CHICAGO – The Saint Xavier University men's track & field team opened up competition at three meets on Friday and Saturday to kick off the 2025-26 Indoor season. The Cougars carried a limited roster up to the Grand Valley State University (Mich.) Holiday Open on Friday in Allendale, Mich. with another group seeing action at the Chicago State University (Ill.) Cougar Alumni Open at Gately Park also on Friday. The full roster made the trip to Bourbonnais, Ill. to compete in the Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) Holiday Open on Saturday. Senior Sean Harris (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower) won the 400m, shaving almost eight seconds off of his previous personal record (PR), with a time of 51.41 seconds to become the first SXU runner to ever win the event. He also claimed first in the 60m Hurdles, qualifying with a time of 8.40 seconds in the preliminaries, and setting a new PR with the winning time of 8.27 seconds for his second career first-place draw in the race. No team scores were recorded at Grand Valley or ONU, however Saint Xavier finished 11^th out of 13 teams with 10 points at CSU.

GVSU Holiday Open:

• In the 60m Dash, junior Jamaurien Thomas (Chicago, Ill./Ogden International) posted his second-fastest career time in the prelims at 7.09 seconds. Junior Jayquan Hampton (Chicago, Ill./Ogden International) logged a new PR with his time of 7.21 seconds.
• Harris placed seventh at 22.09 seconds in the 200m, the quickest time by an NAIA runner. Senior Charlie Zufan (Orland Hills, Ill./Andrew) crossed the line at 22.80 seconds. Freshman Brandon Ferguson, making his collegiate debut, came away with a time of 23.32 seconds. Junior Nazheer Moore (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) checked in at 23.77 seconds
• Zufan recorded his fifth-fastest career time in the 400m with a time of 50.37 seconds. Freshman Charles Bockenkamp made his collegiate debut, clocking in at 52.51 seconds. Also making their collegiate debuts were freshman Leshawn Scott (55.22 seconds) and freshman Benjamin Gresham (55.62 seconds. Moore logged his second-best career time in the race at 57.19 seconds.
• Senior Ben Morrey (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) posted his second-quickest career time in the 3000m at 9:01.19, while senior Rohindeep Bhattal (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) ran his third-best career mark at 9:05.61.
• In the prelims of the 60m Hurdles, Ferguson just missed the cut with a time of 8.39 seconds. Bockenkamp clocked in at 9.45 seconds.
• Junior Thomas Imburgia (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) tied for his fourth-best career toss in the Shot Put, placing 11^th at 13.91m, the best by an NAIA thrower. In the invite event, senior Riley Lundgren (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem), competing against NCAA Division I and II throwers, finished eighth at 13.78m.
• Junior Connor Whalen (Burbank, Ill./Reavis) posted his fourth-furthest career throw in the Weight Throw at 14.48m.

Chicago State Cougar Alumni Invite:

• Senior Ryan McFadden (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest), competing in the preliminaries of the 60m Dash, crossed at 7.49 seconds.
• In the 200m, freshman Logan Perak, making his collegiate debut, had the top time for an SXU runner at 23.22 seconds. McFadden set a new PR with his time of 23.94 seconds. Also making their collegiate debuts were Sam Elusoji (24.31 seconds) and Alex Hay (25.29 seconds).
• Perak came away with a time of 55.47 seconds while racing in the 400m. Hay crossed at 56.01 seconds and Elusoji logged a time of 1:01.13.
• Junior Luis Lopez (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence), running in the 3000m, came away with a time of 9:22.97. Junior Andy Damon (Crestwood, Ill./Oak Forest) shattered his old PR by nearly 45 seconds with a mark of 9:26.36. Sophomore Joey Lagattolla (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East) took almost 12 seconds off his previous best with a time of 9:28.33.
• In the Shot Put, freshman Brennan Culpepper made his collegiate debut with a seventh-place throw of 12.61m. Freshman Nick Latham, also making his collegiate debut, was eighth overall with a distance of 12.13m.
• Freshman Jason Crowe finished fourth in his collegiate debut in the Weight Throw at 14.03m. Redshirt freshman Adam Turner (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North), making his Saint Xavier debut, logged a seventh-place toss of 12.69m. Senior Drake Hayes (Minooka, Ill./Minooka Community) bested his old PR by over four meters with his 10^th place throw of 11.96m.

ONU Holiday Open:

• Thomas qualified for the finals of the 60m Dash with a time of 7.13 seconds for his third-best career time, in the finals he was 10^th at 7.32 seconds. Also racing in the prelims, Hampton clocked in at 7.27 seconds, while McFadden crossed at 7.42 seconds, just ahead of Moore's time of 7.47 seconds. The freshman trio of Gresham (7.72 seconds, Bockenkamp (7.78 seconds) and Hay (8.02 seconds) were bunched together.
• Ferguson posted a time of 24.03 seconds in the 200m, followed by Scott at 25.43 seconds and Gresham at 26.00 seconds.
• In the 600m, Bockenkamp finished sixth with a time of 1:28.31. Hay recorded a time of 1:33.56, just ahead of Scott's time of 1:33.89. Elusoji booked a time of 1:34.31, a stride in front of the time of Perak (1:34.61). Moore made his debut in the race, crossing at 1:34.84.
• Freshman Josh Bosstel (Portage, Ind./Portage) was only the third SXU runner to win the 800m, posting a time of 2:10.38 in his collegiate debut. Freshman Will Morrey (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) finished second at 2:11.63, also competing in his first collegiate race.
• Junior Alejandro Velazquez (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence) established a new PR in the Mile, taking almost eight seconds off his previous best, finishing fifth at 4:46.88. Lagattolla logged his second-best career time at 4:51.72 to place ninth overall. Sophomore Xavier Sananisai (Rockford, Ill./Jefferson) shattered his old PR by over 20 seconds at 4:54.02. Sophomore Trey Maciejewski (Rensselaer, Ind./Rensselaer Central) ran his first collegiate Mile, finishing at 5:06.81.
• Freshman Michal Wreczycki Jr. (Palos Park, Ill./Stagg) made his collegiate debut, competing in the 3000m. He placed second with a time of 9:34.49. Also making his collegiate debut, freshman Joey D'anca (Palos Heights, Ill./St. Laurence) finished third overall at 9:38.90.
• Bockenkamp competed in the 60m Hurdles as well, qualifying for the finals at 9.29 seconds. In the finals he finished ninth with a time of 10.52 seconds.
• Redshirt freshman Nick Gomez (Burbank, Ill./Wisconsin-Platteville/Reavis) made his Saint Xavier debut in the Long Jump, recording a distance of 4.24m.
• In the Shot Put, Imburgia finished in fourth place with a throw of 13.73m, just ahead of the fifth-place toss of 13.70m by Lundgren. Latham placed eighth with a mark of 12.86m. Junior Thomas Toefield (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Laurence) came away with a new PR with a distance of 11.89m, while Turner had a toss of 11.50m. Hayes registered a throw of 11.19m, followed by a distance of 10.62m by Culpepper and the second-best career toss by sophomore Luis Perez (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) at 10.19m.
• Whalen won the Weight Throw for the first time in his career with the top toss at 14.73m. Crowe finished in sixth place with a distance of 13.52m, Turner was eighth at 13.28m and Culpepper was 10^th overall at 12.45m. Sophomore Nate Kalk (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) made his first career appearance in the discipline, posting a throw of 12.42m to place 11^th, while Hayes came away with a toss of 11.88m.

Saint Xavier returns to action at the St. Ambrose University Finals Week Invite on Saturday, December 13 in Davenport, Iowa.