners in our top five from last year.
We lost Brandon Almarales and Granison Hill, but we bring back some key returners. Daniel Zavala will be entering his junior season and will be hoping to build upon his all-conference performance from the year before. John Kajmowicz, Randy Almarales, Alex Ortiz, and Peter Taylor will all be looking to make big contributions to the team this season. The men have worked hard all summer and have come into camp in great shape. We have a good mix of upper and lower classmen this season. I think that balance will help with our competitiveness within the conference and team chemistry. St. Francis and Olivet Nazarene University are still the class of the CCAC for cross country. However, I think with this roster, and the work these young men have been putting in, we should be up there with them and should finish well at conference.
On the women's side, we are still very young. However, we are growing with our new additions and should be able to make a good dent in the conference this season. Krysta Stanko and Priya Knox both finished all conference last season in cross country and should help us our tremendously next season.
Sydney Bonham is coming off an amazing track season and she will look to carry that over into cross country. Emilia Kadiyala, Camilia Mendez, Ariana Ortiz, and Yahaira Rodriguez will all be looking to make the top 7 roster this year and will provide us with much needed depth as the season goes on. We brought in a solid freshmen class as well. Kaylee O'Sullivan, out of Chicago Christian, joins us after a successful 2023 highschool campaign where she ran 18:27 in the three mile. Addison Prokop, the Plainfield South graduate, also comes in looking to make an impact on the top 7. On the transfer side, we are gaining Avery Kittl, Morgan Pieczynski, Madison Siergiej, and Allison Lauri. All of these women will be hoping to score well in the upcoming meets.
On the women's in the CCAC, St. Francis University and Olivet Nazarene will be fielding very competitive rosters. They will both be looking to take the conference title. I think that, although the women are so young, that they can make a huge jump this year and make some noise as conference. They have put in a lot of miles over the summer and are starting off the season well so far.
Overall, I have high expectations for this upcoming cross-country season. We have added a bunch of runners to the roster and have a lot of high character athletes on this team. We are still an up-and-coming team with a lot to prove, but now I think is the time to begin to make some serious moves within the conference. This season will be one to watch for sure!"
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