PEORIA, Ill. -- Defending Conference-USA cross country champions Marquette lived up their billing sweeping both the men's 8K and women's 5K at the 19th annual Bradley Open Friday afternoon at Detweiller Park. The Bradley women's team placed fifth overall in the seven team field of Division I competitors, while the men's team placed sixth of seven teams.
Marquette's Brent DesRoches finished first on the men's side, crossing the line 3.88 seconds short of a Bradley Open record for the 8K. DesRoches finished in a time of 24:41.38 to pace the Golden Eagles to the title. Marquette had a total of 31 points, with all five runners placing in the top 15 in the field of 126.
Complete Results (pdf file)In the college division Rend Lake won the title with 25 points,beating out second-place finisher Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's 33 points. Rend Lake's Rey Alvarez placed third overall, running a 25:01.97 to pace all college division athletes.
The 21st-ranked Marquette women's team ran away with the title, placing five runners in the top eight in the field of 118 competitors. Jodi Jakubek of Marquette out-raced teammate Cassie Peller to the finish line, running a 17:49 to win the individual title. Peller crossed the line at 17:52.
The Golden Eagles finished with a total of 20 points, beating second-place Illinois State by a 40 point margin, as the Redbirds finished with 60 on the day.
Olivet Nazarene took home first-place in the college division with a total of 22 points, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville was second with 50 points. Carmin Green of Olivet Nazarene was the top college division finisher, placing fifth overall with a time of 18:19.
The Bradley women finished fifth overall with a total of 121 points. Leading the way for the Braves was sophomore Sarah Westrick, who placed 13th, clocking an 18:47. Freshman Jenny Melville finished 26th, completing the course in a time of 19:21. Sophomore Marcia Backstrom was 34th overall with a time of 19:36, while junior Rachel Furman was 36th at 19:41. Junior Tiffany Mack rounded out the scoring for the Braves, placing 41st at 19:43.
On the men's side, junior Matt Parrilli led the way for Bradley finishing 32nd at 26:14.18. The freshmen duo of Chris George and Nathan Leech crossed the line in 42nd and 43rd place at 26:27.97 and 26:28.87, respectively. Freshman Nick Palumbo was 57th overall with a time of 26:50.47 and sophomore Abe Ramirez concluded the scoring for the Braves at 26:53.42 to place 60th.
The women's cross country team returns to action next Friday, September 17 at Michigan State. The men's squad has a week off before participating in the Cross Country Only Nationals, September 25 in Edwardsville, Ill.
