Bradley University Dominate Intercollegiates and Alumni Report

Sep 19, 2017

The massive Bradley University Men's and Women's team celebrate big xc wins (Bradley U photo credit)

Sep 11, 2017 - Sep 17, 2017

Bradley U press release:

Peoria, Ill. - The Bradley cross country teams swept its first home meet of the 2017 season, winning both team titles at the Bradley Intercollegiate at Detweiller Park on Friday afternoon. Additionally, sophomore Jake Hoffertand senior Natalie Burant claimed their first individual title at the collegiate level by finishing first in their respective races.

Hoffert and senior Taylor Floyd Mews paced the men during the 8K opener on Friday. Both finished with identical times of 24:51.1 with Hoffert just narrowly edging out his teammate at the finish line. Hoffert's first-place finish marks the fourth-straight year a Brave claimed the individual crown, following Chase Coffey in 2014, Caleb Beck in 2015 and Michael Ward in 2016.

Overall, the BU men featured in half of the top-10 spots in the winning effort. Senior Daniel Gagne placed eighth overall in 25:32.2, while junior Nikolas Hess and senior Nyle Clinton placed ninth and 10th, respectively, in 25:45.0 and 25:48.2.

The men won the individual title with 21 points to finish first among Division I schools with Eastern Illinois placing second with 58 points.

"The men were solid today," said Bradley head coach Darren Gauson. "With their experience, Jake and Taylor ran well together and it was great to see them finish at the top. We had some other good performances in runners like David Rodriguez and Nikolas Hess as well. We are in the middle of a tough training block right now and we expect to be stronger in two weeks but it's nice to come away with the win today. It was comparable to last year and we finished well in 2016. So, we will expect to see a little progress moving forward from here like last season."

Not to be outdone, Burant followed with her first individual crown with a time of 16:58.5 to win the three-mile race. Burant finished nine seconds ahead of second-place and her time was more than 30 seconds quicker than during the same race a season ago.

The Braves slotted six more finishers in the top 10 to claim the team title. Senior Hannah Witczak was third overall with a mark of 17:07.8, while sophomore McKenzie Altmayer was fourth in her first race in the Red & White, crossing the finish line in 17:17.9. Junior Sara Piller (5th in 17:23.7), senior Mackenzie Griffin (6th in 17:30.1), junior Brooke Nusser (7th in 17:31.1) and sophomore Abby Jockisch (10th in 17:47.2) rounded out the top for the BU women.

The Braves won the meet with 19 points overall, finishing ahead of second-place Eastern Illinois, who had 61 points.

"The women were great today," Gauson said. "Natalie has put in a lot of work so it was nice to see her rewarded today. Similar to Hannah last season, Natalie had a great summer and came back really fit. Overall though, the women were really good, strong and stayed in a great pack. McKenzie Altmayer was a good number three today, while I thought Mackenzie Griffin was outstanding and Sara, Brooke and Abby showcased their consistency in the winning effort."

After a week off, the Braves return to competition at the Sam Bell Invitational on the campus of Indiana University on Sept. 30. The women's 6K begins at 9 a.m. CT with the men's 8K following at 10 a.m. CT.