COLUMBIA, Mo. – UIC continued its strong start to the 2025 cross country season at the Gans Creek Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri on Friday. The Flames delivered historic performances in the men's 8,000m Black Championship, placing 3rd out of 26 teams and finishing ahead of Missouri Valley Conference rivals Illinois State, Drake, Belmont, and Evansville. The team's 24:17 average for the top five runners marks the fastest performance in school history.

MEN

Daniel Chavez led the way with a 4th-place finish in 23:47, setting a new school record. He was followed by Zachary Close (25th, 24:09), who now ranks #2 all-time at UIC, and Alex Bacci (9th, 24:22), who moved up to #5 all-time.

WOMEN

The women's team placed 19th out of 26 teams in the 6,000m Black Championship. Isabela Garcia paced the Flames with a new personal best of 22:22, followed closely by Indigo Sterud (22:28) and Emma Dubie (22:36).

COACH'S COMMENTS

"Today was an exciting day filled with several personal bests and breakout performances by our team," said head coach Paul Zavala. "I'm proud of all the effort and determination our team put into competing strongly against several of the top programs in the country."

UP NEXT

The Flames return to action on Friday, October 17 at the Bradley University – Pink Classic.

FOLLOW THE FLAMES

For more information on UIC's cross country and track & field programs, visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_XCTF or @UICFlames) and Instagram (@UIC_XCTF or @uicflames).