2018-19 Year in Review, Letter to Bradley Supporters

Letter from Dr. Reynolds

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications General 7/24/2019 3:00:00 PM

Bradley Braves Supporters:

The ability for Bradley University Athletics to excel is dependent upon the generous contributions of our supporters and your dedication is not taken for granted. Every ticket purchased, donation made and hour volunteered contributes directly to the success of our student-athletes and, because of your dedication, the Braves are succeeding at unprecedented levels in competition, in the classroom and in the community.

As I prepare for my fifth year leading the Bradley University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, I could not be more proud of the commitment our student-athletes have made to excel in every way. They are shining stars who represent the best of college athletics, and, on behalf of all the Bradley Braves, I want to thank you for the opportunities your generosity provides as we develop our future leaders.

While we could see our department steadily improving throughout the previous three years, 2018-19 proved to be a breakthrough year for Bradley Athletics and has opened the door to more success in the years to come. Knowing there are even brighter days ahead, it gives me great pleasure to share the highlights from our historic achievements during the 2018-19 school year:

Bradley finished fifth in the 2018-19 Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports standings, the top-ranked private school in The Valley and the best finish by the Braves since 1987-88, a period when only men's sports competed in the league.
Men's Basketball won its first MVC Tournament championship in 31 years and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, culminating a four-year turnaround that has seen the Braves rise from a ninth-place league finish in 2014-15 to the first back-to-back, 20-win seasons in a decade.
Under the direction of 2018 Valley Coach of the Year Carol Price-Torok, Volleyball completed one of the best turnaround seasons in the nation, leading not only to the first postseason appearance in program history, but the first postseason win as well. Finishing with a 24-9 overall record, the Braves ranked second nationally with a +14 victories improvement and made the largest jump in the MVC standings, from 10th to third, in league history. The team earned The Valley's automatic bid to the National Invitation Volleyball Championship and earned a first-round win by beating Mid-American Conference regular-season champion Bowling Green.
Led by seven-time Valley Coach of the Year Darren Gauson, Men's and Women's Cross Country continued to dominate The Valley. Not only did the men's team become the second program in league history to win four consecutive MVC championships, the Braves also finished second at the NCAA Midwest Regional to earn an automatic entry into the NCAA Championship for the first time in program history. The men went on to finish 24th in the national championship. Meanwhile, the women's cross country team claimed its third consecutive Valley title and its fourth conference crown in the last five years.
Led by its lone senior, Malini Wijesinghe, Women's Tennis set the program record with 16 dual match victories and finished runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a program-best 4-1 league record. Rebounding from a 4-3 loss to Illinois State in the conference opener, the Braves went on to outscore their five league rivals by a combined 27-8 total and earned their first-ever win, 6-1, against perennial league power Drake.
For the first time in program history, Women's Basketball has improved its record in four consecutive seasons and with a 20-10 mark in 2018-19, the Braves posted their first 20-win season since 2008-09 and just the third 20-win campaign in program history.
Featuring one of the most powerful offenses in the country, Softball (29-21) produced its best victory total since 2004 and tied its program record for conference wins by finishing fourth in The Valley with a 15-10 league record.
Anchored by a pitching staff that ranked among the nation's best, Baseball (31-19) posted its second straight 30-win season for the first time since a five-year run from 1992-96 and tied for fourth in The Valley with an 11-10 league record, giving the Braves a winning league record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1986 and 1987.
On the links, Women's Golf finished third at the MVC Championship, giving the Braves a top-five finish in the league for a ninth consecutive year, while Men's Golf won the team titles at the Crusader Collegiate and Zach Johnson Invitational to give the Class of 2019 nine tournament championships, the most in a four-year period by the Braves since 1969-72.
Soccer completed the second undefeated (7-0-4) non-conference season in program history and ran its overall non-conference unbeaten streak to 14 games (8-0-6), dating to October 2017.
The distance-focused Track programs both excelled in 2018-19. Men's Track scored a school-record 86 points at the MVC Indoor Championship, while qualifying five individuals for the NCAA Outdoor Track West Preliminary. Women's Track claimed its first-ever title in the distance medley relay at the MVC Indoor Championship and more than doubled its combined score at the two league track championships compared to 2018, finishing the 2019 indoor (41) and outdoor (31) meets with 72 points.

Bradley student-athletes continue to prove it is possible to simultaneously excel in competition and in the classroom:

After earning three of the last four Missouri Valley Conference All-Academic Trophies for posting the top department grade point average in the league, Bradley was honored as a top-five institution in the nation by qualifying 69.2 percent (9-of-13) of its teams for the 2019 NCAA Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition Awards. Bradley University joined Villanova, Columbia, Holy Cross, Lehigh and Dartmouth as the top APR institutions in the nation.
In the most-recent Graduation Success Rate study, Bradley posted a 94 percent success rate, better than both the NCAA Division I average (88 percent) and the other nine MVC institutions (88.3).
Individual academic honors in 2018-19 included two Google Cloud Academic All-Americans, three Senior CLASS Award national candidates, five Missouri Valley Conference Elite 17 Award winners, 31 MVC Scholar-Athlete first-team selections and the MVC Dr. Charlotte West Scholar-Athlete Award.

Developing tomorrow's leaders remains a three-pronged approach at Bradley, and our B.O.L.D. for Life program continues to provide Bradley student-athletes opportunities to serve the community and gain leadership experience. For the fourth consecutive year, our student-athletes, coaches and staff volunteered more than 3,000 hours of service in 2018-19, benefitting more than 70 organizations throughout Central Illinois, in their home communities and throughout the world.

As proud as we are of the accomplishments of our Bradley student-athletes, we will never be satisfied, and I have no doubt even bigger achievements are in store for the Braves. The steadfast support of our alumni, season-ticket holders, fans and corporate sponsors fuels our competitive fire and makes it possible to continue to build a culture of championship success in every aspect of the student-athlete experience at Bradly University.

Thank you for your support and Go Braves!

Chris Reynolds, Ph.D., J.D.
Bradley University Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics

Print Friendly Version