Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

CCIW Press Release

Sept. 20, 2016 - North Central College men's cross country runner Dhruvil Patel has been named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Athlete of the Week, giving the Cardinals a sweep of the conference's first three weekly awards this season. The most recent announcement was made by the CCIW on Tuesday. 

Patel received the distinction, the first of his collegiate career, after coming in as the Cardinals' top finisher in the Wheaton College Gil Dodds Invitational on Saturday. He finished the 8,000-meter (five-mile) course in 25 minutes, 43.4 seconds, placing fourth overall out of 185 competitors and leading North Central, which rested several of its veteran runners, to a second-place showing in the 14-team field.

North Central senior Zach Plank won the CCIW's award each of the previous two weeks following a first-place finish at the Elmhurst College Earlybird Invitational and a third-place showing at the Country Financial Illinois State Universtiy Invitational.

The No. 1-ranked Cardinals will compete in the Illinois Intercollegiate Invitational at Aspen Ridge Golf Course in Bourbonnais on Friday, Sept. 30 and the NCAA Division III Pre-National Meet at Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 1.