PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley men's cross country team won the Men's Championship race at the 10th annual Bradley “Pink” Classic and junior Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) helped pace the Bradley women's cross country team to a second-place finish by breaking the school record in the 6K Friday afternoon at Newman Golf Course.
Junior Chase Coffey (Hanna City, Ill./Farmington) took ninth in the men's 8K championship race with a career-best time of 24:40 for the fifth fastest time in school history to help lead the Bradley men's squad to the team title with 82 points. Coffey's effort was the fastest time by a Bradley individual since Rich Kruiswyk set the school record at Newman Golf Course in 1983.
Wichita State was second in the men's team standings with 100 points behind the Braves. Unattached runner Jordan Hebert clocked a time of 24:07 to win the men's 8K and Brady Johnson of Wichita State was the top collegiate finisher at 24:29.
On the women's side, McMahon turned in a 6K time of 20:54 to break Tam Hart's previous school record of 21:09 set in 2002. McMahon, who was the top collegiate finisher in the field, crossed the line in second overall behind unattached runner Samantha Walkow, who clocked the fourth fastest time in Bradley Classic history at 20:45. McMahon was one of four Bradley runners to post top-10 times in school history Friday as the Bradley women's squad tallied 81 points to finish 16 points behind team champion Missouri (65 points).
"What a fantastic day for our program,” said Bradley head coach Marc Burns. “We did some great things today to help raise awareness for the battle against breast cancer. It was amazing to see some of the student-athletes wear the names of individuals they know who have battled the disease. I am proud of all involved who helped us do our part for this great cause.”
In the day's first race, IUPUI claimed the team title (27 points) in the men's open/college division 8K. Unattached runner Mike Castel won the individual title, while Bradley's Daniel Allen (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) was 10 seconds back at 25:53 to take second overall. The Missouri women also claimed the team title in the women's open/college division 6K, claiming five of the top six individuals. The BU women were second in the open/college division race, led by junior Kyela Specht (Muster, Ind./Munster) who was seventh overall at 22:53.
Behind Coffey's strong efforts, junior Eric Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) finished 15th in the men's championship race with a time of 24:52 to pace a pack of three Braves. Sophomore Marshall Moyer (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) was close behind in 16th with a career-best time of 24:56 to edge out freshman Patrick Campbell (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa), who was 17th with a season-best 24:56. Sophomore Cole Dill (Tremont, Ill./Tremont) rounded out the scoring for the Braves with a career-best time of 25:14 to finish 34th overall.
“Both teams raced hard today and it was so exciting to see our men get the win,” added Burns. “This was our first invitational win on the men's side during my time at Bradley and I am so happy for the team. They are on a mission to change the level of expectation of our program. The next big step is in two weeks at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Chase put together a fantastic race up front for us and he got some big help from the rest of the crew. Even though we won today, our guys still have a chip on their shoulders from last year's MVC meet. In two weeks, we have the opportunity to do something about it."
McMahon's record-setting performance in the women's championship race wasn't the only noteworthy performance for the Bradley women's squad Friday afternoon. Sophomore Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) also topped Hart's previous school record with a time of 21:00 to top her prior personal best by over two minutes. Busch's time is second in school history behind McMahon's new school mark and was good for fourth place overall.
Junior Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) clocked the fifth best time in school history at 21:25 to finish 13th and freshman Casey Kramer (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) crossed the line in 31st at 21:49 for the 10th-fastest 6K time in Bradley history. Sophomore Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) finished the scoring for the Braves in 38th at 21:55.
"Our women looked fantastic through our top three today,” stated Burns. “(Sarah) McMahon, Kaitlyn (Busch) and (Emily) Delvo were so tough today and really put us in good position to challenge for the title. Our fourth and fifth need to improve if we want to be a championship team in two weeks. It was great to see Casey (Kramer) step up and help us out today. I am excited about where we are overall, but we can be better at the Valley championship.”
The Bradley men's and women's cross country teams will be in action next Friday at the Illinois Open in Champaign, Ill., at 4 p.m.
