PEORIA, Ill. -- Freshman Marshall Moyer (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) won his first collegiate race, claiming the men's 6K title at the 25th Bradley Open, while freshman Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) finished fifth to pace the Bradley women's cross country team in the three mile race Friday afternoon at Detweiller Park.
Moyer was one of five Bradley men's runners to place in the top eight, outkicking Michael Castel of Western Illinois for first place in a time of 20:00. Castel crossed the line four seconds behind Moyer and Illinois Central College's Ryan Van Fossen was third overall at 20:07.
Sophomore Nathan Davis (Lewiston, Ill./Lewiston) placed fifth in the field of 75 runners with a time of 20:17 to lead a pack of four Bradley men's runners. Junior Nicke Skromme (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette) clocked a career-best 6K time of 20:18 to finish sixth and sophomore Thomas Harayda (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) crossed the line three seconds back in seventh at 20:21. Junior Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator) rounded out the top-five BU finishers in eighth with a time of 20:25.
"Welcome to Bradley, Marshall," said Bradley cross country/track and field head coach Marc Burns. "What a way to start your collegiate career. He won the Woodruff Invitational last year on this same course and looked strong the whole way through today to win the race. The guys did a great job of executing their race plan. It was nice to see some of the guys from our second training group challenge down the stretch. It looks like we have some great depth as we continue to build toward the end of the season."
On the women's side, Maddie Aufmann of Illinois won the three mile race with a time of 17:13 and the Illini boasted the top four finishers. McMahon was Bradley's top finisher, crossing the line 12 seconds behind Aufmann in fifth at 17:25. The Braves' top four finishers were underclassmen, with sophomore Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) leading a group of three Braves to take seventh overall at 17:32.
Freshman Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) was on Lohmeier's heels in eighth at 17:40 and fellow freshman Molly Dahlquist (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) was ninth at 17:43 in her debut. Junior Emily Gustafson completed the top five for BU in 12th place at 17:59.
"The women executed just how we wanted," Burns added. "They controlled the pace and looked very comfortable. Overall they did a great job. I was especially pleased to see Sarah (McMahon) finish strong and break up Illinois' top five at the end. Everyone's times are better than they were last year at this point on the same course and it gives us a lot to build on."
The men's and women's cross country teams will both be back in action next week, running in the Illinois Intercollegiates next Friday at 5 p.m. in Normal, Ill.
