NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Sophomore Michael Ward (Cardiff, South Wales/Llanishen) finished 26th at the Notre Dame Invitational to help pace the Bradley men's cross country team to a 14th-place finish Friday afternoon. 

Ward was second among Missouri Valley Conference runners behind Indiana State All-American John Mascari in 26th as he covered the five-mile course in a time of 24:19.6.  He crossed the line six seconds out of the top 20 in the field. 

In addition to Ward's efforts, junior Patrick Campbell (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa) finished nearly 30 spots higher than last year's effort at Notre Dame and clocked a career-best time of 24:47.5.  Campbell was 65th overall in the field and improved his career-best five-mile time from 2013 by over one minute. 

Fellow junior Caleb Beck (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) also had a strong effort, posting a time of 24:48.3 to finish 67th.  Senior Marshall Moyer (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) crossed the line at 25:10.8 to finish 106th, while junior Daniel Gagne (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) completed the team scoring for Bradley in 125th with a time of 25:26.3. 

Bradley took 14th in the team standings with 379 points after claiming 19th at last season's Notre Dame Invitational.  UTEP claimed the team title with 89 points, followed by 27th-ranked NC State at 97 points.  Colorado State, which is ranked 26th, took third at 126, while #23 Southern Utah (134 points) and Purdue (169 points) rounded out the top five, respectively. 

IUPUI placed 13th in the team standings at 35 points to finish 44 points ahead of Bradley.  The Braves were the top finisher among three Missouri Valley Conference schools in 14th and were followed by 15th-place Indiana State at 391 points.  Missouri was 16th in the field at 405. 

The Braves will host the Bradley Classic Friday, Oct. 16 at Newman Golf Course in addition to running at Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, Oct. 17.