Terre Haute, Ind. - Pre-race predictions are nice, especially when you're predicted to finish first in both. That's exactly what the prospectus was for both the Men's and Women's Cross Country programs for the Bradley Braves headed into Saturday's Missouri Valley Conference Championship races. 

RECAPPING THE WOMEN'S RACE
The Braves took those expectations and, well, ran with them. The congratulations came in early for the Braves, as sophomore Nicola Jansen would take the MVC Individual Title by nearly 30 seconds, getting an official time of 20:22.6. With the top five individuals responsible for the team score, as always, the Bradley women could not have done much better.

Jansen finished first, Tyler Schwartz (20:53.0) finished third, Peyton Schieppe (21:15.1) finished fourth, Wilma Nielsen (21:19.8) finished fifth, and Sophie McDonnell (21:38.0) finished ninth. Putting it all together, the Braves had exactly half of the top 10 individuals. That would be good for an impressive 22 points, with second place more than 50 points back. 

Jansen's individual title is the first for the Braves since Caitlin Busch won back-to-back individual titles in 2014 and 2015. Jansen also blew away her previous 6K MVC Championship record of 21:02.3 from last fall. 

RECAPPING THE MEN'S RACE
The men's race followed, and had quite the exciting finish. While nearly 30 seconds separated women's first place and second place, the men's race saw the entire top 15 individuals within 30 seconds of each other. Heading into the race, head coach Darren Gauson knew it would likely come down to that fourth or fifth runner to determine the team title.

George Watson (2nd - 24:32.3) and Alec Danner (3rd - 24:33.4) were part of an incredibly tight first grouping. The duo would finish all of three to four seconds behind Drake's Isaac Basten, a now-consecutive individual champion. Matt Aho (7th - 24:46.9), Charlie Parrish (11th - 24:55.8), and Caleb Lind (19th - 25:04.6) gave the Braves their 42 team points. Once the first group had come through the finish, it was now a matter of counting. Ultimately, four measly points separated the Braves and Bulldogs. 

Watson's second place finish is the highest individual placing at the MVC Championships since Luke Hoffert in 2019 (2nd). Alec Danner is the first Brave to finish as high as third in the MVC meet since Matthew Richtman in 2019. 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BRAVES
NCAA Midwest Regional
Friday, November 11th
@ Gans Creek Cross Country Course
Columbia, Missouri