CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Junior Kyela Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) turned in the fifth-best 400 meter time in program history and was one of three Braves to post top 10 times in school history to highlight action for the Bradley track and field teams Saturday night at the Illinois Twilight.
Specht ran the 400 meters for the first time in her collegiate career and turned in the best time by a Bradley runner since 2004, finishing fifth in the event with a time of 58.63 seconds.
On the men's side, freshman Caleb Beck (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) was the top finisher on the day for Bradley with a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters as he became the 10th individual in school history to break 15 minutes. Beck, who was competing in the 5,000 meters for the first time this season, clocked the ninth-best time in school history at 14:54.57 to finish less than four seconds behind 5,000 meter champion Brendan McDonnell of Illinois.
Sophomore Lauren Houmes (Hoopeston, Ill./Hoopeston) made her debut in the women's 3,000 meters and was seventh overall at 10:14.85. Freshman Lauren Friese (Fairmont, Minn./Fairmont) was close behind in ninth at 10:16.32, as the duo posted the 10th and 11th best 3,000 meter times in program history.
In the men's 3,000 meters, freshman Taras Didenko (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove) clocked a season-best time of 9:06.06.
Freshman Casey Kramer (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) took fourth in the 1,500 meters with a season-best effort of 4:35.95 to pace a pack of six Braves in the field, while senior Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) posted a season-best time of 2:21.97 in the 800 meters to lead the Braves.
Junior Eric Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) turned in another strong effort in the men's 1,500 meters, crossing the line in seventh at 3:51.57 after breaking the school record in the event last week.
At the Lee Calhoun Memorial in Macomb, Ill., sophomore Elizabeth Dutcher (Williamston, Mich./Williamston) won the women's heptathlon with 4,347 points for the second highest career-best point total in school history and best score by a Brave since Charlene Dewey in 1986. Dutcher won the javelin with a career-best throw of 33.86 meters and also posted the top time in the 800 meters at 2:29.50. Her javelin throw was the sixth best in program history. Dutcher also cleared a career-best height of 1.50 meters in the high jump.
The Bradley track and field teams have a busy week coming up, competing at the Mt. Sac Relays Thursday and Friday, the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, Calif., Friday and the Long Beach Invitational Saturday in addition to the Gateway Invitational in Edwardsville, Ill., next Saturday.
