WARRENVILLE, Ill. — The Carthage men's cross country team competed at the Gil Dodds Invitational on Saturday morning, hosted by Wheaton College (Ill.) The Firebirds turned in a strong effort against a competitive 20-team field, finishing second overall behind nationally ranked Chicago.
 

 
Carthage tallied 95 points to secure the runner-up spot, trailing only No. 19 Chicago (20). Wheaton placed third with 114 points, followed by Kalamazoo (118) and Millikin College (144) in the top five.
 

 
Senior Jacob Curulewski captured the individual title in commanding fashion, crossing the line in 24:41.0 to win by more than 17 seconds. This was Curulewski's second win in as many appearances this season, after winning the Vic Godfrey Open to kick off the season. Sophomore Harlan Matson (16th, 26:18.7) and junior Luke Davey (19th, 26:23.8) gave the Firebirds two more top-20 finishes. Senior Chad Helmke (31st, 27:08.6) and freshman Sam Cernetich (39th, 27:26.0) rounded out Carthage's scoring five.



Jacob [Curulewski] not only won the race but has now won both meets he has competed in this season. What stood out to you about his performance today, and how does it set the tone for the season?

"Jacob has had a great start to his senior year," said Head Coach Josh Henry. "What really stood out today was how in control he looked the entire race despite running against some accomplished U Chicago guys up front. Performances like this just reinforce the goals he has for his final year."

Carthage finished second overall in a 20-team field, only behind nationally ranked Chicago. How do you evaluate the team's ability to compete against top-tier programs this early in the season?

"UChicago is a historically good program who has another good squad this year. It is great to see competition of that caliber early in the season as it provides a point of reference for us on where we are at currently. We have a way to go to be competitive with the nationally ranked programs right now but we competed well against some regionally ranked competition today. That was our bigger focus heading into the meet today."

Your underclassmen, like Harlan [Matson] and Sam [Cernetich], played key roles in the scoring lineup. What does their development mean for the team's depth moving forward?

"Harlan didn't have his best race today and he will be the first to admit that. But he took an aggressive approach to the race early which I love to see. He's been working out right behind Jacob this fall so it's just a matter of figuring out how to break through to that next level of performance that he's capable of. Being he's only a sophomore, we're going to have a few swings and misses before connecting on a big one. Sam has had a great start at Carthage. To finish in our top 5 in his first 8k is super encouraging. There's a lot of youth in our top 14 guys or so and it's exciting to see how they develop as they gain race experience. We have the potential to be much better than we showed today, but potential doesn't mean anything if we don't take the steps to realize it over the next 2 months."
 

 
The Firebirds return to action on Friday, Oct. 3 at the Blugold Invitational hosted by Wis-Eau Claire in Colfax, Ill. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.