NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sophomore Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) broke the Bradley school record in the women's 3,000 meters and junior Chase Coffey (Hanna City, Ill./Farmington) broke his own school record mark in the men's 3,000 meters to help highlight the final day at the Vanderbilt Black & Gold for the Braves Saturday.
Busch won the women's 3,000 meters with a time of 9:36.62, improving her career-best time by 18 seconds and breaking former All-American and Bradley Hall of Fame member Mary Ellen Hill's 1998 school-record of 9:40.11 in the event. She was one of three Braves to finish in the top five of the event and one of seven Bradley runners to win their event or heat Saturday.
"This was a fantastic early season meet for both teams,” said Bradley head coach Marc Burns. “There were Braves running up front or winning races all over the place. Kristen (Busch) broke a long-standing school record in the 3,000 held by the most decorated runner in the history of our program. Caitlin (Busch) ran a monster personal best in the 3,000 meters too.”
Coffey paced four Braves in the top seven in the men's 3,000 meters and broke his own previous school record of 8:30.00 set last year in Nashville, Tenn., with a career-best time of 8:29.66. He was one of four Bradley men to clock top six 3,000 meter times in school history.
“On the men's side Chase (Coffey) broke his own school record in the 3,000 meters and led Caleb (Beck) and Patrick (Campbell) to big personal bests,” stated Burns. “(Daniel) Gagne and (Thomas) Razo ran big personal best's on Friday in the 1,500 meters and finished hard. Our crew looked really good, but what makes it even more impressive is the fact that due to weather issues we have not been able to train on a track since the end of February. It is going to be fun to see how everyone progresses throughout the season."
Sophomore Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) finished third in the women's 3,000 meters with a career-best time of 9:47.56. Her time is fourth in school history and was almost 30 seconds faster than her previous career-best effort as she became the sixth individual in program history to break 10 minutes. Junior Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) was close behind in fifth at 9:51.39 and senior Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) posted the seventh-best time in school history with a career-best time of 10:05.84 to place 11th.
Freshman Caleb Beck (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) was close behind Coffey in third in the men's 3,000 meters, clocking the second-best time in school history at 8:32.13, while fellow freshman Patrick Campbell's (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa) time of 8:33.96 was good for fifth in the field and third in program history.
Sophomore Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) took second in the women's 800 meters, finishing two-tenths of a second out of first. Her season-best time of 2:12.07 was less than one second off her career-best pace. Junior Kyela Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) and freshman Casey Kramer (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) both won their heats in the women's 800 meters.
“Emily (Delvo) had a big breakthrough race in the 1,500 meters on Friday and came back with a strong second-place finish in the 800 meter today,” Burns added. “Her time in the 1,500 meter would have made the NCAA preliminary round last year.”
Kramer won the women's 1,500 meters with a season-best time of 4:41.37 and was one of three Braves in the top four. Sophomore Elizabeth Dutcher (Williamston, Mich./Williamston) turned in a season-best time of 15.80 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles in addition to a season-best leap of 5.02 meters in the long jump to help highlight Saturday's action.
Junior Aaron Peck (Moline, Ill./Moline) won his heat in the men's 800 meters and was seventh overall at 1:56.30, while senior Daniel Allen (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) was the top finisher for the Braves in the men's 1,500 meters with a season-best time of 4:00.10 to finish fourth. Freshman Mike Bianchina (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) ran the first 2,000 meter steeplechase of his collegiate career, finishing seventh at 6:19.08.
The Bradley men's and women's track and field teams will be in action next week at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., Friday and Saturday in addition to competing at the EIU Big Blue Invitational in Charleston, Ill., Friday and Saturday.
