GovState Women's Cross Country Wins Team Title - Sophia Flowers Wins Individual USF Twilight Meet - Avery Kittl (5th)

GovState Women's Cross Country Wins Team Title - Sophia Flowers Wins Individual USF Twilight Meet

GovState women's cross country team won the team title over 9 teams and GSU freshman Sophia Flowers was the individual women's meet winner in the season opener St. Francis Twilight Meet Friday night in Channahon, IL.

GovState top five women's runners at the Twilight meet: Sophia Flowers 1st, Krysta Stanko 4th, Avery Kittl 5th, Kaylee O'Sullivan 7th, Sophie Hummitsch 13th.

GSU's men's team placed 2nd in the meet with head coach John Niendorf's combined teams placing top runners in 10 of the overall runners to open the 2025 season.

GSU top five men's finishers Friday night: Samuel Rocio 2nd, Daniel Zavala 7th, Colin O'Brien 9th, Ian French 10th, Omar Mohamed 11th.

GovState Head Men's and Women's Cross Country John Niendorf was pleased with his teams racing Friday night to open the season.

"I was happy with how the men performed today. They went up against a very good St. Francis team and mixed it up well with them, finishing 2nd overall as a team, at the Saints Twighlight Invitational. Samuel Rocio led the team with a 2nd overall finish, running a 15:42 across the 5k distance. I thought Sam ran incredibly hard and showed a ton of grit throughout the race. Daniel Zavala, Colin O'Brien, Ian French, and Omar Mohamed took 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th overall in the race respectively. I liked the way this group worked through the race and got into a position to finish well. Parker Griffin and Devon Hayes also made their GSU debuts and rounded out the top 7 with a 17th and 19th place finish. A couple big personal records that were achieved today as well were done by Elija Jones and Antoine Morgan who each ran huge races for themselves personally. I love the work ethic that these two display each day at practice. Overall, I loved the effort I saw out there from these young men and there were some excellent performances across the board. The rest of this season is going to be very exciting to watch." said Coach Niendorf.

Coach Niendorf talks about the women's team title and Sophie Flowers' individual win -  

"Today was a fantastic day for the Lady Jaguars as they were able to take first place overall as a team at St. Francis Twilight Invitational. They beat number 22 ranked St. Francis in a tight match up. There were some excellent performances out there today and the women's team ran with a ton of heart. Sophia Flowers, a freshman, took first overall in the race and crossed the 5k finish line with a time of 18:38. The last 400 meters of the race Sophia began to pull away and she ran a gutsy race the entire way through. Krysta Stanko and Avery Kittl took fourth and fifth respectively in the race, running a 19:28 and 19:29. Kaylee O'Sullivan finished seventh with a 5k time of 19:42. Sophie Hummitsch stepped up big time at the fifth spot on our team with a 13th place finish. She broke 20 minutes in the 5k for the first time in her life on a cross-country course with a time of 19:59. Her teammate, Morgan Pieczynski, was not too far behind with a 20:03 and 14th place finish. I loved the way both these women ran today and without them, the team would not have been in a position to win. Rounding out the top 7 finishers for GSU was Camila Mendez with a 20:41 18th place finish. Diana Perez, Sophia Perez, Yahaira Rodriguez, Jinni Jimenez, Sydney Bonham, Madison Siergiej, Allison Lauri, Ava Tomala, and Trinity Bonham all beat their times from last year on this cross-country course. This was a big day the Governors State women's cross-country team and I am so proud of the way they performed. This is only the first meet, and we have a lot more work to put in, but this is a nice way to start the season."