SWEET SPRING: DuPage wins men's, women's national T&F championships, places top four in men's golf & tennis
It was an unbelievable spring to be wearing Forest Green around Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The College of DuPage, which already claimed a football national championship back in the fall, capped the 2021-22 athletic calendar with a quartet of national tournament qualifiers and two more championship banners. The men's and women's track programs both successfully defended their 2021 national titles with first place finishes at the NJCAA Division III Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Troy, New York, from May 12-14, marking the third time in school history they have won championships in the same year. In addition, the Chaparrals' men's golf team finished third at the NJCAA Division III Golf Championships in Chautauqua, New York, from June 7-10, and the COD men's tennis squad generated a fourth-place finish at the NJCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships in Oxford, Georgia, from May 13-15.
For the second consecutive year, and sixth time in program history, the College of DuPage was atop the team podium in men's track & field with 118.5 points to best second place Mineral Area Community College by 22.5 points. The Chaparrals took home gold medals in two events as freshman Josh Rivers won the high jump and long jump competitions. The team was runner-up or third in ten additional events. Harper College was 11th overall with 32.5 points, and Triton College registered five points to place 23rd. The Hawks Damien Zych won the pole vault.
On the women's side, the College of DuPage amassed 138 total points to secure their sixth overall national title, sitting 27 points ahead of second place RCSJ-Gloucester. Fellow Region 4 representatives Harper College and Triton College placed fourth (88 points) and 17th (5 points) overall, respectively. The Chaps won nine events, including a clean sweep of the relay events, two sprint titles from Kiara Carter, and two first place finishes from Alexandra Ochab (400m and long jump). Fiona Metzo of Harper College was first in the 800 and 1500 meter races, while Samira Rosenfeld claimed gold in the high jump.
On the golf links of Chautauqua Golf Club, the Chaparrals hung tough with defending national champion Sandhills Community College before ultimately finishing third with a four-day total of 1,267, which is an average daily total of 316. DuPage was 94 shots back of the national champs, and fell just five shots back of second place. After an opening day 321, COD surged to second with a team-best 303 score on Round 2. They finished at 318 on Thursday and 325 on Friday. Sophomore Damina Guerrero placed eighth overall with a 300 total, going 75-70-76-79 (+12), with his second-round two-under-par 70 tying for the best score of any player during the tournament. Sam Faulhaber was 13th overall and Jack Turner 15th overall to join Guerrero on the All-American team with top 18 finishes. Faulhaber went 77-77-78-83/315 and Turner posted scores of 82-77-82-78/319. Gabe Brock (87-79-82-85/333) and Jake Dianovsky (87-80-90-89/346) rounded out the scoring.
On the tennis courts, the College of DuPage earned its first top-five team finish since 2008. The Chaparrals amassed 13 points to finish fourth overall, 20 points back of host Oxford College at Emory University, which claimed its sixth consecutive national championship. Freshman Mitch Ludewig was the only DuPage player to reach the final of his flight, falling 6-0, 6-0 to Frank Lu of Oxford Emory in the Flight #3 Championship. He earned NJCAA Second Team Singles All-American honors as a result.