PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley track and field teams will travel to Macomb, Ill., for the first of two meets the Braves will compete in at Western Illinois, taking part in the 23rd annual Lee Calhoun Memorial Saturday at Hanson Field.
The men's track and field team had last week off and the women's team will send a full squad to Western Illinois after sending a small group to California last week. Saturday's meet is the first of three consecutive weekends Bradley will compete in the state of Illinois with the squads traveling to SIU Edwardsville next Saturday and returning to Western Illinois April 28.
"Our teams are looking forward to competing after a weekend off for most of the team," head coach Marc Burns said. "The Lee Calhoun Invitational has been a very strong meet for years and will give our crew a chance to see how much they have improved over the last two weeks. We will be four weeks out from the MVC Championships after this weekend. Each of these upcoming meets are important in our preparation for the conference championship in May."
Action is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Freshman Molly Dahlquist (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) will be the lone BU representative on the women's side, running her first career steeplechase.
The men's trio of Chase Coffey (Hanna City, Ill./Farmington), Nick Skromme (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette) and Evan Tuisl (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) will all be running the steeplechase for the second time this spring after competing in the event at the season-opening Vanderbilt Black & Gold Invite in Nashville, Tenn.
Sophomore Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) is coming off a strong effort in the 5,000 meters at last week's San Francisco State Distance Carnival and is expected to pace five Braves in the 1,500 meter field. On the men's side, sophomore Shane Garland (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) is one of two Bradley runners with sub four-minute times in the 1,500 meters and will likely lead a pack of five BU individuals.
Freshman Dana Markech (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) owns the team's top performances in both the 100 meter hurdles and the 200 meters and will compete in both events Saturday. Freshman Jennifer Wiley (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) will join Markech in the 200 meters in addition to running in the 100 meters.
Five individuals will run in the women's 800 meters at 2:15 p.m., with freshman Taylor Johnson (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) expected to lead the group. Johnson's season-best time of 2:16.83 at the EIU Big Blue Classic is third best time on the squad this spring.
Freshman Eric Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) is also coming off a strong outing at the EIU Big Blue Classic on March 31, running a 1:57.84 in the men's 800 meters in Charleston, Ill., and will join sophomore Chris Douglas (Hurlburt Field, Fla./Fort Walton Beach) in the field.
The day concludes with the 3,000 meters and 4x400 meter relay. Junior Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator) will be running in the 3,000 meters for the first time since running a sub nine-minute time at Vanderbilt to open the year and will likely be challenged by freshman Marshall Moyer (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) for top honors on the men's side.
Freshman Kyela Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) won her heat in the 1,500 meters in California last weekend and will join junior Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) in the 3,000 meters Saturday afternoon.
