PEORIA, Ill. - A two-time individual conference champion who earned honorable mention All-America recognition and the league's player of the year who led the nation in a major statistical category have been selected the 2013-14 Bradley Athletics Most Outstanding Female and Male Athletes as selected by a vote of Bradley coaches and staff, local media and fans.
Sophomore cross country and track runner Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg H.S.) is the Female Most Outstanding Athlete and senior soccer forward Wojciech Wojcik (Elmwood Park, Ill./Elmwood Park H.S.) is the Male Most Outstanding Athlete.
A cross country and track runner has claimed the female version of the Most Outstanding Athlete for the fourth time in five years and for the eighth time overall since the award was split into the two genders in 1995. Meanwhile, soccer players also have earned four of the last five male versions of the Most Outstanding Athlete and 11 awards since 1999.
Kristen Busch, Cross Country/Track, Sophomore, Waterloo, Ill. (Freeburg H.S.)
After earning all-conference honors by running to a sixth-place finish at the 2013 MVC Cross Country Championships, Busch won the 5,000 meters at the 2014 MVC Indoor Track Championships and the 10,000 meters at the 2014 MVC Outdoor Track Championships ... Qualifying in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, Busch was the first Bradley runner since 2000 to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and she advanced to the finals in the 10,000 meters (18th) to earn USTFCCCA All-America honorable mention recognition ... Received all-region honors with her 17th-place run at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Midwest Regionals, where she clocked the second-fastest 6K time in program history ... Set school records in the 3,000 meters and 10,000 meters during the outdoor track season ... Set the school record in the indoor 5,000 meters during her title run at the MVC Indoor Championships ... Collected four all-conference awards overall - cross country; indoor 3,000 meters; indoor 5,000 meters; outdoor 10,000 meters.
Wojciech Wojcik, Soccer, Senior, Elmwood Park, Ill. (Elmwood Park
H.S.)
The 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year became the first-ever Bradley Soccer player to lead the nation in a statistical category by sharing the national lead with a school-record 14 assists ... NSCAA All-Midwest Region first-team selection ... Equalled the MVC Tournament single-game record with three assists in the quarterfinal win against Evansville ... Contributed to all four Bradley goals during the 2013 NCAA Tournament by scoring three himself and assisting the fourth ... Led the Braves to a 14-7-2 record, the first win against the nation's No. 1 ranked team by the Braves in any sport since 1960, the MVC Tournament title and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bradley fans were asked to participate in an online vote since Monday to assist in the selection of the 2013-14 Bradley Most Oustanding Athletes. Four voters were selected through daily, random drawings to receive a Bradley-themed prize package:
- June 23 - Ved Swaminathan (Wheeling, IL)
- June 24 - Michael O'Shea (Springfield, IL)
- June 25 - Olli Vakkala (Tampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland)
- June 26 - Elise Goodell (Phoenix, AZ)
Bradley Athletics Mission
Provide every student-athlete the opportunity for both a distinctive education and a championship experience
Accountability | Courage | Diligence | Integrity | Respect
