The NJCAA Cross Country championships take place Saturday in Richmond, Va., and the Chaparrals have high aspirations of returning home with hardware.
 
The Chaps' women's team is ranked No. 4 in the coaches association top five poll, and the men ranked No. 1 all season long.
 
Fo the women, sophomore All-American Carmen Solis looks to pace the Chaps. The Aurora native finished second at the Region 4 meet two weeks ago, behind the national favorite Isabella Wojciechowski of Harper.
 
Solis is one of a handful who have run low 19-minute 5k's and that's what it will take to run at the top of the pack. Her best time of the season was 19:07.7 at regionals over 3.1 miles (5,000 m).
 
Solis finished third at the 2023 NJCAAs, and twice was named a USTFCCCA athlete of the week this season.
 
Joining Solis as hopefuls to break through the top 25 are sophomore Alexandra Abood, who finished seventh at regionals with a best time of 21:08.1, freshman Brianna Pelligrini, who ran 21:37.7 at regionals, and Maureen Bluemle, 12th at regionals at 22:02.1.

"It's up to the girls because they have the potential for a podium effort,'' head coach Mallory Dominguez said. "They need to run up toward the top and run together. They've got good odds and be fighters and get after it and do their best.''
 
For the men, sophomore All-American Kevin Diederich will have his eyes on both the individual and team title. The Elmhurst native is the returning runner-up and is unbeaten at the D3 level this fall.

"Kevin's had a fantastic fall and is fresh and ready to go,'' Dominguez said. "He'll have a dry surface and he has the confidence to go out, take the lead and go for it.'''
 
His 26:19.7 over 8,000 m is a personal best.
 
COD's top five runners will need to break 27 minutes to give the Chaps a shot at the title.
 
Top times from freshmen Miguel Capulin (26:28.6), Roman Nevarez (26:55.5), Jack Schultz (27:09.6) and sophomore Addisu Wolski (27:10.4) prove that they all have that ability, Dominguez said.
 
"Completely agree with reaching the sub-27-minute pace,'' Dominguez said. "The pack running is about training the way you race. They'll need to work together through the entire race. That's the goal to get out after it and run with confidence.''
 
The women's race begins at 11 a.m. Central and the men follow at noon. Viewing both races can be at www.njcaa.org/network and final results posted at njcaa.org.