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Track starts 2014 under new leadership

The winds of change that blew through Bradley’s athletic department this past summer sent coaches, trainers and administrators alike into new places and opened up new opportunities in the department.

One of those opportunities went to former Columbia women’s track coach Willy Wood, who replaced Marc Burns as the head coach of Bradley’s men’s and women’s track teams on July 29.

Burns left Bradley earlier that month to join the coaching staff at the University of Missouri. The Braves moved quickly in hiring Wood, who spent the better part of 20 years coaching the Lions to eight Ivy League titles and nine NCAA cross country championship appearances.

For Wood, coaching track came naturally. The Taylor University graduate said there are numerous things about the sport (and coaching it) that he loves.

“Everything about this sport I just enjoy,” Wood said. “I like that it allows you to be an individual but it does it in the context of a team; I appreciate that fully. I enjoy the internal battle against yourself in a lot of ways, and I just absolutely love running. It was a logical choice.”

Another logical choice? The decision to leave Columbia and join Bradley. Wood said he did some research about the university and, after visiting campus, decided the university’s vision matched his own.

“I came out here and had an opportunity to meet people, experience the community and to sit down and speak to people about what their vision for Bradley athletics was,” Wood said. “It was something that I saw myself aligning with very deeply; it was something I wanted to be apart of.”

Part of that vision included the addition of men’s indoor track. Bradley dropped support for the men’s tennis team in early June and reinstated the track team after a 22-year hiatus. The relaunch of the team does not matter to Wood as he is starting from scratch on the Hilltop regardless.

“It doesn’t feel like it would be a challenge in and of itself that’s unique because it’s a new program,” Wood said. “I don’t view it as an individual challenge, and we’re going to have to do something specifically different because we just added it. There’s a lot of good pieces in place here already, and to me, it’s like I’m walking into any situation.”

For any coach to be successful in a new job, they have to win over the senior class. Bradley men’s and women’s cross country has a combined eight seniors, all of whom will be instrumental in getting their teammates to buy into what Wood is telling them. The seniors have been a huge help so far, according to Wood.

“They’ve been amazing thus far,” Wood said. “They’re very supportive of the changes that I’m making, they’ve been very welcoming. We’re introducing something different each week to their training scheme, like their mental preparation. Everyone’s accepting it wholeheartedly and excitedly.”

As excitement builds around the team, coach Wood had a little trouble coming up with a specific goal for the season. Instead, the Ohio native decided to look toward the future of the team.

“It’s hard for me to make something very tangible because I’m just starting to get to know these guys. Long term, we definitely want to be a team that wins the Missouri Valley Conference on a consistent basis and appears at the national championships.”

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