PEORIA, Ill. -- With only two weekends of competition before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the end of the month, Bradley cross country/track & field head coach Marc Burns and the Braves are looking to build momentum heading into the final indoor meets of the 2012 season.
After a week off, the Braves are back in action again Friday at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. Bradley will compete in four events during Friday's competition at the Lied Recreation Center, beginning with the 3,000 meters at 12:25 p.m.
"We are two weeks out from the MVC Championships and this is a fantastic opportunity to run fast leading into the championships," Burns said. "I am excited to see what our distance medley relay can run this weekend."
In addition to Friday's action at the Iowa State Classic, freshman Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) will be running at the USA Junior National Cross Country Championships Saturday in St. Louis, Mo. Volunteer assistant coach and former Bradley standout Mary Goldkamp will be running the senior women's USA National Championships Saturday as well.
"Sarah is running very well at the moment," Burns added. "We knew she was looking good when she popped the 9:58 3k a few weeks ago and is prepared for a great battle over 6,000 meters at the USA juniors. This is a great opportunity for her to compete against the best collegiate freshman in the nation."
Sophomore Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) is expected to help pace three Braves in the 3,000 meters to open the day and will be joined in the field by junior Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and sophomore Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria. Schumacher ran a career-best 3,000 earlier this year at the New Year's Classic, while Gustafson and Lohmeier will both be running the 3,000 for the first time this season.
A pair of BU individuals will run the 800 meters for the first time this season, with the freshman duo of Hannah Booker (Tremont, Ill./Tremont) and Taylor Johnson (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) representing BU. Booker owns the second fastest 600 meter time on the squad this year.
Senior Lyndsey Cleghorn (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) has cleared 1.52 meters in the high jump in two of three meets this year and is Bradley's lone competitor in the field events.
Booker will also join with three freshmen - Molly Dahlquist (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame), Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) and Kyela Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) in the distance medley relay at 7:35 p.m. to close out competition for the Braves. Bradley's DMR time of 12:12.24 at the Indiana Relays on Jan. 27, was the fourth fastest time in the event in program history.
The Braves will have their final competition before the MVC Indoor Championship Friday, Feb. 17 at the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Tune-Up.
