RIVER FOREST, ILL. -- As the final chapters of fall sports closes in River Forest, the early goings of winter sports continues to write new stories each and every single day. Here's what's happened in Cougar Athletics.

Cross Country
The men and women's cross country teams both took the trip to Iowa for the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championship Meet where a multitude of Cougars finished the season on a strong note. On the men's side, Dominic Carlson (Loves Park, Ill.) finished first for the Cougars, placing 115th overall with a set time of 27:33.3. Following behind, Nathaniel Boksa (Norridge, Ill.) placed 153rd, setting a new personal record of 28:43.1 to finish off his season. Gael Arroyo (Cierco, Ill.) placed third for the Cougars, with an overall place of 166th with a new personal best of 29:08. 

On the women's side, Izzy Fairless (Royal Oak, Mich.) set a new personal record of 24:56.5 finishing 117th overall, leading the Cougar team. Behind Stacey Maskery (Alfreton, England) finished 152nd place with a new personal best of 26:17. Sarah Redhage (Lowden, Iowa)  finished third for the Cougars, 168th overall with a time of 27:54.2. 

This concludes the 2025 Cross Country season.

Football (4-6, 2-6 NACC)
CUC football rounded out their season with a senior day celebration against Aurora University, falling 59-26. Prior to the game, the Cougars honored their five seniors in Jakob Redmond (Bishop, Calif.), Jonathan Aungst (Lovells, Mich.), Jacob Garrison(Glendale, Ariz.), Dalton Baird (Clearwater, Fla.), and Austin Jackson (Addis, La.).

Redmond passed for 261 yards, with four passing touchdowns. Kevon Lawson (Pompano Beach, Fla.) led in with 96 receiving yards followed by a CUC touchdown. Korey Randle (East Moline, Ill.) contributed to the team with his efforts of 54 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Lacey (Belleville, Ill.) and Devean Shearer (Saint Charles, Ill.) tied defensively for 13 tackles. Lacey led with ten of those solos. Will Dotson III (Chicago, Ill.) recovered a fumble for CUC. 

The Cougars finished 4-6 overall and 2-6 in the NACC, their highest overall wins since 2019.

Esports (3-4)
In the first round of playoffs in Smash, the team played Edinboro on Tuesday and lost 2-0, ending their fall run. Matching up against the number 1 seed was a tough challenge after the team ran the table to make the playoffs. They only managed to get two stocks in the entire B03. Chrisovalanti Charisis and Daniel Vargas both managed to get a stock in their matches in game one. Losing game one 10-0, they then couldn't make anything work in game two, losing 12-0 to end their season. It was a good season of growth for the new students who will be back stronger than ever in the spring. 

This concludes the Esports for the fall with final Smash record of 3-4.

Women's Basketball (0-4, 0-0 NACC)
The women's basketball team played a non-conference tournament in Notre Dame, Ind. this past weekend, falling in both games against Saint Mary's College and Albion College. 

In game one against Saint Mary's, Abbi Dykstra (Yale, Mich.) led the team with 22 points, four rebounds and two steals. Ai Yonemura (Yachiyo, Chiba-Japan) followed up with 19 points and two rebounds, along with Naveya Jackson (Sun Prairie, Wis.), who had 19 points, four rebounds and two steals. Despite the two teams going back-and-forth for the majority of the game, with seven lead changes, the Cougars would fall after a game stealing 9-0 run from Saint Mary's closed the game 78-69.

In game two against Albion, Ai Yonemura (Yachiyo, Chiba-Japan ) led the team with 26 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Yonemura also broke the school record in three-point percentage going six for six and shooting 100% beyond the arch. Grace King (Fairland, Ind.) followed up with 21 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Hannah Lopez (Chicago, Ill.) earned 11 points and Naveya Jackson (Sun Prairie, Wis.) followed that with earning 10 points. The Cougars would battle throughout the entirety of the game with clutch free throws from Lopez to force the game into overtime, where they would fall to Albion 88-84.

The Cougars are back in action tonight, Tuesday November 18th, as they face North Central University at 6:30 pm. 

Men's Basketball (0-2, 0-0 NACC)
Men's basketball hit the road for another non-conference matchup, falling 76-62 to Millikin University on Wednesday. Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) was the leader of the night with 13 points and three rebounds, followed by Sebastian Hill (Decatur, Ill.), who had a career-high 10 points. Vic Garrett (Chicago, Ill.) led in rebounds with 10 in total, along with pulling in eight points for the Cougars. Andreas Louloudis (Thessaloniki, Greece) had eight points, four steals and one rebound. Honore Yangoua (Williamstown, Ky.) ended the night with six points and two rebounds. Despite strong efforts, and a lead change three times throughout the game, the Cougars would fall in the final minutes of the game after an 11-0 run from Millikin.

The team travels great lengths for their next two games as they head to Forest Grove, Ore. for the Schumann Classic where they'll face off against George Fox University on Friday and Pacific University on Saturday with a 2:00 pm PST and an 8:00 pm PST tipoff, respectively. 

You can find all things CUC Athletics on X @CUChicagoSports and on Instagram @Cucougars as well as all the live action at cucougars.com/coverage. All photos from the season can also be found here.