CHANNAHON, Ill. -- University of St. Francis runner Carmen Solis dominated the field at the 2026 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championships and the rest of her teammates followed the senior's lead as the Fighting Saints ran away with the league title on Saturday afternoon.

USF scored just four points over the minimum with four of the first five runners to cross the finish line donning brown and gold as well as the No. 6 overall finisher.  Head coach Trevor Howard's club totaled 19 points with Olivet Nazarene University a distant second (49 points) followed by Governors State University (61).

Solis paced the nine-team, 95-runner field with her personal best time of 21:45.3 to earn CCAC Runner of the Year honors.  That was nearly 13 seconds faster than her next closest challenger.  Teammate Evita Martinez, who completed the 6K course at Channahon Community Park in 22:06.9, was credited with third place honors.  Placing fourth overall was USF's Savannah Richmond at 22:17.0.  Evita Martinez and Richmond also authored personal bests.

Each of those three runners claimed all-conference accolades as did Aaralyn Martinez, Dyannara Franco, Nicole Vollrath and Rylee Milenkovic for finishing among the top 15 runners in the field.  Aaralyn Martinez registered a personal best time of 22:20.6 to place fifth overall, Franco was seventh (22:23.2 - personal best), Vollrath crossed the finish line in 12th place (23:01.9) and Milenkovic 15th (23:13.2 - personal best).

Patrycja Mrowca and Dianna Mascote also placed among the top 20 runners with personal best times, finishing in 18th (23:30.9) and 20th (23:36.6) places, respectively.

Howard joined the trophy parade by being recognized as the CCAC Coach of the Year for the second time his first four seasons at the helm.

Up Next
By earning the CCAC title, the USF women's cross country team receives the league's automatic bid to compete at the NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Wash. on Friday, Nov. 20.

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