Bradley cross-country started their season last Friday at the Hawkeye Invite, which was as good of a start as anyone could have hoped.
The last time Bradley competed in the Hawkeye Invite was 2021 when the women finished sixth out of 11 and the men finished eighth out of nine. This marks the fourth time since 2016 that the Braves have competed in Iowa City.
The women’s 4K kicked off the night, in which Bradley finished first with a score of 23, which was an impressive sixteen points better than second place, Iowa. The Braves swept the podium, with juniors Nadia Potgieter and Kaitlyn Sheppard finishing first and second respectively, and senior Abigail Hancock finishing third.
“Comparing last year to this year, I feel like our first meet [was] in more of a competitive environment,” head coach Andrew Carlson said. “I was really happy with how things started for the season; getting a team win and then getting an individual win.”
Crossing the finish line was emotional for Potgieter, especially after the injury she sustained last season, as well as a 38th-place finish at regionals.
“Honestly, it’s such a mixture of emotions,” Potgieter said. “I remember talking to Coach Carlson before [the race] and telling him all the things I felt went bad [at regionals]. And I think being able to break the ice and being able to just have joy in running; something about it just sparked the passion in me again, and it just filled me with thankfulness.”
With eight runners finishing in the top 10, Potgieter also talked about how it felt to get her first team title of the season.
“To see how this team has grown and to see how we compliment each other’s strengths and in our weaknesses we just pick each other up. That truly brought out the best in me,” Potgieter said. “Even though cross-country is an individual sport, you feel like a team, and you feel the unity.”
After the women ran a total of four kilometers, it was time for the men to run six kilometers. They earned the team title and 31 points. That’s 15 points clear of runner-up Iowa Western CC, who won the individual title.
The Braves’ individual results include fifthth-year senior Jack Crull earning second, sophomore Jayde Rosslee taking fifth, and seventh, eighth, and ninth place going to fifth-year senior Michael Rebello, sophomore Parker Nold and senior Brandon Kamp, respectively.
“It was definitely a big confidence booster,” Crull said. “The team is looking really good. This makes me really excited for the future right now. The team is really young, but we’re progressing well as a unit.”
Not only did Crull finish second and get a personal best in the 6K with a time of 17:50, but he was also named Men’s Runner of the Week by the Missouri Valley Conference.
“I would say it definitely makes me feel pretty comfortable doing 8K,” Crull said. “You definitely don’t know what’s going to happen until you have your first 8K race, so I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I just try to focus and relax.”
Coach Carlson said that guys like Crull will be crucial to success this season.
“I think Jack is our wild card,” Coach Carlson said. “If we get the Jack we got on Friday, we’re a really hard team to beat, because I think Jack is capable of a lot.”
It was also a great day for the newcomers. On the women’s side, a sophomore transfer from Louisville, Rhune Vanroose, and freshmen Sophia Cino and Sonja Inzinger all finished ninth, 10th, and 13th respectively. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, freshman Travis Gaffney finished 18th out of the 63 runners competing.
“Since we had a lot of people missing, we had to reload,” Coach Carlson said. “I was really happy with how they did, but I also think they’re still trying to figure things out.”
Bradley will return to action on Sept. 20, when they compete in their first home meet of the year, the Bradley Intercollegiate at Detweiller Park. This will be the first of three meets in Peoria, including the MVC championships. The team says they are looking forward to the meet.
“I’m really looking to see how much I’ve progressed in a year,” Crull said, “especially under Coach Carlson, because I really believe in him as a coach… as a team, I think we’ve gotten a bit closer.”
“Each kilometer that you go through, you know there’s going to be a Bradley person supporting you,” Potgieter said. “Even though my family from South Africa is not here, my family from my second home will be here supporting me, and I think that’s what I’m most excited about.”
The Braves hope to continue their team title streak with two more wins on the 20 of September.
