Bradley’s men’s and women’s indoor track season came to a close last weekend at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The weekend did not end the way Bradley would have hoped, with an 8th place finish by the men’s team and a 7th place finish by the women’s. Despite both teams’ overall finishes, there were some great individual performances.
Seniors Kristen Busch and Caitlin Busch stole the show over the weekend with their performances.
Kristen won the 5,000-meter Saturday, edging out her sister Caitlin, who came in second place in the same race. The very next day, Caitlin was the one on top, beating her sister in the 3,000-meter race. To add to the Busch twins’ weekend, Caitlin was named MVC Scholar-Athlete of the week on Tuesday.
On the men’s side, sophomore Michael Ward highlighted the championship events coming in third with a 4:14.78 mile and junior Daniel Gagne finished eighth in the mile, posting a time of 4:22.57. Gagne and Ward combined for seven points to help add to the men’s 27 overall score. The men’s team also had four runners place in the top seven in the 3,000-meter, adding 14 points.
Head coach Darren Gauson said he was very impressed with the women’s team, especially in the mile.
“[Freshman] Gabby Juarez came in ranked 23rd in the conference in the mile,” Gauson said. “She was able to place seventh as a freshman, so [it was] a really top performance from her.”
Adding to that, sophomore Rachel Sudbury came in fourth in the mile with a time of 4:56.88.
Gauson said was also impressed with the women’s overall finish.
“Our women were projected to finish eighth, and we ended up finishing seventh,” Gausons said. “As a team finish, that was good for them.”
Now that the indoor season is over for both teams, it’s time to start running outdoors. Gauson said he’s extremely excited that senior Emily Delvo will be back for the outdoor season after missing almost eight weeks with a foot injury.
As for the men, Gauson wants to see the young talent put it all together at the same time during the upcoming outdoor season, which begins Saturday, March 26th, at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic in Carbondale.
