PEORIA, Ill. -- After a week off from competition the Bradley men's and women's track & field teams are back in action this weekend with the Braves sending contingents to Notre Dame's Meyo Invitational Friday and Saturday along with Saturday's Olivet Nazarene Invite in Bourbonnais, Ill.
The weekend's action starts Friday at the Meyo Invitational with the men's and women's 5,000 meters along with the distance medley relay. In the women's 5,000 meters, senior Lauren Houmes (Hoopeston, Ill./Hoopeston) clocked a career-best 17:58.27 last time out at the Gladstein Invitational and will be joined by freshman Abby Jockisch (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) and senior Kylie McKinney (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA), who will both be running in the event for the first time in their careers.
On the men's side, a pair of freshmen in Will Anderson (Avon, Ind./Avon) and Kerry Gschwendtner (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) will be joining senior Chase Coffey (Hanna City, Ill./Farmington) in the field. Coffey posted the second-best 3,000 meter time in school history at 8:17.78 two weeks ago in Bloomington, Ind.
Both squads will run in the distance medley relay for the first time in 2016 to wrap up Friday night's competition. The men's team posted the top two DMR times in school history last winter.
Saturday's action in South Bend, Ind., gets under way at 8:45 a.m. with the women's 3,000 meters. Senior Caitlin Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) posted the top time in the MVC this season and broke the school record in the event two weeks ago with a time of 9:32.55m while twin sister Kristen Busch (Waterloo, Ill./Freeburg) was close behind with the second best time in school history at 9:34.43. Senior Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) will join the duo in the 3,000 meter field, competing in the event for the first time this year.
Junior Caleb Beck (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) is coming off a school-record breaking performance in the 5,000 meters (14:34.18) at the Gladstein Invitational back on Jan. 22 and is one of three Braves scheduled to run in the men's 3,000 meters Saturday. Sophomore Taylor Floyd Mews (Milwaukee, Wis./Wauwatosa West) turned in the third-best 3,000 meter time in program history earlier this year, while junior Patrick Campbell (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa) also had a career-best 3,000 meter performance back in January.
The men's and women's mile will also highlight Saturday's action for Bradley at the Meyo Invitational. Sophomore Michael Ward (Cardiff, South Wales/Llanishen) will run in the men's mile for the first time in 2016 and looks to challenge his school record of 4:06.35 set last year. He is one of three Braves scheduled to run in the men's mile, with juniors Daniel Gagne (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) and Mike Bianchina (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) owning the #2 and #4 career-best mile times in school history, respectively.
In the women's mile, freshman Gabby Juarez (Streamwood, Ill./Streamwood) has the top time among the four Braves slated to run. Juarez clocked a 5:05.66 and will attempt to become the 11th individual in program history to break five minutes in the mile. She will be joined in the field by freshman Bailey Johnson (Grandville, Mich./Jenson) and junior Rachel Sudbury (Tomahawk, Wis./Tomahawk) along with junior Casey Kramer (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville), who will run in the mile for the first time in 2016.
Saturday's action at the Olivet Nazarene Invitational is scheduled to being at 11:30 a.m., with the women's mile and 3,000 meters highlighting competition for Bradley in Bourbounnais, Ill.
The Braves will be back in action Feb. 12 & 13 at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, in addition to the Fred Wilt Invite in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday, Feb. 13.
