In their opening meet of the season, the Cyclones finished sixth out of nine teams and ahead of the other community colleges at the Saints Twilight Invitational in Channahon.

This was a strong start to the season that included a fast start by the freshmen. In her debut, Eva Zimmerman became the fifth Cyclone woman to break 20 minutes in the 5K. She crossed first for the team in 19:50.0 for 10th place. "Eva had a tremendous collegiate debut for us," said Head Coach Dimitri Dimizas. "I'm excited to see what she'll do the rest of the season."

Sophomore Rylee Milenkovic came across next for the Cyclones in 21:36.8 in 30th place for a PR. "She showed that the offseason work she put in is paying off," Dimizas said. "She paced her first mile perfectly and stayed strong the rest of the way toward a big PR."

Mia Villa was had been unable to run much in the preseason but finished in 22:13.5 for 41st place. "She impressed me with her performance. She's been away from running for so long and is still managing her health along with trying to get back into shape. This race was a good confidence boost," Dimizas explained.

Following them was Fernanda Cabrera (22:21.4, 44th place), Desiree Mendoza (24:12.7, 62nd place) and Guadalupe Marquez (24:50.8, 67th place).

"It's been a while since Fernanda was in a competitive race. While there were some nerves leading to the start line, she seemed to run with confidence the whole way. Des has been dealing with some injuries, and all she was asked to do was treat this more like a workout than a race, which she did perfectly. Sometimes it's hard to have the self-control to not push when you see others in front of you, so I give her a ton of credit. We're going to be patient and keep our focus on bigger things with her," Dimizas said. "Lupita has come a long way in a short time. If this race is any indication of what she's capable of, then there are some exciting times ahead.

"All the women ran so well! We have a few 6K races to prepare for now, but these longer distances will make the 5K seem easy when it's championship season," Dimizas added.

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