A group of freshmen led the way for the DuPage Men's Cross Country team, as the defending NJCAA DIII National Champions opened the Fall 2025 season at the St. Francis Twilight race in Joliet on Friday night. 

The Chaps finished 6th overall as a team in the event, led by Adriano Quintero, who ran a time of 16:17. The next 3 Chaps that scored were also freshman and all ran in a close pack. Matthew Wick finished with a time of 17:17 and was closely followed by Zach Bacci at 17:21 and Valentino Diaz who finished the race with a time of 17:23. The top 5 scoring for DuPage was rounded out by returner David Aviles, who ran a 17:43. Jack Schultz and Ryan Lureck turned in strong efforst to finish 6th and 7th for the Chaps respectively. 

Coach Mallory Dominguez stated " The pack running was good to see and something exciting to look forward to as the men approach the 8K distance for the next meet."

That next meet will take place on Saturday, Sept 13 at the Aurora Spartan Classic at Northwestern Medical XC Course in Geneva where The Chaps will look to build on their impressive debut from Friday night.