Bradley University Athletics

Watson Leads Bradley at Florida State; BU Women Place Third at Pink Classic

Cross Country 10/15/2021 5:22:00 PM

Both Bradley cross country teams put in strong efforts on Friday with a school record falling at Florida State for the BU men, while the women put the Valley on notice at the Bradley Pink Classic.

The Bradley men's team began the day in Florida at the Pre-National Invitational, finishing 26th of 40 schools at one of the nation's most competitive meets of the season. Junior George Watson led the Braves on the 8K course, clocking a school-record time of 23:58.3 to finish 64th overall. His mark is nearly five seconds quicker than the previous BU standard of 24:03.07, set by Michael Ward in 2015.

Senior Alec Danner placed 121st with a time of 24:22.6, while classmate Matt Aho (24:50.3), senior Charlie Parrish (24:53.1) and junior Eddie Narbett (24:55.9) rounded out the team's top five.

Back in Peoria, the BU women finished third of 37 schools on their home course at the Bradley Pink Classic and more importantly, placed first among the nine Missouri Valley Conference schools in the final full-team meet before the conference championship.

Freshman Nicola Jansen was the team's top finisher, placing fifth overall with a 6K time of 20:54.6. Her mark was just fractions of a second off the best time by a Bradley runner at its home meet (Sarah McMahon ran 20:54 in 2013) and was the school's fifth-best 6K mark at any meet.

Sophomore Ashley Maguire and junior Sophia McDonnell finished right behind Janssen. Maguire was 11th overall in 21:16.5, while McDonnell crossed the finish line in 13th place in 21:20.6. Sophomore Julia Nielsen (22:16.8) and junior Lily Strauss (22:37.7) rounded out the top five for BU.

The Bradley men placed 22nd of 31 schools at their home meet despite being short-handed. Freshman Jack Crull led BU by placing 16th with an 8K time of 24:28.6 – the best mark by any Brave at their home meet. Taylor Floyd Mews held the previous standard of 24:34.0, set in 2017.

The Braves are back in action next Friday, competing at the Illini Open. Bradley then turns its attention toward the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, held on Oct. 29 at Illinois State.

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