The Bradley men’s and women’s track and field competed April 8 and 9 at the Gibson Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana. Both the men and women had solid showings, which made this particular meet a success.
On Friday, redshirt junior Liz Smits ran a season-best time in the 5,000 meters. Smits posted a time of 17:52.24 to finish ninth in the event for the Braves, clocking in the second fastest 5,000-meter time on the team this season.
“I think the biggest factor that helped me post my season-best time was listening to my coaches and trusting in my training,” Smits said. “The racing plan by my coaches and my prior training gave me confidence to be successful throughout the race.”
Both teams participated in the invitational Saturday with very impressive performances.
On the men’s side, senior Eric Delvo took second in the steeplechase. Delvo ran the steeplechase for the first time since the 2014 NCAA West Preliminary and challenged for top honors, finishing in a close second place at 9:02.82.
On the women’s side in the steeplechase, junior Mackenzie Griffin crossed the line at 11:53.91 to shave eight seconds off her career-best time and finish 13th overall.
In addition, junior Lauren Cunningham helped highlight the day with an eighth-place finish in the women’s 1,500 meters. She posted a career-best time of 4:45.84 to top her previous career-best, which she set just two weeks ago, by three seconds.
Overall, head coach Darren Gauson said he was impressed with his team despite the difficult conditions they participated in.
“It was cold and windy, but we got out there and competed very hard,” Gauson said. “For this weekend, we were really excited to compete against our in-state rival school. This will serve as a good stepping stone towards the MVC Outdoor Championships.”
The Bradley men’s and women’s track and field teams will be back in action Saturday, April 16 at the Redbird Invitational in Normal.
