Both the Joliet Junior College cross country men’s and women’s teams capped their season with a third-place finish at the NJCAA Division III meet. The meet was held on Nov. 8 in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, in cold, snowy weather.
Multiple Wolves earned All-American honors.
On the men’s side, Nathan Ciarlette, the defending national champion, finished 2nd, while teammate Gavin Carlson placed 10th.
On the women’s side, Gabby Zid finished eighth and Allison Behounek placed 10th, marking the women’s first podium finish since 2021.
“We had everything to go, prepared for the worst, and that’s exactly what happened,” head coach Jeff DeGraw said. “You gotta embrace the bad, and they did that. That’s what we talked about for two weeks.”
Still, even with preparation, the storm caught them off guard.
“We were pretty mentally ready for bad weather,” DeGraw said. “I just never thought it would, or nobody ever thought it would snow like that.”
Freshman runner Valeria Ibarra described the moment as unexpectedly uplifting.
“It just felt like Christmas morning because we were mentally expecting really bad rain,” Ibarra said. “Instead we got fluffy snow.”
Despite joining the team halfway through the season, she said the Wolves felt ready for anything.
“We were happy because we knew other teams weren’t used to that weather, and we felt we had an advantage,” Ibarra said.
Ciarlette said the conditions made it a race unlike any other.
“It’s one of those races where you don’t worry about times,” Ciarlette said. “It’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It changed how everyone ran and how fast it was and how everyone raced tactically.”
Entering the meet, the men expected to run as a pack, but the blizzard-like snow changed that quickly.
“We thought the whole team would stay together longer, but it separated,” Ciarlette said. “After the second mile it was different than what we thought, so we had to just run the best race we could.”
Ciarlette said his mindset shifted as soon as he saw the conditions, along with the fact he is a former champion.
“At the beginning of the season I wanted to run the best possible time at nationals,” Ciarlette said. “But looking at the course and the weather, that changed to a more tactical mindset. At a national meet you don’t want to take risks.”
DeGraw made sure the team was as prepared as possible.
“When it started snowing, we knew it was going to be bad, so everybody had to be careful,” DeGraw said. “They all had gloves. We had hand warmers.”
Some athletes faced unexpected challenges; one runner’s glasses fogged during the race, but DeGraw stressed that every team had to deal with the same weather.
“That’s part of racing,” DeGraw said. “There are no excuses, good or bad.”
Despite everything, both teams reached the podium.
“Anytime you can get on the podium and win hardware, that’s the goal of the year,” DeGraw said. “Our region won five of the six trophies between the men and women.”
Ciarlette believes the team still has more left to accomplish.
“I think we did pretty good this cross-country season,” Ciarlette said. “I think we could have done a little better. Especially the sophomores, including me.”
He said the motivation from nationals is carrying into the next season.
“I think we’re bringing that energy to the track,” Ciarlette said. “I think the track season will be a lot better.”
DeGraw said the program’s success is rooted in consistency.
“We’ve taken twelve teams that had a chance since I’ve been here in 2019, and we’ve won a trophy,” he said. “The standard never changes.”
