Wheaton, Illinois - Eight CCIW cross country programs ran 5K races on their home tracks over the course of the past two weekends as part of the CCIW's virtual race. The races began on October 30 and concluded November 8 on eight CCIW campuses. Wheaton ran its 5K races on the evening of Friday, October 31. The Wheaton women's program scored 44 points to narrowly finish in second place, one point behind first place Illinois Wesleyan. The Thunder men's team scored 103 points in fourth place.

Wheaton senior Kaitlin Armstrong posted the top time among the 86 female participants as her first-place time of 17:50.9 was more than three seconds faster than the second-place time of 17:54.3 that was posted by Illinois Wesleyan's Katie North.

Illinois Wesleyan tallied 43 points in the virtual event to place first among the CCIW's women's teams, followed by Wheaton's second place effort of 44 points. Millikin scored 67 points in third place, Carroll registered 108 points in fourth place, North Central was fifth with 127 points, Augustana had 135 points in sixth place, Carthage was seventh with 192 points and North Park finished eighth with 265 points.

Armstrong posted the top time for the Thunder women's program followed by senior Anna Joy Setran with an effort of 18:36.7 in fifth place. Alyssa Mantia was sixth with a time of 18:41.3 and Susannah Bennett posted a time of 19:13.0 in 14th place. Senior Ally Lyle finished 18th in 19:24.0, Caroline Kimble was 19th in 19:27.4 and Hope Clark recorded a time of 19:28.7 in 20th place.

The North Central men's cross country team scored 20 points to finish first among the eight men's programs. Augustana tallied 75 points in second and Millikin placed third with 92 points. The Thunder men's program registered 103 points in fourth place, Carroll was fifth with 129 points, Carthage placed sixth with 148 points and Illinois Wesleyan's men's team was seventh with 154 points. North Park did not field a complete men's squad and did not score.

Thunder senior Jonah Jones was Wheaton's top male finisher with a time of 15:29.8 that placed 12th among the 118 competitors. Junior Kevin Riley finished 14th in 15:30.2 and fellow junior Daniel Morken was 19th in 15:46.0. Freshman Nathan Gibson recorded an effort of 14:00.3 in 34th place and fellow freshman Eric Gronbeck was 36th in 16:04.8. John Logan was 45th in 16:15.2 and Kellen Petersen tallied a time of 16:22.4 in 55th place.