With the Bradley Classic on Friday and Pre-Nationals on Saturday, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams had a full weekend of competition.
Sophomore Michael Ward broke Bradley’s school record in the 8K and finished 75th as he helped the men’s cross country team to a 26th-place showing at the Pre-Nationals Saturday morning.
“Michael has had a breakout year so far,” head coach Darren Gauson said. “It’s been really cool to see him grow and improve as much as he has.”
Senior Marshall Moyer, juniors Patrick Campbell and Caleb Beck and sophomore Taylor Floyd-Mews also set career-best marks in the Saturday race.
Sophomore Haran Dunderdale ran a career-best in the 8K Friday afternoon in the 12th annual Bradley Classic. Freshman Will Anderson also ran a career-best 8K on Friday, and junior Steffen Uhrich missed his personal record by just three-tenths of a second.
“Overall, we ran very well,” Gauson said. “It was a supreme national meet with some of the best teams in the country. You always want to be a little better, but I have no complaints.”
On the women’s side, senior Kristen Busch broke her twin sister’s school record in the women’s 6K to finish 27th in the field at Saturday’s Pre-Nationals, while the team placed 23rd overall in the 45-team field. Caitlin Busch was the next Brave to finish, as she placed 74th overall.
“Kristen’s done a great job this year,” Gauson said. “She was named MVC Athlete of the Week, which is always a great honor.”
After suffering through a medical hardship for the 2014 cross country season and being out of action for more than a year, three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference runner Sarah McMahon returned to the course Friday. She paced Bradley’s split squad for a 33rd-place individual finish among the 267 competitors.
All seven of Bradley’s eligible competitors ran career-best 6K times Friday: Katie Wampole, Sara Piller, Natalie Burant, Nicole Alfano, Nicole Lopez-Villegas and Brooke Nusser.
In terms of how the season has gone so far and what is still ahead, the expectations are still high for both Bradley cross country teams.
“We came into the season ranked first in the conference on the women’s side and third in the conference on the men’s side, and so far our men’s team has beaten the two teams ranked ahead of us, so I fully expect to go into the conference championship ranked first on both sides,” Gauson said. “Our goal is to bring two trophies back to campus from that meet.”
Both the men and women return to action Friday at the Illinois Open in Champaign.
