In its most recent meet, Bradley’s women’s cross country team finished 10th out of 20 schools, many of whom were ranked among the best teams in the nation.
After running against four of the nation’s top-10 women’s teams, the Braves broke a school record and boasted dominant results from both the male and female runners.
“They did an awesome job [and I’m] really proud of our women,” head coach Darren Gauson said. “We went to that meet three years ago and it was really, really good and we finished 22nd out of 22 teams, so it was nice to go back there and have a really tough performance.”
The women that broke the 5K record were sophomore Nicola Jansen, who placed 19th overall with a new Bradley record of 16:30.8 and senior Tyler Schwartz, who clocked in at 16:37.2 to place 26th overall.
“It gives me confidence knowing what I’ve achieved in the past and knowing that I’ve broken these records and that I can do what I am doing,” Jansen said.
Heading into the rest of the season, Jansen wants to ride the momentum but keep the record out of her head.
“I try not to think too much about it because it can give me overconfidence and I want it to be like everyone can have a good day,” Jansen said. “We have girls now that are coming out that are really improving now so anyone can take it over.”
Heading into the meet, Gauson knew that the former record, held by former Braves cross country standout Caitlin Busch since 2015, wasn’t going to stay safe for long.
“You know Nicola’s an outstanding athlete,” Gauson said. “[She won] MVC Freshman of the Year, [she’s a] 3K indoor champion, 5K indoor champion [and] NCAA qualifiers as a true freshman, so she had the ability.”
The men’s team finished 19th and were once again led by graduate student Alec Danner, who placed 45th overall on the five-mile run with a time of 24:10.1.
“I’d say it’s definitely nice to see that and that knowing a few years prior if I would’ve been in the same race I would’ve finished close to last,” Danner said.
Having gone up against numerous teams that are likely to make it in the top 32 at the end of the year, the competition will only prepare the Braves’ runners for the future.
“It’s also just a wonderful opportunity to race against some of the best that Division I cross country has to offer and knowing that the races up ahead won’t be that deep,” Danner said. ”With conference especially coming up in less than four weeks now, we definitely want to be ready for that, so having that stiffened competition was good to kind of open our eyes. We [have] to improve some things but we’re in a good position right now.”
Both sides will run again in the Bradley Pink Classic at Newman Golf Course on Oct. 14.
