Warrenville, Ill. – The Wheaton men's cross country team opened its 2025 season on Friday afternoon at the NCC Cross Country Invitational at St. James Farm Forest Preserve. The Thunder men finished fourth in the six-team field.

The host Cardinals of North Central College placed first with 15 points, followed by UW-Whitewater in second-place with 56 points. Elmhurst placed third with 105 points, Wheaton scored 118 points in fourth place, Joliet Junior College tallied 130 points in fifth place and Harper College was sixth with 133 points.

North Central's BJ Sorg finished first with a time of 24:16.10 on the 8K course. His NCC teammate, Oscar Frontjes finished second with a time of 25:04.40 and North Central senior Jacob Kluckhohn was third in 25:05.50.
Wheaton sophomore Joshua Cross was the top Thunder runner with a time of 26:39.00, he was just ahead of teammate Josh Steiner's time of 26:47.10 in 33^rd place. Matthias Everest recorded an effort of 27:13.00 in 49th place and

Jude Hubbard was 51^st in 27:31.40, while Braedon Veurink posted a time of 27:32.00 in 52^nd place. Senior Luke Wertz was 59^th overall in 27:41.00, while freshman Luke Snider was 61^st with a time of 27:49.10.
The Thunder will return to St. James Farm on September 20 when the Thunder cross country programs host the Gil Dodds Invitational. The men's race begins at 10:00 a.m. for the 8K race.