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Track moves up in conference rankings

The Bradley track team competed in the Gibson Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, last weekend, posting several times in the top of the conference rankings.

The best performance of the weekend for the Braves was in the 800-meter run, where the top three finishers were Bradley runners. Redshirt freshman Alec Hartman won the event in 1:51.23 and was closely followed by junior David Shadid, who finished at 1:51.89 and sophomore Scott Seymour in 1:52.77. Senior Taylor Floyd Mews also finished sixth. Shadid said the team targeted the 800-meter race.

“We loaded up the 800, and we executed really well,” Shadid said. “It was a good chance to go out there and show off what we have been working on and to prove to everyone we were ready to go.”

Shadid, who is typically a 400-meter runner, has recently been experimenting with the longer distances.

“This was my first outdoor 800 since freshman year where I wasn’t even in shape for it,” Shadid said. “It was nice to get that rust-buster race and see where my fitness was at.”

Hartman, Shadid and Seymour’s times put them all in the top-five of the Missouri Valley Conference.

The women’s team also ran well in the 800-meter, as junior Niamh Markham won the event in 2:12.45. Junior Kathryn Adelman finished fifth in 2:14.36. Their times put them in third and seventh in the MVC, respectively.

There were also top finishers in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as sophomore Sam Lechowicz won and senior Jennifer Luksan took second. Their times both rank top-10 in the conference.

Gauson said he sees no issues with his team’s strength – instead, it’s Mother Nature that’s held them back in recent weeks.

“I think our fitness is really good,” Gauson said. “If we can just get the weather to cooperate. A lot of our sport is getting calm, warmish weather.”

Nevertheless, Gauson said he has been impressed with his team’s progression this season.

“This weekend we saw a lot of people moving really close to the regionals times,” Gauson said. “We are where we need to be at the conference level. We just need to get people going to get to the NCAA Regionals.”

The Braves will get their next chance to notch those regional qualifying times next weekend at the Mt. Sac Relays in California. The team was originally scheduled to compete in the Musco Twilight meet in Iowa City on Saturday, but the meet was moved to Thursday.

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