PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley track and field team opens the 2012 indoor season with the first of three trips to the state of Iowa in the next two months for the season-opening New Year's Classic Saturday at the Iowa Recreation Building in Iowa City, Iowa.
Looking to build upon the women's cross country team's third-place finish at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the end of October, second-year Bradley cross country/track and field head coach Marc Burns is optimistic heading into the first track meet of the indoor season.
"We are excited to get back on the track after a strong fall," Burns said. "We've had the benefit of some unusually warm weather this winter to train outdoors and look forward to building momentum as the season progresses."
Joining the Braves in the field at the New Year's Classic will be host Iowa, along with Loyola-Chicago, Truman State and Western Illinois. Field events are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. with the running events slated to begin at 2:15 p.m. at the IU Recreation Building.
Senior Lyndsey Cleghorn (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) will be the first to compete for BU, scheduled to take part in the high jump at 3 p.m. Cleghorn was Bradley's top performer in the event last year, clearing 1.60 meters at last February's UWM Panther Tune Up in Milwaukee, Wis.
The Braves will have a contingent of 10 individuals in the mile run at 3:15 p.m. to kick off the running portion of the day. Freshman Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax), who earned all-conference honors in cross country this fall, is expected to help pace BU along with freshman Molly Dahlquist (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and sophomore Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria).
Sophomore Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) owns the top mile time among Bradley's newcomers, running 5:08.62 last indoor season in Milwaukee.
The Braves will have three freshmen in the 600 meters and will have a group of four individuals in the 1,000 meters, which will include senior Sarah Hallstein (Minier, Ill./Olympia), junior Chelsea Griffin (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) and sophomore Emily Wolbers (Moline, Ill./Moline).
McMahon and Dahlquist will also run in the 3,000 meters toward the end of the day and will be joined in the field by junior Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria), who had her 2011 cross country season cut short by injury, and Schumacher.
Bradley will close out the first indoor meet of the season with two teams in the 4x400 meter relay at 6:15 p.m.
