RIVER FOREST, Ill. –  It's finally starting to feel like spring here at Concordia University Chicago (CUC). The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and spring sports are already starting their seasons, while men's basketball heads to the conference tournament.
 
Women's Basketball (5-20, 4-12)
The Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team rounded out its season this past week, splitting their two games.

In their final home game of the season, the Cougars hosted the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Despite keeping it close early, CUC fell to IIT 71-57. Khaliah Reid (Naperville, Ill.) led the Cougars with 16 points, while also recording two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Courtneye Schneider (Plainfield, Ill.) picked up a career-high 11 points while adding three rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal.
 
For the season finale, the Cougars headed to Rockford University. A tight battle the whole game through, Concordia surged in the final quarter to take the victory, 48-47.  Alina Paul (Elmwood Park, Ill.)  put the Cougars back level at 37 with back-to-back buckets. Free throws at the end of the game became crucial for the Cougars and Reid's free throw gave CUC the one-point lead with under 10 seconds left. Sydney Nimsakont (Glendale Heights, Ill.) led the charge with 12 points and five rebounds.
 
Men's Basketball (11-14, 9-9)
Cougar men's basketball picked up two important victories to end the regular season and clinch a playoff berth.

The Cougars started the week facing IIT on the road. CUC came out with a vengeance in the second half, pulling away with the win, 82-76. Aaron Brown (Joliet, Ill.) collected a career-high 19 points while also picking up two blocks, a steal, and an assist. Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) followed with 16 points and four assists.
 
In a need-to-win situation, the Cougars hosted the Raiders of Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) registered a double-double of 12 points and 13 boards, along with four steals, while Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) and Brown contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively. With the victory, the Cougars clinched the fifth seed and are headed to the NACC tournament.

The NACC Quarterfinal match will be Wednesday, February 26, at 7:00 pm. It'll be a battle of the Concordias, as CUC travels to Mequon to face the No. 4 seed, Concordia University Wisconsin.
 
Dance
The Cougars hosted the Cougar Winter Collegiate Dance Invite on Sunday, February 23. Concordia performed highly throughout the whole competition.  Ella Cook (Cicero, N.Y.) was crowned the overall solo champion while teammates Cienna Reed (Milan, Ill.) and  Fatima Martinez (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) placed second and sixth, respectively. As a team, the Cougars won the team performance category and placed second in poms.
 
The Cougars' next competition will be at home again, where they will host the Cougar Spring Collegiate Dance Invite. The competition will start at noon.
 
Track & Field
Both men's and women's track and field teams took on the Margaret Bradley Invite this past weekend.
On the men's side, Jayden Taylor (Southfield, Mich.) took home gold in the long jump, registering a leap of 6.40m (21-0).  Brandon Montford (Fairburn, Ga.) placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 13.04m (42-9.5). In addition, tying his personal best of 1.78m (5-10) in the high jump, Darius Strother (Joliet, Ill.) finished fifth. On the track, Miguel Sanchez (San Antonio, Texas) finished fifth in the 400m with a time of 51.44.
 
For the women, Eve Shelton (St. Louis, Mo.) ran to a third place finish in the 60m hurdles, with a time of 9.27. She also finished eighth in the 200m, with a time of 27.36. Also taking home third place was Velda Ndang (Plainfield, Ill.), who recorded a mark of 10.49m (34-5). Furthermore, Izzy Fairless (Royal Oak, Mich.) ran a time of 11:29.30 in the 3000m to take sixth, setting a personal record by almost 40 seconds.

This week the Cougars compete at the NACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Championships start Friday, Feb 28, and run through Saturday, March 1, hosted in Kenosha, Wis. at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
 
Men's Volleyball (5-8, 1-1)
CUC men's volleyball opened up conference play last week with two matches, going 1-1.

In the first game of the week, Concordia traveled to play Rockford. The Cougars swept the Regents, 3-0, for an opening conference win. Marcin Hoffman (Inverness, Ill.) and  Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) each totaled 14 kills, while the team collectively recorded seven service aces.

The Cougar squad then played MSOE in an intense four-set battle. CUC would take the third set away from the Raiders, but ultimately fell, 3-1. Elijah Mosher (Clayton, Ohio) led the team with 37 assists and 12 digs. Holubek led the team with 15 kills while teammate Jackson Stella (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) had 13 kills.

CUC has an action-packed week, playing four matches. On Wednesday, February 26, the Cougars head to Lisle, Ill. to play Benedictine University at 7:00 pm. Then, Concordia comes home to Geiseman Gymnasium on Friday, February 28, for a 7:00 pm match against Concordia Wisconsin. The Cougars will then head out to Stevens Point, Wis. on Sunday, March 2, for the last tournament of the season. They will play in the UWSP Tri, facing Viterbo University at 2:00 pm and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 4:00 pm.
 
Men's Tennis (0-5, 0-0)
Concordia faced two tough opponents this weekend, falling 5-2 to Ripon College and 7-0 to the University of Dubuque.

Against Ripon, However, Sam Smith (Munster, Ind.) clinched a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles while Diego Loveshe (Franklin Park, Ill.) dominated in his No. 6 match with a 7-5, 6-0 victory.

Against the University of Dubuque, while the Spartans won the point for doubles, Kyle Pelzek (Hales Corner, Wis.) and Kevin Bullens (River Forest, Ill.) won at No. 3 doubles, 6-3.

The Cougars will play once final match in February on Friday, Feb 28. CUC will face Indiana University East at 2:00 pm, at Score Tennis & Fitness in Countryside, Ill.

Baseball (1-1, 0-0)
After some rescheduling due to weather, the baseball team was able to kick off the 2025 season this past weekend with a double header on Sunday. The Cougars split the day, falling to Franklin College 4-3, and the defeating North Park University with a walk off, 9-8.

In the first game against Franklin, the Cougars were at a deficit early, and despite a run from Brendan Holloway (Vernon Hills, Ill.) in the top of the fifth and a two-run homerun from Elijah Hickman (Rensselaer, Ind.) in the ninth, CUC started the day with a loss.
 
In game two, CUC found themselves down early again, but came in hot in the fourth inning with four runs, including a three-run homer from Xavier Zagerman (Chandler, Ariz.), to lead 6-3. However, the Vikings would pick up five runs in the eighth to reclaim the lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Cougars stayed calmed and Holloway hit an RBI single to tie up the game and then Yashion Boswell (Lynwood, Ill.)  hit one out into deep center field to score the run and take the game 9-8.
 
The Cougars head out to Auburndale, Fla. this week for a full slate of non-conference games. The team starts on Friday, Feb 28, playing Grove City College at 1:00 pm (EST). Then on Saturday, March 1, CUC plays Allegheny College at 10:00 am (EST). The Cougars will have two games on Sunday March 2. They will play Carthage College at 9:15 am (EST) and Anderson University at 12:30 pm (EST).
 
Esports
After rescheduling, the Cougars played Waynesburg University last Tuesday and fell 3-0. The Cougars struggled on map one and despite having a competitive matchup in game two, they couldn't make a comeback. Concordia then won against University of North Carolina-Wilmington, 3-0 by forfeit.

CUC will play St. Vincent College Gold on Friday Feb 28.
 
You can keep up with all things CUC Athletics on Twitter @CUChicagoSports, watch all the action at cucougars.com/coverage, and view all photos from the seasons here.