The Bradley men’s cross country team has its eyes on a three-peat, as it looks to take home its third-consecutive conference championship. With most of last year’s team returning, along with a large incoming class, the Braves are poised to return atop the podium. In the Missouri Valley Conference coaches’ poll, the Braves received all nine first-place votes and are the clear favorite for this season.
Among the Braves’ returning players is senior Dan Gagne, who is coming off an impressive track season where he competed in the NCAA National Championships in Oregon last June.
Other decorated returning runners include seniors Haran Dunderdale and Michael Ward, who both have played key roles in the success of the program. However, head coach Darren Gauson said he plans to redshirt Dunderdale and Ward in order to allow younger runners to develop this season.
Gauson said he is not too worried about losing the senior duo, and believes other younger runners on the roster will step up.
“Even with them redshirting, I think we have a chance of competing at a very high level,” Gauson said.
According to Gauson, his faith in his younger runners stems from a busy offseason where he spent most of his time recruiting. The Braves added nine newcomers for the 2017-18 season to round out their roster.
Freshmen have made an early impact and were an integral part of the team’s success. Last season, Jake Hoffert was one of Bradley’s top runners, and Gauson said he expects the trend of freshmen stepping into larger roles to continue.
Two new runners Gauson said he could see being part of another successful season are Alec Danner and Evan Mitchell. Gauson said he has faith in these two not only because of their talent, but because they have been putting in plenty of work in the offseason as well.
The expectations are high, but Gauson said he believes his team is capable of both meeting and exceeding them.
As for the women’s cross country team, it is looking to improve on the team’s second-place finish at conference last season. Losing only one runner from last year’s conference race and adding several new runners puts the group in a good place.
The women’s squad is also welcoming new additions which Gauson said he is excited about.
“Freshmen Marta Pescador and Emma Planck along with transfer sophomore Mckenzie Altmayer could definitely be really big for us,” Gauson said. “The women are a lot stronger this year. Our goals are to win the MVC Conference meet and finish in the top-seven in the region.”
