Press "Enter" to skip to content

Track weathers the storm

The Bradley men’s and women’s track teams split up last weekend as several athletes travelled to compete in the Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival in California. The rest of the team competed at the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic.

The athletes in California dealt with 90 degree weather in the middle of the afternoon on Friday while the athletes in Illinois struggled through temperatures in the 40s and gusts approaching 20 miles per hour. Head coach Darren Gauson said the weather at both meets affected athletes’ times.

“[In California], our athletes and a lot of other athletes struggled in the heat. The times really weren’t that good,” Gauson said. “We battled and still had some really good times, but it is hard to get regional times with the weather we had.”

The Braves managed to put up top times despite the weather. Junior David Shadid won the 400- meter run at Eastern. He posted a time of 48.91 to beat the other 27 runners.

“If he gets some good weather with no wind, I think he will be able to get his [personal record] in the next few weeks,” Gauson said.

Sophomore Scott Seymour finished 22nd in the 1,500 meter run in San Francisco with a time of 3:54.48. At Stanford, redshirt freshman Alec Hartman had nearly an identical time, finishing in 3:54.83.

One of the team’s top runners, redshirt junior Haran Dundlerdale, ran his first race in over a year after being redshirted in cross country and indoor track. Dundlerdale finished the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 9:04.66. According to Gauson, Dunderdale did not run his best due to an injury.

“He was in really good shape, but he has a little foot injury,” Gauson said. “He still has time to put up a regional mark this season.”

Despite the crutch of a foot injury, Dunderdale said it was nice to get back to competing with his teammates.

“It’s been a long year of redshirting,” Dunderdale said. “For me to just be able to compete with the team is going to be fun. Myself and the team have big goals for the season, so hopefully we can hit them and get people talking about Bradley’s program.”

On the women’s side, freshman Imani Hanson placed ninth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:05.76, good enough for the fifth best time in school history.

“It is great to see her getting a top time in the record books,” Gauson said. “She will probably end up scoring at conference.”

Junior Niamh Markham put up a best time of 4:31.29 in the 1,500-meter run. Markham’s time puts her eighth in school history. Gauson said he was impressed with Markham’s progress.

“She ran really well with a massive [personal record],” Gauson said. “She will be fairly close to hitting a regional time, so we just need to decide if the 800 or 1,500 is her best race.”

The track team will travel to the Gibson Invitational at Indiana State after the meet scheduled for Western Illinois was cancelled Tuesday.

Copyright © 2023, The Scout, Bradley University. All rights reserved.
The Scout is published by members of the student body of Bradley University. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the University.