Senior Caitlin Busch became the sixth runner in Missouri Valley Conference history to claim consecutive individual MVC cross country titles and helped the women’s cross country team repeat as champs with a victory Saturday morning at the 2015 Valley Championships.
Along with this past weekend’s championship being the second in a row and third overall, Bradley became the first team in MVC history to win the team title and claim the individual winner in back-to-back seasons.
“We came in with a target on our back since we came in with the favorite,” head coach Darren Gauson said. “After the men had won their championship it calmed everyone down and allowed the women [to] focus on theirs.”
Caitlin posted the best time at the MVC Championship since 2005 and joined Bradley Hall of Fame member Mary Ellen Hill as one of six back-to-back MVC cross country individual champions in league history after she claimed top honors at last year’s event.
Caitlin, along with her twin sister Kristen Busch, gave Bradley two of the top three finishers in the field. The Braves had three of the top-14 and five of the top-19 overall to finish with 54 points. Wichita State came in second with 76 points, and Illinois State followed with 94 points.
“Our plan was to have the Busch twins be pretty aggressive and get ahead of the field, but when the gun went, Wichita State and Loyola were really aggressive and at the one mile and halfway mark we were in third place,” Gauson said. “We were a little bit nervous that we weren’t going to pull through, but those teams went out so hard that we were able to use that against them and pull through.”
The individual title gives Caitlin back-to-back MVC Athlete of the Year honors as she garnered All-MVC recognition for the second straight season. She broke her 5K school record time by over six seconds.
Kristen also clocked in a career-best 5K time as she took third overall to post the second best time in program history. The third place finish made Kristen the third three-time All-MVC cross country runner in program history as she joins senior teammate Sarah McMahon and Mary Ellen Hill on the exclusive list.
“We were hoping Caitlin and Kristen would go 1-2, and they were 1-2 for the most part, but the ISU runner had a really good race,” Gauson said. “Going one and three was great, and Caitlin getting the individual title was just awesome.”
Senior Rosie Hiles took home honorable mention All-Valley honors for the second straight year, missing her career-best time by three seconds. Fellow senior Rachel Sudbury was three seconds away from also earning honorable mention all-conference honors when she crossed the line with her career-best time. Freshman Abby Jockisch was also strong in her first Valley Championship turning in her season best time which also ranks 10th in school history, as she took 19th in the field to round out the team scoring for the Braves.
“Abby has never been in our top five all year, but she really stepped up and ran a great race,” Gauson said.
The conference meets also spelled the return of senior Sarah McMahon, which Gauson said was big for the team.
“Having Sarah McMahon back for the conference championship was huge,” Gauson said. “She’s been a really big part of this team for the past four years and she missed last year due to an injury, but having her back for Saturday even though she wasn’t able to place, her presence meant a lot to us.”
The Bradley women’s cross country team returns to action today at noon at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Lawrence, Kansas.
“We just want to use the momentum we have from conference as we go into the regionals,” Gauson said. “We’re hoping for top four; some really good teams such as Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Iowa State, who are running great right now, but if we can compete and beat one of those teams, that would be great. We’ll need all seven girls to have a good performance, and if that happens, we’ll have a good day.”
