The UIS men's cross country team will compete for the 2025 GLVC Championship on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Lewis Cross Country Course in Romeoville, Ill. The 47th annual men's 8K race will start at 10:30 a.m. CT, with live coverage on GLVCSN and live results available on TRXC Timing. Cool and cloudy conditions are expected.

UIS comes into the championship on a streak of finishing third or better every year since 2018 and returns a strong portion of last year's squad. Last season, the Prairie Stars finished behind Lewis and were narrowly edged by Drury. In this year's preseason poll, UIS was ranked third behind Lewis and Drury, just ahead of Missouri S&T in fourth. Experienced runners with previous GLVC championship experience include Joey Karlesky and Noah Tegeler, who earned All-GLVC honors last year with 15th- and 16th-place finishes, respectively. Matt Padilla and Brock Loftus, both in their second seasons at UIS, finished 24th and 25th last year and are looking to break into the All-GLVC range. Dom Cantarini, last year's GLVC Freshman of the Year, finished 30th as the team's No. 8 runner.

Newcomers Colin Graham, Owen Whelan, and Charlie Borlin have been running well this fall and helped UIS post a solid 15th-place finish out of 37 teams at the Lewis Crossover on the same course two weeks ago.

With a mix of experienced leaders and talented newcomers, the Prairie Stars are poised for a strong showing as they chase the program's second GLVC championship.

The top-placing men's and women's teams at the championship will be named the 2025 GLVC Champions. The top-20 individual finishers will earn All-GLVC honors, the winner will be named GLVC Runners of the Year, and the top-finishing freshmen will receive the GLVC Freshman of the Year award.