NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- North Central senior Dhruvil Patel earned a pair of honors this week as he was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Athlete of the Week on Monday and the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Athlete of the Week on Tuesday.

A native of Skokie, Illinois and Niles North High School (Accounting major), took first at the Illinois State University Invitational last Friday in a field that featured five NCAA Division I programs. He won the 8K with a personal best time of 24:57.0 and helped the Cardinals finish second. North Central was the lone Division III team competing in this event. 

Patel joins Troy Kelleher as the only other North Central men's cross country athlete to receive the USTFCCCA honor. Kelleher was named National Athlete of the Week on October 27, 2014. 

2018 CCIW Men’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week
Dhruvil Patel – North Central (9/18/18)
Simon Peterson – Wheaton (9/11/18)
Dhruvil Patel – North Central (9/4/18)
 
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2017-18 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,100 academic all-conference recipients, 15 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 28 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.