In the heart of both the men’s and women’s track seasons, the Braves are hitting their stride. Last weekend, both teams set individual records and broke Bradley records at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, and at the Olivet Nazarene Invite in Bourbonnais.
Sophomore David Shadid once again broke his previous record last Friday in the 200m dash, dropping his time to :22.20. Freshman Jake Hoffert and sophomore Will Anderson cracked Bradley’s top five in the 5,000m run. Sandy Freeland’s 600m run was the second-best in school history at 1:23.02.
For the women’s team, junior Hannah Witczak finished the 5,000m with her best personal time and the fifth-best time in school history.
Head coach Darren Gauson said he was thrilled with the team’s accomplishments.
“For Hannah to place third in the conference, it was really good for her,” Gauson said. “David Shadid is doing a great job. [He’s] having a really strong season.”
The good times kept rolling on Saturday as more Braves wrote their names in Bradley’s history book. Junior Haran Dunderdale broke teammate Michael Ward’s previous record in the 3,000m run with a time of 8:04.87.
Senior Patrick Campbell recorded the fourth best time in Bradley history in the 3,000m, finishing at 8:08.21. Junior Daniel Gagne finished the mile with the third-best Braves time. Campbell and Gagne’s times were good enough for third-and fourth-best, respectively, in the MVC this season.
For the women’s side, redshirt sophomore Natalie Burant notched second place while junior Nicole Alfano grabbed third place in the 800m run.
“Anytime we get school records, it’s something to celebrate,” Gauson said. “We have multiple individuals ranked in the top eight of the conference in distance events. It’s looking really good for us, going into more of the championship part of the season.”
The teams will be heading to Michigan today for the Grand Valley State Big Meet and to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Classic. Gauson said he hopes both teams continue to carry their momentum into next week and eventually into the indoor conference championships.
“The goal this weekend is to have more people move up in the rankings and run faster,” Gauson said. “It sets us up for a championship. That’s what I’m looking for.”
