Men’s Team Title & Two Individual Champs at Intercollegiate

Cross Country 9/14/2018 8:18:00 PM

Peoria, Ill. – The Bradley men's cross country team claimed the title at the Bradley Intercollegiate at Detweiller Park on Friday afternoon, while Will Anderson and Gabby Juarez claimed individual crowns for the Braves.

Anderson led a group of Bradley runners as the Braves scored a near-perfect 16 points with five of the top-six runners. The junior ran the 8K course in 24:59.5, edging out teammate Michael Ward – who also ran a 24:59.5 – for his first collegiate title. The duo was closely followed by junior Luke Hoffert in 24:59.6 as Anderson became the fifth-different Brave in as many seasons to win the individual title at the meet.

Senior Haran Dunderdale placed fourth with a time of 25:13.9, while redshirt freshman Jack Franklin was sixth in his collegiate debut at 25:16.1.

"The men are right where we need to be," said Bradley head coach Darren Gauson. "If we can get Jake (Hoffert) healthy and rolling, then we are right where we want to be at this time of year. The top three looked really good and Will has a little bragging rights over his teammates right now. I thought Jack Franklin also had a nice run and Haran closed really well to get close to our three up top. We are deep as our one through 20 was really good so I'm pretty happy with our performance today."

Bradley's 16 points easily won the title for the Braves, defeating conference rivals Northern Iowa (67 points) and Valparaiso (72 points).

Juarez also won her first collegiate race to pace the Bradley women on the day. Running her first cross country meet in two seasons, the junior ran the three-mile course in 17:02.1, running past Northern Iowa's Mckayla Cole down the stretch to win by more than three seconds. Just like Anderson, she is the fifth BU runner in as many seasons to win the Bradley Intercollegiate.

Junior Sam Lechowicz placed fifth for the Braves with a time of 17:19.0 and was followed by freshman Ayah Aldadah in seventh (17:34.6), junior Abby Jockisch in eighth (17:45.8) and senior Niamh Markham in ninth (17:46.1).

"Gabby had a great finish on the home stretch to continue the streak for us at this meet," Gauson said. "It was very similar to Natalie's (Burant) finish last year and I'm really happy for Gabby with an individual championship for her. I thought the team looked good as we are still in a building phase. Credit to Northern Iowa as they managed to nip us at our home meet. We have a little bit of work to do as you never want to lose as preseason favorites. We have a few adjustments to make but overall, I'm pretty happy where the women are at."

Bradley scored 30 points to place second overall at the meet with Northern Iowa edging the Braves with 28 points. Western Illinois placed third with 101 points at the meet.

After a week off, the Braves return to competition at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. The women's 6K begins at 12:20 p.m. with the men's 8K following at 1 p.m.

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