At the sound of the starter pistol, the Bradley University track and field team was off to break personal and university records at Stanford University. It was a successful day out for both the men and women’s track and field team.
For the men, sophomore Daniel Gagne started off the domino effect by breaking the men’s 5,000 meters school record from 1986 by Mark Oberle by eight seconds for a time of 14:30.48.
Fellow sophomores, Caleb Beck and Mike Bianchina ran alongside Gagne in the men’s 5,000 meters. Beck broke his personal record by making a career-best time of 14:33.00, landing him 16th place.
Shortly following the previous record-breaking events from that day, freshman Michael Ward matched up to his fellow teammates.
Ward was able to beat Gagne’s 5,000-meter record after his first attempt of running it in his college career later that day. He beat Gagne’s previously set record by 30 seconds, placing him in 13th with a time of 13:58.21.
“[I ran a] 13:58.21 [which] was a 38 second PR (personal record) for me. It will likely be good enough to qualify for regionals, and it was the qualification standard for the U23 European Championships for British Athletic,” Ward said.
Head coach, Willie Wood was pleased with the men’s performances.
“I was not surprised by our performances in the men’s 5, 000 meters. These guys are training at a very high level and will continue to improve,” Wood said.
Not only was the men’s team able to break records, but so did the women’s team.
Junior Emily Delvo recorded the second fastest time in the women’s 5,000 meters, joining Mary Ellen Hill in Bradley’s Hall of Fame. She took 13th place and placed a top time this season in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In the program’s history, Junior Kristen Busch placed in the top 10,000-meter four times after having her third best career performance with a time of 34:17.83.
Busch’s twin, Caitlin Busch first time competing in the 10,000 meters led to her clocking in a 34:30.78, which is the second fastest time in the program’s history behind her sister’s school record set the previous year.
Overall, Friday night was full of turning heads and jaws dropping as both the men and women’s track and field team broke multiple personal and school records.
“I was very pleased with our performances at Stanford. Each runner we took either qualified to the NCAA National Championships or established a new personal best time,” Wood said.
The season has a lot of potential still left for the men and women’s team.
“Higher-level performance is a process and cannot be rushed. If they continue to work hard and dedicate themselves to the task at hand, we will be very, very good,” Wood said.
