PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley track and field team will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships, which will be held Saturday and Sunday at the UNI-Dome.
After posting the team's highest point total at the MVC Indoor Championships since 2000 at last year's event, head coach Marc Burns and his young squad will be led primarily by underclassmen at the 2012 championship. Bradley will compete in nine events, with the 800 meters, mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and distance medley relay expected to highlight the two-day event for the Braves.
"We are excited about how the team looks as we head to the MVC championships," Burns said. "This is a young crew that has the ability to outscore last year's point total if they believe in themselves and each other. The MVC Championships are unique in that you have to be prepared to race your way into finals and scoring positions. In many cases, the races end up being slow and tactical and require keeping yourself in good position and being ready to strike when the time is right. This will be a good test for our team and we believe they are prepared to step up and compete at a high level in their respective events."
Live results for both days and free video streaming of Sunday's events are available at the championship central link at unipanthers.com. Bradley's first event, the 60-meter dash, is slated for Saturday at 3 p.m. with the opening day concluding with the distance medley relay at 7:45 p.m. Sunday's action opens at 1 p.m. with the mile and will finish at 3:25 p.m. with the 4x400 meter relay.
Freshman Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) will compete in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. The second Bradley individual to run a sub 10-minute 3,000 meters, McMahon's season-best time of 9:58.16 is the fifth fastest time in the Valley this season. She is expected to pace four BU runners in the two heats which are scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m.
McMahon will be competing in the 5,000 meters for the first time this year and will be the final Bradley individual to compete at the Valley Championship Sunday at 2:40 p.m.
Freshman Kyela Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) is one of several Braves coming off career-best performances in the mile at last week's Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tune-Up. Her time of 5:02.25 last week is the fastest on the squad this season and ninth best in the MVC.
Sophomore Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) finished less than a quarter second behind Specht in Milwaukee, Wis., last week in the mile and will likely be joined near the front by sophomore Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly). The mile is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The 800 meter prelims will be held Saturday at 4 p.m. and will feature six Bradley runners. Freshman Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) turned in BU's top 800 meter time this year, running a 2:17.20 at the Indiana Relays in January and will be one of the team's top contenders for a spot in Sunday's 2:20 p.m. finals.
Bradley will challenge for a top spot in the distance medley relay after clocking the third fastest time in the MVC earlier this month at the Iowa State Classic. Delvo and Specht will be joined by freshman Molly Dahlquist (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and either Hannah Booker (Tremont, Ill./Tremont) or Taylor Johnson (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast).
Senior Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) will run in both the 60 meter dash (Saturday at 3 p.m.) and 200 meter dash (Saturday at 7:15 p.m.), while senior Lyndsey Cleghorn (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) will compete in Sunday's (2 p.m.) high jump. Bradley will wrap up the two-day event with the 4x400 meter relay Sunday at 3:25 p.m.
"Lyndsey Cleghorn will be competing in her final meet this weekend as her eligibility is up after indoors," Burns added. "We are pulling for her to finish her career with some solid jumps and on a high note. She has worked hard in our program and we really appreciate all that she has done in her time at Bradley."
