PEORIA, Ill. – The Bradley cross country teams begin the 2023 season at the Western Illinois Alumni Cross Country Invitational on Friday.
 
MEET INFORMATION
The meet will be held at Spring Lake Park in Macomb, IL. The women's race will begin at 5:15 PM with the men's race to follow after the women's race is completed. In addition to competing with host Western Illinois, Bradley will run against athletes from Northern Illinois, Sauk Valley Community College and Carl Sandburg College.
 
A NEW ERA
Bradley hired Andrew Carlson as the new head coach of the Bradley Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Teams over the summer. He succeeds Darren Gauson who was hired by New Mexico to be their new head coach of Cross Country and Track & Field. Prior to joining Bradley, Carlson was the Head Cross Country Coach at North Dakota State where he guided the Bison to great success, including winning 2019 Summit League Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. After leaving NDSU in 2021, Carlson became an assistant at Louisville, a position he held until being hired by Bradley in the summer of 2023.

BRAVES FAVORED TO PLACE SECOND IN MISSOURI VALLEY
The Bradley men's and women's cross country teams were both picked to finish second the Missouri Valley Conference titles in the preseason coaches poll. 
 
The Bradley men received 1-of-11 first-place votes and finished with 29 points behind only Drake with 12 points (10 first-place votes). Illinois State finished third in the poll with 34 points, followed by Belmont (39) and Southern Illinois (59).

On the women's side, the Braves received 2-of-12 first-place votes and 28 overall points, finishing only behind Belmont (14 points, 10 first place votes). Drake was third with 33 points with Illinois State (47) and Southern Illinois (62) rounding out the top five.