PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley track and field teams wrapped up the busiest week of the outdoor season to date with four individuals posting top 10 times in school history Saturday afternoon.
The busy day started shortly after midnight (CDT) at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., with freshman Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) clocking the fifth fastest women's 5,000 meter time in school history. Busch concluded the Mt. Sac Relays for the Braves on a high note, placing 26th in her heat with a season-best effort of 17:13.63.
At the Long Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., three individuals crossed the line with top 10 times in school history. Sophomore Eric Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) took fifth in his heat of the men's 1,500 meters with a time of 3:52.84 for the third best time in program history. Delvo's effort was the fastest time since Chris George's 2007 school record of 3:51.59.
Sophomore Taylor Johnson (Lincoln, Neb./Southeast) topped her 1,500 meter career-best time by six seconds, finishing at 4:35.4 for the seventh fastest time in school history. Freshman Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) was also near a top-10 time in the 1,500 meters, posting a season-best 4:36.7.
In the women's 800 meters, sophomore Hannah Booker (Tremont, Ill./Tremont) turned in the sixth fastest time in school history with a career-best 2:13.5 to pace three Bradley runners in the field.
"Our trip to California was very fruitful,” said Bradley head coach Marc Burns. “We ended up with personal bests in nine of 14 races. We believe that Sarah McMahon's effort Thursday in the 10,000 meters will be an NCAA First Round qualifier. The conditions and competition were perfect out here and that is the main reason we made the trip. The team took care of the rest with some smart, hard racing to earn many new personal bests.”
The rest of the teams competed at the NIU Huskie Open in DeKalb, Ill., Saturday afternoon. Freshmen Caitlin Pribble (Morton, Ill./Morton) and Liz Smits (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) turned in arguably the best performances of the day for Bradley in DeKalb, Ill., running season-best times in the 5,000 meters. Pribble was seventh in the field with a season-best effort of 17:46.02, missing a top 10 time in school history by less than six seconds. Smits became the 13th individual in school history to clock a sub 18-minute 5,000 meters, finishing 10th in the event at 17:57.63.
“The Northern Illinois crew also had some very good efforts today in less than ideal conditions,” added Burns. “The highlight was the women's 5000 meters with Caitlin Pribble and Liz Smits turning in some big personal bests. It is great to see Liz running well as we head into the championship portion of our season. We are really pleased with where the team is at with just three weeks left until the MVC Outdoor Championship. We have some finishing touches to put on our preparation in the coming weeks then we will be ready to do battle in Des Moines."
On the men's side, freshman Conner Smock (Lisbon, Iowa/Lisbon) posted a season-best 800 meter time of 1:58.43 and sophomore Evan Tuisl (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) ran a season-best time of 1:59.85. Junior Daniel Allen (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) also highlighted the day with a fifth-place finish in the 1,500 meters with a career-best time of 4:01.07. Freshman Michael Kouri (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) was Bradley's top finisher in the 5,000 meters, placing fourth at 16:08.31, while senior Nick Skromme (Ottawa, Ill./Marquette) finished with a season-best time of 9:59.14 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
Junior Sarah Higgins (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) was Bradley's top finisher among five entries in the women's 800 meters with a time of 2:23.89. Freshman Lauren Houmes (Hoopeston, Ill./Hoopeston) paced the Braves in the women's 1,500 meters, finishing third in the event with a time of 4:47.14.
The Bradley track and field teams will send contingents to next week's Drake Relays, which starts Thursday in Des Moines, in addition to competing at the Stan Lyons Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind., Saturday afternoon.
