The men’s and women’s track teams were split between the Mt. Sac Relays and the Bryan Clay Invite Thursday and Friday, where the Braves set new school records at each meet.
Senior Patrick Campbell set the school record in the 10,000m run with a time of 29:26.07 at the Mt. Sac Relays. Campbell bested the previous record by over 33 seconds.
“I have been hoping to have that breakout race for a few years now,” Campbell said.
Campbell was followed closely by teammate freshman Jake Hoffert with a time of 29:35.06. Campbell and Hoffert are currently in 26th and 35th in the NCAA West Region and both expect to finish in the top-48 in order to qualify for the regional meet.
“I am looking forward to running at the regional meet,” Campbell said. “If I have a good race at regionals, I could maybe be looking at the national meet.”
Junior Dan Gagne set the Bradley record in the 1,500m run at 3:43.08 at the Bryan Clay Invite. Gagne knocked six seconds off his previous best time and broke the school record held by junior Michael Ward by over a second. Ward finished with a time of 3:46.36 this year in his return from a bout with food poisoning.
“I thought it was really good for Michael,” head coach Darren Gauson said. “He lost a lot of weight, and it took a lot out of him.”
On the women’s side, senior Rachel Sudbury led the Braves in the 1,500m with a time of 4:26.09. Sudbury’s time is the fifth-fastest ever by a Bradley woman.
“It was very good from her,” Gauson said. “[She] probably needs to run a little bit quicker to get into the NCAA regionals.”
Junior Hannah Witczak posted the fifth-best time in Bradley history in her first ever 10,000m with a time of 35:05.8. Witczak was followed by sophomore Sara Piller with a time of 36:38.
Gagne, Hoffert, Campbell, Ward, senior Steffen Ulrich and Witczak all are currently placed in the top 48 in the NCAA Midwest Region but will look to further solidify themselves as regional qualifiers. Several other Braves will also look to make a late season push to qualify.
“We are in good shape,” Gauson said. “I am hoping we have six or seven in the NCAA regionals.”
The Braves will look to improve their times in Champaign on Saturday at the Illinois Twilight Meet.
