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NAPERVILLE, Ill. – St. James Farm Forest Preserve, located in Warrenville, Illinois, will be the site of the 2017 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Championships this Saturday and will be hosted by Elmhurst College.
This marks the third time that the CCIW Cross Country Championships will be held at St. James Farm, including 2012 and 2013.
The men’s 8K will begin at 12 p.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 12:45 p.m. and a men’s and women’s open race at 1:30 p.m.
On the men’s side, defending national champion North Central has won this event 50 out of the 57 times it’s been held since 1960. The Cardinals have won 43-straight conference titles dating back to 1974, while head coach Al Carius has led his program to 17 NCAA Division III national championships, including four out of the last six.
North Central was the unanimous choice as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation according to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll released on October 18. The Cardinals have been ranked first or second in 77 of the last 83 national polls and have been ranked No. 1 in 68 of the 98 national polls the USTFCCCA has released. North Central won the Principia Cowbell Classic on October 14 with 47 points. The race featured 14 nationally-ranked teams and served as the pre-national meet.
On the women’s side, defending CCIW champion Wheaton won the conference title for the first time since 2008 last season. The Thunder were ranked fifth in the USTFCCCA poll released on October 18, their fifth-straight week in the national rankings.
Wheaton, led by head coach David Walford, also took part in the Principia Cowbell Classic on October 14 and finished fourth with 178 points in a race that included 15 nationally-ranked teams. The finish helped moved the Thunder up 17 spots in the USTFCCCA poll from the previous week.
Principia will serve as the host of the NCAA Division III Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Championships on November 18.
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2016-17 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,900 academic all-conference recipients, 10 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, one CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and over 100 all-Americans.