The Bradley men’s and women’s track teams continued their seasons at the Meyo Invitational in Notre Dame, Indiana Feb. 6.
The men’s races were highlighted by a school record falling for the second time in three races, while the women were paced by two top runners recording career bests on the afternoon.
Although the team boasted numerous school and personal records, head coach Willy Wood said that the biggest takeaway was how confident the team ran against top competition.
“It was the first time we lined up against national caliber type of competition,” Wood said. “To see everyone compete in a very mature, composed and calm way was very encouraging.”
For the men’s team, freshman Cam Ward was the top performer for the Braves as he broke teammate Eric Delvo’s old record in the mile heat, finishing 20th overall in the standings with a time of 4:08.33.
Wood said that for as well as Ward ran, the potential he has exceeds what he showed in the Meyo Invitational.
“He ran a very conservative, solid race, [but] he’s capable in running much, much faster than that,” Wood said. “We’re excited, but it’s nowhere near an indication of what the kid is going to run.”
Along with Ward, fellow freshman Haran Dunderdale and sophomore Daniel Gagne both ran in the mile heat and finished with the fourth and third best mile times in school history, respectively.
On the women’s track, senior Emily Delvo finished with a career best time of 4:55.70 in her mile heat.
That was the best finish in the women’s mile heat since Mary Goldkamp in 2011.
However, according to Wood, Delvo came into the meet lacking, thanks to time off during winter break.
“It’s the fastest she’s run indoors, but she’s capable of so much more than that,” Wood said. “She had taken [about] three weeks off, [so] we were just really focusing on training. I think she was a little bit rusty to be at a race of that high caliber.”
Along with Delvo, the Busch twins, juniors Kristin and Caitlin, both competed in the 3,000 meter heat and finished 21st and 27th, respectively.
Following the Meyo Invitational, the track team is splitting up and sending men and women to the Hoosier Hills meet in Bloomington, Indiana, and also to the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa.
The Iowa State Classic is described by coach Wood as being one of the best meets in the early part of the season.
“[The Iowa State] meet, they attract the best [talent],” Wood said. “It’s probably the second best meet in the country in that given weekend.”
Although the team will be up against top talent, Wood’s confidence in the team runs very high.
“They’ll be fine,” Wood said. “They’re going to run their primary event, they’re all very fit, they’re all healthy, [and] they’ll run fast.”
