Iowa City, Iowa ? Sophomore Chris George (Normal, Ill./University) and Junior Sarah Westrick (Livonia, Mich./Winston Churchill) set the pace for the Bradley Braves Saturday in the 2005 NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country Championships hosted by they University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa at the Ashton Cross Country Course.
George and Westrick set the best marks for the Braves for the second consecutive meet, repeating their MVC Championship performances.
Bradley's men ran their way into a 16th place overall finish with 469 points while topping two of the four MVC schools in the region.
George's 32:38 10K was good for 48th place overall and third among Valley runners.
Freshman Nathan Ahart (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central), sophomore Nathan Leech (Fremont, Neb./Fremont), sophomore Nick Palumbo (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) and senior Bryan Thigpen (Peoria, Ill./Central) packed together till the final few meters when Ahart and Leech burst ahead to finish in 34:12 and 34:13 respectively, 97th and 101st overall.
Palumbo and Thigpen were soon to follow in 34:33 and 34:46, 109th and 114th, capping the Braves' scoring runners.
Patrick Greene (34:47) and Abe Ramirez (35:08) also ran for Bradley.
Oklahoma State claimed the men's team title with 49 points, followed by host Iowa (72) and Kansas (74). Minnesota earned the final team birth into the NCAA Championship with their fourth place finish.
On the women's side, it was Sarah Westrick clocking in with the best time for the Braves for a fifth time this season for the Bradley brigade, finishing in 71st place overall in 23:31, just one second off her best 6K of the season.
Freshman Katie Nowak (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) shook off a pre-race foot injury to claim 87th place in 23:39.
Sophomore Ainslie Schultz (Forest City, Iowa/Forest City), junior Marcia Backstrom (Minonk, Ill./Fieldcrest) and sophomore Bekah Aavang (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) rounded out the Bradley scorers.
The Braves placed 19th as a team with 509 points.
Wichita State runner Desiraya Osburn claimed the individual title in 20:43 while the four qualifying teams on the women's side were Oklahoma State (71), Illinois (90), Minnesota (90) and Wichita State (125).
