NORMAL, Ill. -- Sophomore Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) earned all-conference honors for the second straight year, finishing fifth to help the Bradley women's cross country team to a fourth-place finish and sophomore Chase Coffey (Hanna City, Ill./Farmington) clocked BU's fastest time at the Missouri Valley Conference championship since 2005 to help the men's squad to an eighth-place showing Saturday.
McMahon highlighted the women's side for Bradley with a fifth-place finish at the Valley Championship at the Weibring Golf Course, crossing the line at 17:47 for the best individual finish by a BU runner at the conference championship since 2009.
The fourth two-time all-conference cross country runner in school history, McMahon's time ranks as the fourth fastest time by a Brave at the Valley Championship, behind three times posted by BU Hall of Fame member Mary Ellen Hill at the 1997, 1998 and 1999 championships.
Freshman Rachel Sudbury (Tomahawk, Wis./Tomahawk) topped her previous career-best 5K time by 45 seconds, finishing 14th at 18:05, while fellow freshman Liz Smits (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) paced a pack of four Bradley runners in 30th.
Smits posted a time of 18:38 with sophomore Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) following in 31st (18:40). Freshman Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) was 32nd (18:40) to complete the scoring for the Braves and fellow freshman Lauren Houmes (Hoopeston, Ill./Hoopeston) rounded out the pack in 33rd (18:41).
Bradley was fourth in the team standings at 112 points, finishing 16 points behind third-place Southern Illinois (96 points). Illinois State won the team title (42 points) with Wichita State taking third at 83 points.
Coffey completed the 8K course with a career-best time of 25:04 to top his previous career-best time by one second and pace the men's team, which finished eighth overall. His time was the best by a Bradley men's runner at the Valley Championship since Chris George ran a 25:02 at the 2005 MVC Championship.
Senior Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator) was 35th in the individual standings with a season-best effort of 25:45, while freshman Cole Dill (Tremont, Ill./Tremont) was 39th overall at 25:49. Sophomore Eric Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) placed 42nd at 25:52 and junior Daniel Allen (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) completed the scoring for the Braves in 44th with a time of 26:00.
BU finished eighth in the team standings with 167 points, 10 points back of seventh-place Evansville (157 points) and 21 points behind sixth-place Illinois State (146). Southern Illinois claimed the team title with 34 points, edging second-place Indiana State by six points (40 points).
The Bradley men's and women's cross country teams return to action Friday, Nov. 9 at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Springfield, Mo.
