NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Junior Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) and freshman Michael Ward (Cardiff, South Wales/Llanishen) swept the women's and men's 1,500 meter titles, while junior Marshall Moyer (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) won the men's 5,000 meters to highlight the first day of the 2015 outdoor season for the Bradley track & field teams Friday at the Vanderbilt Black & Gold.
Delvo got the season started off on a high note, by winning her heat in the women's 1,500 meters. In addition to claiming top honors in her heat, Delvo's time of 4:27.70 was tops in the field to edge Vanderbilt's Sara Barron by 35 one-hundredths of a second to win the event. Delvo was one second off her career-best pace. Junior Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) was 11th in the field at 4:37.50, missing her career-best time by less than one second and twin sister Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) was close behind in 12th at 4:39.75.
Ward followed up Delvo's victory in the women's 1,500 meters with a win of his own in the men's 1,500. In his first outdoor appearance for the Braves, Ward nearly clocked a top-10 time in school history as he crossed the line at 3:56.45 to win the event.
The Bradley men had the top two individuals and four of the top six in the men's 1,500 meters. Sophomore Daniel Gagne (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) was on Ward's heels in second at 3:57.39, while sophomore Mike Bianchina (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) posted a time of 4:00.79 to take fifth. Sophomore Caleb Beck (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) finished sixth overall at 4:02.04.
Like the men's 1,500 meters, the Bradley men had the top two finishers in the 5,000 meters to wrap up Friday's action. Moyer took nine seconds off his career-best time and won the 5,000 meter title with a time of 15:01.05. Junior Cole Dill (Tremont, Ill./Tremont) ran the 5,000 meters for the first time in his career and was second in the field at 15:07.58. Sophomore Taras Didenko (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove) improved his career-best time by almost 30 seconds, crossing the line in eighth at 15:33.97.
In the women's 5,000 meters, freshman Lauren Cunningham (Bayside, Wis./Nicolet) was Bradley's top finisher in fifth. Cunningham's time of 17:43.71 was good for 13th in Bradley history in the first outdoor 5,000 of her collegiate career. Junior Kylie McKinney (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) was 11th in the 5,000 meters Friday with a career-best 18:36.44 to improve her time by nearly 40 seconds.
Bradley will continue action at the Vanderbilt Black & Gold Saturday afternoon starting at 12:30 p.m. with the men's steeplechase.
