The Cyclones put up a good showing in their opening race at the Saints Twilight Invitational in Channahon, finishing seventh out of nine teams, including four-year colleges.

This is the only race the men will race this season at the 5K distance. "I was impressed with how well the men did. I know they were all really looking forward to racing a 5K before moving up to the 8K the rest of the season, and they took advantage of the nice weather and good course," said Head Coach Dimitri Dimizas.

Leading the tight pack was freshman Angelo Esparza, who ran the fastest time the Cyclones have seen in the three years they've competed at this meet – 16:38.4, 25th place. Coming in after him was Andrew Leon (17:08.6, 37th place), David Santiago (17:17.1, 42nd place), Gavin Rybicki (17:37.2, 52nd place), Jacob Madera (17:59.5, 59th place), Juan Macias (18:36.4, 72nd place), Brennan Rudolph (18:47.1, 75th place), Jacob Silva (19:26.6, 81st place), Matthew Busch (19:26.8, 82nd place) and Josue Trujillo (21:54.6, 97th place).

"We'll be working all season on keeping our top five as close together as possible, but they did a good job with that this race – the one through five runners were within 1:30 of each other," Dimizas said. "It seemed like the whole field started out too fast, and we also fell into that trap, but all our men finished strong. We still have a lot of work to do as they prepare for the 8K distance, but I'm optimistic they'll figure it out these next few meets."

For a list of complete results, visit www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/25666/Saints_Twilight_Invite.