PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) will run in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Thursday in Eugene, Ore.

The first Bradley runner to advance to the NCAA Championships since Mary Ellen Hill in 1998, Busch finished ninth in her heat at the NCAA West Prelim to earn one of 24 spots in Thursday's championship race which will be held at 9:15 p.m. (CDT) at historic Hayward Field.

Busch broke the school record in the 10,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational back in early April, topping Hill's school mark of 34:50.62 by over a full minute at 33:48.36.  The MVC champion in the 10,000 meters, Busch also set the school record in the 3,000 meters this spring.

“This is a historic trip to the NCAA finals this week for our program,” said Bradley head coach Marc Burns.  “Kristen has raised the bar for everyone in our program and I know there are many Braves back home who know exactly where they want to be next year at this time.  She is ready to roll and has recovered well from the preliminary round.  The first eight across the line will be First-Team All-American's and the next eight will be second team.  Her goal going in is to be in the top 16 overall and to give herself a chance to sneak into the top eight.  Kristen has enjoyed an amazing year and is excited to finish with a bang on Thursday.”

A free video stream of Thursday's race from Eugene, Ore., will be available via ESPN3 at http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index

Busch is one of 26 Missouri Valley Conference student-athletes and one of 11 MVC women scheduled to compete at the NCAA Championships, which will be held June 11-14.