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Track and field off to a running start in 2015

Freshman Allison Wilson races for Bradley’s cross-country team at the Bradley Classic in October. Wilson was a member of the Braves’ distance medley relay team last weekend in the John Craft Invitational. Photo by Garth Shanklin
Freshman Allison Wilson races for Bradley’s cross-country team at the Bradley Classic in October. Wilson was a member of the Braves’ distance medley relay team last weekend in the John Craft Invitational. Photo by Garth Shanklin

The Bradley men and women’s track and field teams kicked off the 2015 indoor season with success in their first two meets; first at the Illini Classic Jan. 17 and then at the John Craft Invitational Jan. 24.

The Illini Classic marked Bradley’s first men’s team race since the program was disbanded in 1992. Four individuals were able to post times good enough to make the top 10 in program history. Junior Evan Tuisl finished 8th overall in the 600 meter with a time of 1:24.41, the third-best time in program history. Senior Shane Garland finished 12th overall in the same event with a time of 1:25.46, the fifth-best mark in program history.

Sophomore Daniel Gagne ran in the 3,000 meter, finishing 10th overall and posting a time of 8:44.79 for the 10th-best time in program history. Freshman Haran Dunderdale made Bradley history in his collegiate debut, posting the fourth-best time in school history (1:56.36) and finishing fifth overall.

Junior Marshall Moyer had the best finish of the day for the Bradley men, finishing fourth overall in the mile with a time of 4:19.97.

Emily Delvo provided the first highlight of the day, winning the women’s 3000 meter in her first time running the race. Delvo finished with a time of 10:06.41, the ninth-best time in program history.

“Emily winning was just a testament to one, the fact that she’s talented, and two, the fact that she put in a lot of work in the fall and she’s stronger than she’s ever been,” head coach Willy Wood said.

Juniors Caitlin and Kristin Busch both competed in the mile. Caitlin finished only one one-hundredth of a second before Kristen at 5:02.67, taking fourth place and leaving her twin sister Kristen in fifth place. Senior Kyela Sprecht set a new career-best time of 1:36.90 in the 600 meter, the top time for a Bradley woman since 2003 and third in program history.

The story of the day at the John Craft Invitational was Bradley’s sweep of the men and women’s distance medley relay.

Dunderdale, Tuisl, freshman Michael Ward and sophomore Mike Bianchina teamed up to win the distance medley relay for the men, posting a school-record time of 10:13.11. Sprecht, sophomores Lauren Cunningham and Casey Kramer, and freshman Allison Wilson took the women’s distance medley relay crown for Bradley with a time of 12:25.69.

Junior Elizabeth Dutcher also won the women’s pentathlon, posting the second-highest score of her career. Dutcher won the high jump with her career-best 1.56 meters, and placed second in long jump, shot put, and the 800 meter.

Moyer and sophomore Caleb Beck both ran in the mile, with Moyer finishing third with a career-best time of 4:17.85 and Beck finishing right behind him in fourth with a career-best time of 4:18.08.

Dunderdale, Ward, and Gagne all ran in the men’s 800 meter, finishing third, fourth and fifth respectively.

“I can tell it’s going to be a really good season,” Wood said. “The team seemed very sharp and very fit and competed hard and confidently.”

The Bradley men and women’s track and field teams compete against premiere competition on Feb. 6 and 7 at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational.

“Notre Dame will be our first real test,” Wood said. “It’s one of the top meets in the country, and everything we did in these first two weeks was to prepare us for Notre Dame.”

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