PEORIA, Ill. - Over 400 collegiate competitors gathered at Newman Golf Course on a frigid Friday afternoon to run the sixth annual Bradley Classic Cross Country Meet. Led by redshirt-freshman Nicole Benson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.), a quartet of Braves finished in the top-25 in the women's 6K race. The foursome helped Bradley to a second place finish. In the men's 8K race, junior Zach Bowling (Heyworth, Ill./Danville Area C.C./Heyworth H.S.) set a personal best time of 26:01 and finished 20th as the Bradley men finished eighth overall.
After Bowling, four Braves finished within 10 seconds of each other, including senior Pat Greene (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield South H.S.), freshman Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator H.S.) and juniors Andrew Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) and Billy Miller (Metamora, Ill./Illinois Central/Metamora H.S.). Greene took home 40th place in 26:33, followed by Richards in 43rd with a time of 26:39. Wieser was one second behind Richards for 46th. Miller's time of 26:43 was also an 8K personal best and gave him a 51st place finish.
On the women's side, Benson earned her fourth top-10 finish of the season by placing seventh with a time of 21:53. Junior Mary Goldkamp (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North H.S.) was just four seconds behind Benson in ninth place, followed by senior Katie Nowak (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake H.S.) in 12th in 22:08. Freshman Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) crossed the finish line in 23rd with a time of 22:29.
Benson, Goldkamp and Gustafson each set 6K personal best times Friday. Not to be outdone, senior Amanda Switzer (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem H.S.) edged her personal best 6K by one second. Switzer clocked a time of 23:05, good enough for 46th place.
The University of Windsor claimed the men's team title with 40 points, while Northern Iowa's Thibault Vandenabeele won the men's race in 24:48. Wisconsin earned the women's team victory with 76 points and had the top finisher in Caitlin Comfort (21:10).
The Braves will host the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 10:30 a.m. at Newman Golf Course.
