Bradley Hosts 2018 MVC Cross Country Championship on Saturday

Cross Country 10/26/2018 12:00:00 PM

The Bradley cross country teams look to continue their reign atop the Missouri Valley Conference when it hosts the conference championship at Newman Golf Course on Saturday. The men are going for a fourth-straight title, while the women are looking to win their fourth crown in the last five seasons.

MEET INFO
The women kick off the championship in Peoria with the 5K race slated to begin at 10:35 a.m. The men then follow and the 8K race is slated for 11:35 a.m.

Parking for Saturday's meet is available at the Newman Golf Course Clubhouse.

Both meets can be seen live on ESPN3 with live results, including splits, also available.

It's championship time!! Find out everything you need to know about the Braves and the @MVCsports Championship on Saturday with this week's Peoria Tire Race Preview pic.twitter.com/OvjGnihWYz
— BradleyXC-Track (@BradleyXCTrack) October 26, 2018

2017 CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
The Braves swept the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in 2017 – one in dominating fashion and the other by the closest margin possible.

The BU women posted the second-best score in MVC Championship history last year with 30 total points – defeating defending-champion Northern Iowa by 26 points. A school-record five runners earned all-conference honors as the Braves placed five in the top eight to once again reach the top of the podium after a second-place finish in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Bradley men edged out Indiana State for its third-straight conference crown, winning a tiebreaker with the Sycamores, 3-2. Jake Hoffert crossed the finish line first overall to become the first Bradley man in 52 years to win the individual crown (Rod Collins in 1965 is the only other Brave to win) but it was Nikolas Hess with his 15th-place finish winning the decisive tiebreaker for the Braves over the 16th-place Indiana State runner, winning the team title for BU.

BRAVES PICKED TO SWEEP CHAMPIONSHIP
Bradley is the championship favorite, as voted on by the league's head coaches. In the annual pre-championship poll released on Tuesday, Bradley was listed first for both the men and the women. The women were a unanimous selection and with 100 total points, topped Loyola (86) and Indiana State (76) in the rankings. The men, meanwhile, collected 8-of-9 first-place votes and their 80 total points outpaced Illinois State (71) and Indiana State (57).

AIMING FOR FOUR-PEAT
The Bradley men's team is looking to join an elite group if they win the championship on Saturday. In a championship that has been held on yearly basis since 1957, only two teams have ever won four-consecutive Valley crowns. With a victory on Saturday, the Braves would join Wichita State (five-straight titles from 1971 to 1975) and Southern Illinois (four-straight from 1980 to 1983) with a sweep of four-straight championships.

NEW FACES, SAME STORY
The Bradley women's team is targeting its fourth title in the last five seasons and is the pre-championship favorite despite a number of new faces. Only one of the team's five runners that finished in the top 10 last year (and only six of the school's eight runners overall) is slated to run on Saturday. Abby Jockisch (7th in 2017) and Brooke Nusser (29th) are the only two returning athletes, while Bradley remains the favorite despite Sara Piller (4th), Natalie Burant (5th), McKenzie Altmayer (6th), Hannah Witczak (8th), Kirstin Oakley (16th) and Mackenzie Griffin (38th) not featuring at this year's title meet.

One key to the Braves' success is their freshman class. At least two BU rookies have featured in its top four in the three biggest meets of the season.

UP NEXT
After the Braves compete for the conference title, the regional crown is next on the agenda in two weeks, right back in Peoria. The teams are slated for the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 9 at Newman Golf Course.

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