MACOMB, Ill. - In her first collegiate race at Bradley, redshirt-freshman Nicole Benson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.) finished nearly one minute ahead of the field as the women's cross country team opened the 2009 season by winning the Western Illinois Early Bird Invitational Friday afternoon. The win was Bradley's first team victory since 2006. Junior Andrew Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) finished eighth (26:18) and helped the men's team to a third place finish.

Benson ran the 6K course in 21:58; 59 seconds faster than Western Illinois' Carianna Cottone. Freshman Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) earned a third place finish in 23:10 while two more Braves, seniors Rachel Brubaker (Davis, Ill./Durand H.S.) and Tracy Lotter (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago H.S.), finished fifth (23:28) and tenth (23:51) respectively. Senior Amanda Switzer (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem H.S.) finished ten seconds behind Lotter in 11th place.

Joining Wieser in the top-10 for the men's team was freshman Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator H.S.), who ran his way to tenth place with a time of 26:25 in his first career meet. Four more Braves finished in the top-25, including seniors Nathan Ahart (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) and Pat Greene (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield South H.S.) and juniors Zach Bowling (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth H.S./Danville Area C.C.) and Billy Miller (Metamora, Ill./Metamora H.S./Illinois Central).

Bradley will return to the course next Friday when it hosts the 24th annual Bradley Open at Detweiller Park.