Just one month removed from finishing the indoor season, both the men’s and women’s track and field outdoor seasons took off last weekend with the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational in Nashville.
Friday started on a high note for the Braves. Junior Emily Delvo and freshman Michael Ward claimed their respective 1,500 meter titles, and junior Marshall Moyer won the men’s 5,000 meter.
Fellow junior Caitlin Busch was 11th in the field, missing her career-best time by less than one second, with her twin sister Kristen close behind her in 12th place.
Sophomore Steffen Uhrich finished third in the men’s 2,000 meter steeplechase and senior Kyela Specht took fifth in the women’s 800 meter to highlight the final day of competition.
The teams will be in action this weekend at two different meets. Some of the top teams in the country will be in Stanford, California, for the Stanford Invitational today.
Delvo and Ward will be among the Bradley runners who will be heading to California. Ward will be one of four Braves to participate in the 5,000 meter event.
On the women’s side, Kristen Busch will join Caitlin in the 10,000 meter race. Kristen set the Bradley record in the event last year at Stanford. She won the Missouri Valley
Conference title in the event last year en route to an 18th place finish at the NCAA Championship.
Meanwhile, Bradley will also send runners to the Eastern Illinois University Big Blue Classic.
Eighteen women will enter in the 1,500 meter race tomorrow, led by sophomore Casey Kramer. Kramer posted the best time in that race out of any player scheduled to run, and her 4:35.95 in the indoor event is just outside the top 10 times in Bradley history.
Eight men will race in the men’s 1,500, including freshman Haran Dunderdale. The race will be Dunderdale’s first race of that distance. Bradley is also expected to compete in the 4×400 meter relay.
The events are expected to begin around 2 p.m.
