The 2021 Braves track team continued to write in Bradley’s history books last weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana as the Braves competed in their third outdoor meet of the year. The Braves have now broken six school outdoor records this season.
The Braves stole the show in the 800m race with the top three runners wearing red and white. Each runner put on a career performance in the process.
Freshman Wilma Nielsen — who already owned the 800m record indoor record — reset the school’s outdoor mark after beating it the week before at Ole Miss. She crossed the line first of 39 runners with a time of 2:07.48, 0.42 seconds faster than her previous record.
Her twin sister, freshman Julia Nielsen, finished second in the race while putting up the second-best time in program history with 2:07.67. Redshirt freshman Tiana LoStracco – who owned the previous record – finished third with a time of 2:08.69 which is 0.50 seconds longer than her PR and fifth-best in Braves history.
Freshman Max Dieterich was also on the highlight reel for Bradley last weekend. The German runner won the 800m race crossing the line after 1:50.50 which ranks as the third-fastest time in school history. Senior Scott Seymour, who holds the second-fastest time, finished third on the day clocking at 1:50.74 and fourth-best for Bradley.
Freshman Aidan Donohue also set his PR in this event. He finished with a time of 3:57.61 while coming in at sixth for Bradley.
The Braves also boasted two top-10 finishes in the 1,500m race on the women’s side. Junior Aisling Joyce finished fifth in the race setting her PR at 4:33.89, over eight seconds faster than her previous best time. Freshman Sophia McDonald also scored for Bradley as she finished seventh in 4:36.12, five seconds quicker than her previous PR.
Bradley’s 4×400 relay team of sophomore Hannah Ivy and freshmen LoStracco, Lara Gebel and Reina McMillan finished on the last podium place. They set the fourth-best time in school history clocking at 3:54.42. Ivy and LoStracco are already part of BU’s record-holding team.
On Friday, junior Miguel Aygei shaved four-tenths off his 200m dash PR, crossing the line at 22.91. Freshman T’ya Suber led the Braves in the same distance finishing 11th of 37 runners with a time of 25.14, four hundredths off her record.
The Braves will be in action Thursday through Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa at the Drake Relays. This will be the team’s second to last meet before the conference championship in Carbondale, Illinois.
