Five Braves Claim Titles for Bradley Track

Duane Zehr, Bradley University ITPS

Women's Track and Field 4/29/2017 6:10:00 PM

On a stormy Midwest day, the Bradley track and field teams ran in their last day of competition before the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, claiming five individual titles and 15 top-three finishes at the Drake Relays and Crusader Open.

Three Braves competed at the Drake Relays on Saturday with junior Michael Ward highlighting the day. Ward placed second in the 1,500m run with a time of 3:52.46, less than a second behind the leader. Senior Steffen Uhrich placed 10th in the 3,000m steeplechase in 9:17.58 with his time ranking as the third-fastest time in the MVC this season – trailing only his conference-leading mark of 9:03.79 and just missing second place by less than a second (9:17.04). Additionally, Rachel Sudbury finished her 1,500m trek with a time of 4:42.34

Five claimed individual crowns at Valparaiso's Crusader Open. Emma Makowski won the 800m title in 2:18.67 with Savana Peterson finishing right behind her teammate in 2:21.20 to place second. Lauren Cunningham led a pack of six Braves placing in the top 12 of the 1,500m run, winning the title with a time of 4:46.84. Cunningham was followed by Katie Wampole in third (4:52.10) and Casey Kramer in fifth (4:57.76).

Jennifer Luksan and Sam Lechowicz placed first and second in the 3,000m steeplechase, both setting career-best times. Luksan won the title in 11:32.17, which also ranks seventh in school history and took more than 16 seconds off her previous record, while Lechowicz posted a time of 11:40.32. Sara Piller was the fourth BU woman to claim a championship on the day, winning the 5,000m run as the Braves claimed the top four spots on the day. Piller posted a time of 17:48.04 and was followed by Nicole Alfano (career-best 18:18.40), Elena Danielson (18:19.92) and Rachel Iacofano (career-best 18:40.78).

Taylor Floyd Mews won the 1,500m title to lead the Bradley men on Saturday. The junior posted a mark of 3:57.13 to win the crown as the Braves claimed six of the top eight finishes on the day. Luke Hoffert was third with a mark of 4:00.29 and was followed by Nyle Clinton (4:01.81), Nick Porter (4:06.88), Nikolas Hess (4:07.60) and David Rodriguez (4:11.07).

Other top-three finishes by the Bradley men include David Shadid placing second in the 200m dash in 22.35, Mike Bianchina running third in the 800m with a mark of 1:56.44 and 4x100 relay team (Shadid, Patrick Quinn, Scott Seymour and Sandy Freeland) finishing second in 44.63.

The Braves now turn their attention toward the postseason with the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championship in two weeks. The four-day meet, held at Wichita State, begins on Thursday, May 11.

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