EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Sophomore Joe Fritzsche (Mt. Zion, Ill./Mt. Zion) finished ninth in the men's 8K and senior Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) was 10th in the women's 6K as the pair led the Bradley men's and women's cross country teams Saturday morning at the SIU Edwardsville John Flamer Invitational. 

Fritzsche missed a career-best time in the 8K by two seconds, taking ninth to pace the Bradley men's cross country squad Saturday with a time of 26:40.54.  The Braves finished fifth of six teams in the field and fell in a dual with host SIU Edwardsville. 

Schumacher helped the women's team to a second-place finish in the seven-team field, but SIU Edwardsville was able to edge out the Braves 27-28 in dual scoring.  She outkicked several teammates to claim the 10th best time in the women's 6K at 23:55.54.  Freshman Mackenzie Griffin (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) was on Schumacher's heels in 11th at 24:07.89 and fellow freshman Rebecca Gosselin (Grafton, Wis./Living Word Lutheran) was close behind in 12th at 24:16.69. 

Senior Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) crossed the line at 24:23.02 to take 15th and sophomore Kylie McKinney (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) closed out the scoring for the women's team in 31st with a time of 25:20.07.

On the men's side, freshman Steffen Uhrich (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) clocked a season-best 8K time of 27:21.67 to finish 21st.  Uhrich's time was seven seconds better than his previous season-best effort.  Junior Evan Tuisl (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) was 44th overall at 28:27.73 and sophomore Thomas Razo (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) turned in a 28:52.74 to place 50th.  Senior Shane Garland (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) completed the scoring for the Braves in 57th (32:02.41).

The Bradley men's and women's cross country teams return to action Oct. 18, hosting the Bradley Pink Classic at Newman Golf Course (3 p.m.).