The outdoor track teams, which never got to compete this spring, had the potential to win Missouri Valley Conference distance events on both the men’s and women’s side.
The Bradley track team’s biggest strength is and has been its long-distance running. The Braves achieved first and second place at the MVC cross country championship.
The team came off a strong indoor season despite mostly preparing for outdoors. Head coach Darren Gauson said he believed the team would use the indoor season as preparation and a stepping stone to perform well outdoors.
The team also had multiple runners redshirting their indoor season to be in peak form for outdoors.
With freshmen Sophia McDonnell representing the U.S. and Tiana Lostracco representing Canada at the Pan American Cross Country Cup and the World U20 Championships, the women were ready to show off. Sophomore Ayah Aldadah was also redshirting her indoor season in order to be fully healthy for the outdoor season.
Redshirt-junior McKenzie Altmayer would have likely been motivated to make this outdoor season count. After a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter run during the indoor championship, Altmayer was determined to get a first-place finish at the outdoor championship.
Sophomore Hannah Ivy would have been able to contribute to valuable points from the female sprinters for Bradley. She had set Bradley’s second-best 400-meter dash time during the indoor championship and has consistently been improving her personal best times over her two years at Bradley.
This season could have been glorious swan songs for seniors Jake and Luke Hoffert. The senior twins have been two of the top runners the program has ever seen and could have ended their five year careers on a high note.
Jake had been nursing a foot injury sustained during the cross country season, which lingered throughout the indoor season. He was learning how to run dealing with the slight pain he felt and had hopes of ending his career on a positive note.
Young runners such as sophomores Jack Franklin, Joey Simon, Alec Danner and redshirt-freshman Matthew Richtman would have also been crucial to the Braves’ outdoor success.
Both sides of this team had the talent to win running events and eventually have some individuals make noise at the NCAA West Preliminary. Unfortunately, fans will have to wait another year to see it happen.
