DES MOINES, Iowa – Despite wet and cold conditions Saturday afternoon the Bradley men's and women's track & field teams turned in strong performances at the historic Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, in addition to the Redhawk Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.
Junior Steffen Uhrich (Wauwatosa, Wis./East) got the day started for the Braves at the Drake Relays with a 17th-place finish in the men's steeplechase, crossing the line at 9:31.45.
Senior Emily Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) clocked a time of 4:30.21 to finish sixth in the women's 1,500 meters at the Drake Relays, while junior Rachel Sudbury (Tomahawk, Wis./Tomahawk) was close behind in 10th at 4:41.53.
In the men's 1,500 meters at the Drake Relays, sophomore Michael Ward (Cardiff, South Wales/Llanishen) turned in his second-best effort of the year at 3:47.02 to finish fifth. Fellow sophomore Haran Dunderdale (Grantham, England/Carres) followed in sixth with a career-best time of 3:49.12 for the fourth-best time in school history.
At the Redhawk Invitational, junior Lauren Cunningham (Bayside, Wis./Nicolet) helped highlight the day by winning the women's 5,000 meters. Cunningham beat her previous career-best time set two weeks at Illinois State by four seconds, finishing at 17:30.90. Bradley had two of the top three and five of the top eight in the women's 5,000 meter field with junior Liz Smits (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) taking third with a season-best time of 17:39.77. In addition, three other Braves clocked career-best times in the event.
On the men's side, senior Eric Delvo (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) had strong outings in both the 800 and 1,500 meters. Delvo ran the 800 meters for the first time in 2016 and took third overall at 1:56.05. He paced a pack of four Braves in the men's 1,500 meters, placing fourth in the field at 3:54.14, which was less than a second from his season-best effort.
Freshman David Shadid (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) challenged for top honors in the men's 400 meters, finishing one one-hundredth of a second behind Jake Owens of Miami (Ohio) in second at 49.16 seconds.
In the women's 1,500 meters at Miami, freshman Brooke Nusser (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) ran a 4:49.78 to win her heat and finish fifth overall. Sophomore Kathryn Adelman (Naperville, Ill./Geneva) led four Bradley women in the 800 meters and placed third in the field at 2:17.06.
Junior Mackenzie Griffin (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) wrapped up the day's competition at Miami by beating her career-best time in the women's steeplechase by nine seconds as she crossed the line in fifth at 11:44.56.
The Bradley men's and women's track & field teams will have next week off before competing at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship May 13-15
