Braves Headed to the NCAA Championship!

Cross Country 11/9/2018 3:42:00 PM

For the first time in school history, the Bradley Braves are headed to the NCAA Cross Country Championship as the men's team placed second at the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Braves also become the first Valley school since 2000 to qualify for the national meet, earning the automatic bid at Peoria's Newman Golf Course on Friday.

"We have been working on this for three years," said Bradley head coach Darren Gauson. "This is all the work we have put in that has led to this moment. Our first year, we win our first Valley Championship and that was a dream. Then the following year, we almost qualified and that group paved the way for this program to do new things. We redshirted some guys in 2017 to try and qualify this year and the fact that we did it, just feels real good right. This team has worked really hard over the years and during the summer and I couldn't be more proud right now."

With the top two teams qualifying automatically for the NCAA Championship, Bradley edged out Tulsa for the final bid by just five points. The Braves recorded 102 points for the second-place total, while the Golden Hurricane finished with 107 points.

✔️ Win fourth-straight @MVCsports Championship!
✔️ Qualify for NCAA Championship for first time in school history!!
⬜️ Kill it at the national meet!!!#notdoneyet pic.twitter.com/EDwuklGDLb
— BradleyXC-Track (@BradleyXCTrack) November 9, 2018

The four-time reigning Missouri Valley Conference Champions, the Braves placed five runners in the top-35 on Friday with four earning NCAA All-Midwest Region honors by crossing the finish line among the first 25 runners. Junior Luke Hoffert led the pack by placing 12th in the 10K meet in a time of 31:14.7. Running in his first collegiate regional after battling through injuries during his career, Hoffert ran the 10th-fastest 10K in Bradley history to lead the Braves in a race for the first time in his collegiate career.

Following closely behind Hoffert was senior Haran Dunderdale (31:18.8), junior Jake Hoffert (31:21.2), senior Michael Ward (31:27.9) and junior Will Anderson (31:46.7). Of the Braves top five finishers on Friday, only one ran one year ago as Luke Hoffert missed out with injury and Dunderdale, Ward and Anderson all redshirted the 2017 campaign with their eyes on qualifying for the 2018 national meet.

Bradley is the first Valley school in 18 years to qualify as a team for the NCAA Championship as the Illinois State men last represented the league in 2000. The Braves also topped their previous best finish of fifth at the regional meet, set in 2016.

Iowa State, ranked sixth in the latest national rankings, won the Midwest Region with 38 total points. No. 21 Oklahoma State placed fourth with 124 points, while Minnesota rounded out the top five with 173.

The Bradley women began the day by placing ninth of 34 schools – two spots higher than BU was ranked in the latest regional poll.

Junior Gabby Juarez became the first Brave in three years to earn NCAA All-Midwest Region accolades as she placed 15th overall in a time of 20:56.5. Juarez shaved nearly 30 seconds off her previous PR time and clocked the fifth-fastest 6K time in school history to collect her all-region honors.

Freshman Tyler Schwartz finished second on the team and recorded the seventh-best time by a rookie at the meet when she placed 40th in 21:27.6. Senior Niamh Markham (21:37.9), freshman Ayah Aldadah (21:40.5) and junior Abby Jockisch (21:43.3) rounded out the top five for the Braves on Friday.

"I thought both teams, from person-to-person, were just excellent for us today," Gauson said. "The women were just 33 points off from finishing fourth and Gabby was all-region. Tyler and Ayah had really good runs as a freshman. Niamh was incredible and Abby fought really hard. Across the board we were excellent. I'm really happy for both programs, what we've done and where we're headed."

Iowa State swept the Midwest titles with 78 points on the women's side. Oklahoma State (140), Minnesota (185), Illinois (203) and Northwestern (205) completed the top five in the team rankings.

The Bradley men now turn their attention toward the NCAA Championship, held in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 17. The Braves make their debut in the national meet with the men's 10K slated for 11:45 a.m.

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