Cross Country Sweeps MVC Championship

Men's Cross Country 10/28/2017 3:07:00 PM

The Bradley Braves further established their place atop the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday with a memorable performance at the 2017 conference championship. Both the men and the women claimed team titles, while sophomore Jake Hoffert became the first BU man in 52 years to win the individual crown.

The team titles mark the second time in three years the Braves swept the MVC Championship. The BU men won their third-straight championship, becoming the eighth different team to claim a three-peat in conference history. Meanwhile, while the women won their third title in four years after championships in 2014 and 2015 but saved their most dominant performance for 2017 as Bradley scored the second-lowest point total in conference history.

RECAP: Braves win third-straight @MVCsports Men's Cross Country ??, while Jake Hoffert is first Brave to win individual title in 5?2? years pic.twitter.com/tQWDdo85Cp
— BradleyXC-Track (@BradleyXCTrack) October 28, 2017

Hoffert started the historic performance for the Braves by becoming just the second Bradley man to win the individual title since the Braves first running of the championship in 1957 (61 meets). Hoffert follows in the shoes of Rod Collins, who is the only other Brave to top the podium when he won a three-mile race 52 years ago in 1965. Hoffert, who placed third last year and was the MVC Freshman of the Year, finished the 8K course with a time of 24:37.87 and was also named MVC Male Athlete of the Year.

While Hoffert stole the show by finishing first, the team title came down to a tiebreaker and the performance of the Braves' No. 5 runner. As both Bradley and Indiana State finished with 49 total points, the team championship was determined by NCAA tiebreaker procedure, which compares the place of each of the five scoring members of the tied teams. The Braves won the comparison at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, while the Sycamores claimed the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, thus determining the champion by the top No. 5 runner.

Senior Nikolas Hess won the tiebreaker for the Braves. The senior and team's fifth runner placed 15th overall in a time of 25:25.92, finishing ahead of the No. 5 runner of Indiana State, Ryan Cash, who placed 16th overall in 25:34.71.

Hoffert was joined on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team by senior Nyle Clinton, who placed seventh overall in a career-best time of 25:03.18 to earn all-conference accolades for the first time in his career. Three Braves also received honorable mention to the All-MVC Team as Hess was joined by senior Taylor Floyd Mews and freshman Alec Danner, who finished 12th in 25:08.21 and 14th in 25:18.85, respectively.

"The men competed really hard, stayed composed and won the little battles that decided the championship," said Bradley head coach Darren Gauson. "If Jake doesn't win the individual title, we don't win the championship. If Nyle doesn't have a great run, we don't win. Taylor was phenomenal too as he was battling a sickness. It came down to head-to-head competition and we pulled it out. Indiana State ran really well and it took head-to-head to win our third-straight title. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you win, just that you win. We really overcame a lot this year with redshirts and injuries and I'm just thrilled to win a third-straight title and keep our run going."

The women cruised to Bradley's fourth title in school history as the 30 total points rank second of the 36 Missouri Valley Conference Championships – only Missouri State in 2003 with 29 points finished with a better score.

RECAP: Bradley dominates @MVCsports Women's Cross Country Championship to win program's fourth title pic.twitter.com/7AwfdKTiqz
— BradleyXC-Track (@BradleyXCTrack) October 28, 2017

A school-record five Braves earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors by finishing in the top 10 of the meet, topping the previous program standard of three all-conference honorees in 2014. Junior Sara Piller led the pack by placing fourth overall with a time of 17:31.95 – more than 33 seconds faster than her previous-best 5K mark.

Overall, four of the five Braves who scored set their PR times in the dominating victory. Senior Natalie Burant crossed the finish line in fifth at 17:39.14, sophomore McKenzie Altmayer was sixth in 17:41.37, sophomore Abby Jockisch placed seventh in 17:44.04 and senior Hannah Witczak finished eighth in 17:44.70. Witczak earned all-conference honors for the second time in her career, while the other four Braves collected the accolade for the first time.

"The key for our women's team was getting out strong and staying in position," Gauson said. "I thought our first 1K was really important. We remained strong and stayed in front. Having five of the top 10 was outstanding. I thought Sara was excellent again and Abby really stepped up her performance today. It was also great to see Hannah get all-conference again after coming back from illness. Overall though, our women were really good. We executed what we talked about and stuck to the game plan. Winning two isn't easy and I'm thrilled to be bringing back two titles back to Peoria."

Bradley defeated defending champion Northern Iowa (56) by 26 points on Saturday morning, while Loyola finished third with 93 points.

In addition to the team and individual titles, Gauson was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year for both the men and the women, marking five Coach of the Year honors in three years for the Gauson.

The Braves now look to continue their momentum and turn their attention toward the NCAA Midwest Regional. A chance to qualify for the NCAA Championship is on the line on Friday, Nov. 10 in Ames, Iowa.

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