The University of Chicago men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to University of Wisconsin–Parkside to take part in the Lucian Rosa Invitational. The men competed in the event last year as well. They took a fourth-place finish, with current third-year Ansel Richards being the Maroons’ top finisher, coming in with a time of 27:32.8 to finish 40th. Both teams will compete in the event this year in Somers, Wisconsin and both teams have already run the course earlier this year at the Wisconsin–Parkside Midwest Open. The men placed fifth of 10 teams and the women placed third of 11 teams.

The UChicago women’s cross country team have started the season off strong, placing first, third, and first in their opening three races. Last weekend, the women had three top five finishers, five in the top 10, and seven in the top 15. Third-year Khia Kurtenbach was the first runner to cross the finish line at 18:23.5, followed by two fourth-years, Claire Costelloe (18:48), and Kelsey Dunn (18:56) to round out the top five. 

Second-year Shelby Smith spoke of the beginning of the season, praising the first-years, “The season so far has been great! The depth of our team is incredible as all of our returning runners and rookies have been racing extremely well individually but also cohesively as a team!”

The South Side men also put together a strong weekend, taking second in the team standings. First year Ryan Cutter led the charge, coming in seventh with a time of 25:27. Second-year Ralph Patejunas (25:40) and fellow first-year Jordan Olson (25:42) also had top-15 finishes. The men had seven total runners place in the top 25. The Maroons will be looking to capture their first win of the season, so far placing second, fifth, and second as a team. 

Last weekend, the host Wisconsin–Parkside women took home a 10th place finish at the Great Louisville Cross Country Classic. The men finished fourth, with fourth-year Armando Torres winning his second race of the year in 24:59.79.

Smith also spoke of this excitement surrounding this upcoming weekend, “We’re excited to run at this weekend’s meet because we ran on the same course just a few weeks ago. The familiarity of the Parkside course will make us more comfortable racing together as we take on our competitors this weekend.” 

This weekend, the men will start off at 10 a.m., and the women will start their race at 10:30 a.m. The Somers, Wisconsin race will take place on the Wayne E. Dannell National Cross Country Course.