Bradley men’s and women’s cross country got the 2014-2015 school year off to a fast start, sweeping the team titles at last weekend’s Western Illinois University Early Bird.
The women’s team took the title by placing 13 runners in the top 14. Senior Taylor Johnson clocked a 16:00 time, placing her 14 seconds off the pace set by winner Madison Lefler of WIU.
The Braves placed seven runners in the first eight positions, giving them 20 points and the victory.
A pack of six Braves finished one second behind Johnson, including freshman Alison Wilson. Head coach Willy Wood said all of the freshmen, including Johnson, ran well at their first collegiate meet.
“The freshman looked phenomenal,” Wood said. “It’s a great class. It’s been a big transition; it’s been a big increase in mileage and there was a huge change. They signed up to run for somebody and that person’s not here, so it’s a whole new philosophy and coach, but they looked great.”
On the men’s side, seven Braves crossed the pack in second place, including juniors Cole Dill and Marshall Moyer. Bradley scored 25 points, beating second place Augustana by five and host WIU by a whopping 54.
The majority of Bradley’s runners did not participate in the event. Instead, coach Wood elected to try a few players in new roles with the team.
“I wanted to give them that opportunity to be in a leadership position, to be a front pack runner for our team, and to give them the opportunity to run well,” Wood said. “We asked them to basically run together, and quite honestly everything we asked of them that day they did perfectly.”
By giving some other runners a chance to take the helm for the race, Wood allowed some of the team a bit of a break. But, don’t look for that to continue at the Bradley Invitational, which will be held at Detweiller Park next weekend.
“Everyone will be running there that’s healthy, without a doubt,” Wood said. “And we’ll probably still control it in some capacity, [but] I don’t think it’ll be like ‘open the floodgates and let everyone run wild.’”
