ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- A school-record four women's cross country runners earned Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete honors according to an announcement by the league office Tuesday afternoon.

Junior Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg), the 2014 MVC individual champion and Athlete of the Year, helps headline a group of four Braves on the Valley's Scholar-Athlete team as the Braves surpassed the previous school record of three MVC Scholar-Athletes selected in 1998.  Bradley's four MVC Scholar-Athlete honorees tied Southern Illinois for the most in the league and the Braves have had six Valley Scholar-Athletes in the last two years. 

A health science major with a 3.63 cumulative grade point average, Busch became Bradley's first MVC Cross Country individual champ since BU Hall of Fame member Mary Ellen Hill in 1999.  Busch broke Hill's school-record 5K time of 17:08 set in 1998 with a time of 17:04.43 to win the MVC individual championship Saturday in Carbondale, Ill.

Joining Caitlin Busch on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team were twin sister Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg), senior Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) and junior Lauren Houmes (Hoopeston, Ill./Hoopeston) as the group helped power the Bradley women to the MVC team title. 

Delvo garnered all-conference honors for the second consecutive year, finishing fourth at Saturday's MVC Championship with a career-best time of 17:12.85 for the third-best 5K time in school history.  A two-time MVC Scholar-athlete honoree, Delvo is a health science major with a 3.52 cumulative grade point average. 

Kristen Busch also earned All-MVC honors for the second straight year and landed on the MVC Scholar-Athlete squad for the first time in her career.  A health science major with a 3.49 cumulative grade point average, Kristen clocked a career-best time of 17:15.78 to finish fifth at the Valley championship.

A nursing major with a 3.89 cumulative grade point average, Houmes took 13 seconds off her career-best 5K time, crossing the line in 18th at 17:51.62 to complete the scoring for the Braves, who posted the best point total at the MVC Championship since Wichita State in 2006 and won the team's first Valley title since 1998. 

Missouri Valley Conference scholar-athlete honors require individuals to finish among the top-20 at the conference championship, hold a minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be at least a sophomore in both athletic and academic standing.

The Bradley women's cross country squad is back in action Friday, Nov. 14, when they host the NCAA Midwest Regional at Newman Golf Course.