Cross Country and Track & Field Announces 2026-27 Signing Class

Matthew Eggen Track & Field 8/13/2026 12:30:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley Cross Country and Track & Field Head Coach Andrew Carlson has announced the addition of 10 student-athletes to the program on Thursday.

Seven women and three men make up the 2026-27 recruiting class as the program enters its fourth season with Coach Carlson at the helm.

The Braves are coming off their second consecutive season with a sweep of the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships, headlined by individual titles for Kaitlyn Sheppard and Jayde Rosslee, as well as the women's team achieving the first-ever perfect score of 15 points in MVC Championship history. The team also sent an athlete to the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time in seven years, as Jayde Rosslee qualified after a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

The Track & Field squad brought home nine MVC Track & Field titles, while a record-setting eight athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Jamie Phillips earned Second-Team All-American honors after a 10th-place finish in the Men's 800m, the program's second All-American honor in as many seasons.

Linn Adolfsson | Mid-Distance | Stockholm, Sweden | Blackebergs Gymnasium/UT-Arlington
Linn Adolfsson, from Stockholm, Sweden, joins Bradley as a transfer, entering the 2026-27 season as a sophomore. Adolfsson spent her freshman season at UT-Arlington, where she won a Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track DMR title and was a finalist in the 800m Final at the WAC Outdoor Championships. Her personal best 800m time is 2:09.78, while her 1500m personal best clocks at 4:29.29.

COACH MULZER'S COMMENTS
We are thrilled to have Linn join us here at Bradley and make an impact on the group! Transferring in, her experience in high-level competitions, her connection with the team, and her career goals all stood out to us. We are super excited to see how she grows in the middle-distance and distance events from an already impressive career.

Ava Alt | Sprints | East Peoria, Illinois | East Peoria High School
Ava Alt joins Bradley as a freshman from East Peoria, Illinois, entering the 2026-27 season. Alt was a state finalist in the 100m and 200m in her senior season at East Peoria High School, placing fourth in the 100m Final and seventh in the 200m Final. She was named Peoria Journal Star Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year and was named First Team All-Area by Clutch Sports Media. She possesses personal-best marks of 12.16 (100m), 24.92 (200m) and 59.15 (400m)

COACH RODER'S COMMENTS
We are excited to add Ava Alt to our sprints group! Another female local talent, her strength and speed stood out immediately. She will make an immediate impact to the group and we are eager to watch her grow throughout the year.

Jacob Barth | Sprints | Auburn, Illinois | Auburn High School
Jacob Barth joins Bradley as a freshman from Auburn, Illinois, entering the 2026-27 season. Barth has won conference championships in the 200m and 400m and placed fifth at the IHSA 1A State Championships in the 400m. Barth capped his career at Auburn High School with a second-place finish in the 400m Final at the IHSA 1A State Championships this past May and was a member of the four-man squad that won the 4x400m Relay state title. Barth also competed in the Long Jump at this spring's state meet. He holds a 400m personal best of 49.56 seconds.

COACH RODER'S COMMENTS
Jacob is another local athlete who we are pumped to have joining us! He has shown a very strong range in all of his sprint events and still has plenty of room to grow. We know that he will fit great with the team training and teammate wise and we look forward to having him here.

Natalie Bierbaum | Distance | Normal, Illinois | University High School
Natalie Bierbaum joins Bradley as a freshman from Normal, Illinois, entering the 2026-27 season. Bierbaum has finished in the top 10 twice at the IHSA Cross Country Championships, including a fourth-place finish at the 2023 IHSA Class 2A Championship. Bierbaum also placed third in the 3200m Final at the 2024 IHSA 2A State Championships. She has personal bests of 10:35 (3200m) and 16:41 (3 Mile).

COACH MULZER'S COMMENTS
With Natalie living close to Peoria, we have been able to watch her career up close the last few years, and she has always been an extremely hard worker and awesome competitor. She fit in with the group very quickly and brings a great positive energy, so we are very excited to have her join us at Bradley.

Rico Coetzer | Distance | Pretoria, South Africa | Höerskool Zwartkop
Rico Coetzer joins Bradley as a freshman from Pretoria, South Africa, entering the 2026-27 season. Coetzer has won a litany of international medals, including three 800m gold medals and two 1500m gold medals. He has also won a pair of bronze medals in 3000m events, including one at the 2025 South African U20 Championships. Coetzer has set personal-best times of 3:55 (1500m), 8:24 (3000m) and 15:03 (5000m). He is one of two newcomers hailing from Pretoria, South Africa, in this year's signing class, joining Regardt Hattingh.

COACH CARLSON'S COMMENTS
We are excited to have another South African Champion in the fold this upcoming year. Rico has been an elite athlete since a young age, and we are looking forward to seeing him grow and flourish at the NCAA level. We are looking for him to make an immediate impact and be the next great South African runner for Bradley.

Regardt Hattingh | Distance | Pretoria, South Africa | Afrikannse Hoër Seunskool
Regardt Hattingh joins Bradley as a freshman from Pretoria, South Africa, entering the 2026-27 season. Hattingh won the 3000m South African U18 Championship in 2024 and holds the South African U18 Cross Country title. Hattingh also placed fourth in the 5000m event at the U20 South African Championships in March 2025. He has set personal bests of 8:26.34 (3000m) and 14:35.77 (5000m). He is one of two newcomers hailing from Pretoria, South Africa, in this year's signing class, joining Rico Coetzer.

COACH CARLSON'S COMMENTS
Regardt has the potential to make a big impact on our 5K/10K group at Bradley. We have a lot of confidence given Regardt's abilities in Cross Country at longer distances; he will be very competitive right away at the conference level and, given some time to develop, a mainstay at the NCAA level into the future.

Pauline Kleesiek | Distance | Vellmar, Germany | Herderschule Kassel
Pauline Kleesiek joins Bradley as a freshman from Vellmar, Germany, entering the 2026-27 season. Kleesiek has earned a silver medal in U18 German Cross Country and a bronze in the 1500m events at the U18 and U20 levels. In July, Kleesiek placed fourth in the 3000m event at the German U20 Championships and competed in the 1500m at the German Championships. She also collected a pair of bronze medals in the 1500m and 3000m Short Track events at the German U20 Indoor Championships in February. She holds personal bests of 2:12 (800m), 4:24 (1500m) and 9:36 (3000m).

COACH CARLSON'S COMMENTS
We are very fortunate to welcome Pauline into the program. She is very versatile over many distances, but I believe she can be an ELITE 1500M runner in the future and an immediate force on the cross-country course. She has the ability to reach the heights of the NCAA, and we look forward to helping her achieve that status in the years to come.

Naomi Lopez | Sprints | Johns Creek, Georgia | Johns Creek High School
Naomi Lopez joins Bradley as a freshman from Johns Creek, Georgia, entering the 2026-27 season. Lopez individually qualified for sectionals during her senior season at Johns Creek High School, competing in the 400m event and 4x400m Relay. She set personal-best times of 26.96 (200m) and 60.52 (400m) during her senior season.

COACH RODER'S COMMENTS
We're very excited to have Naomi here this year! Her growth in a short period of time stood out to us and it is a testament to her work ethic and potential in the sprints. She has a positive energy and we are thrilled to have her join us on the track this year.

Louna Schuler | Distance | Kehl, Germany | Einstein-Gymnasium Kehl
Louna Schuler joins Bradley as a freshman from Kehl, Germany, entering the 2026-27 season. Schuler has placed in the top five in the 3000m at both the German and French U20 Championships. Last month, Schuler placed fifth in the 3000m at the German U20 Championships and fourth in the 3000m at the French U20 Championships, the latter of which was the best amongst German competitors. Schuler possesses personal bests of 4:32.63 (1500m), 9:51.53 (3000m) and 16:51 (5000m).

COACH CARLSON'S COMMENTS
Beyond her very competitive personal bests, what stood out to me while recruiting Louna was her passion and love for the sport. I believe that when you combine that attitude with the willingness to work very hard, the sky becomes the limit. I am excited to see Louna get into our program and be surrounded by other high-level athletes that will help push her to new heights.

Aubrey Smith | Distance | Grove City, Ohio | Grove City High School
Aubrey Smith joins Bradley as a freshman from Grove City, Ohio, entering the 2026-27 season. Smith has won conference championships in the 1600m and 3200m events in her career. In 2024, Smith also took home an OSHAA Central District Division I title in the 1600m event. Smith has set personal bests of 5:06 (1600m) and 11:17 (3200m).

COACH MULZER'S COMMENTS
We are really looking forward to Aubrey joining the team and beginning her journey at Bradley! Ohio has always been a competitive state for distance running, and we are really excited to have another Midwest student-athlete come into the group. When we met and talked to Aubrey, we clicked very quickly, and she brings a lot of positive energy and potential to the group that we see taking her far in her college career.

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