SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Bradley men's cross country team finished with eight runners in the top-25 and earned a third place team finish at the Missouri State Cross Country Classic Saturday. Junior Andrew Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) paced the Braves with a time of 26:04.8, good enough for eighth place. The women's team also claimed third place and finished with five runners in the top-25, including three in the top-10.

In the men's race, senior Nathan Ahart (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) earned 11th place with a time of 26.20.2. After Ahart, the next four Bradley runners all finished within five seconds of each other. Junior Brian Tyne (Polo, Ill./Polo H.S.) crossed the finish line at 26:44.6, followed by junior Zach Bowling (Heyworth, Ill./Danville Area C.C./Heyworth H.S.) at 26:45.0, freshman Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator H.S.) at 26:45.4 and senior Pat Greene (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield South H.S.) at 26:49.3. The foursome finished 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th respectively.

Also cracking the top-25 for the Braves were juniors Billy Miller (Metamora, Ill./Illinois Central/Metamora H.S.) and Tim Owdom (Morton, Ill. Morton H.S.). Miller finished 20th with a time of 26:52.2, while Owdom ran a 27:26.8, good for 25th place.

Redshirt-freshman Nicole Benson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.) led the women's team with a sixth place finish in 17:43.0. Coming off her first career win at last weekend's Bradley Open, senior Katie Nowak (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake H.S.) cracked the top-10 with a ninth place finish at 18:12.0. Junior Mary Goldkamp (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North H.S.) finished four seconds behind Nowak for tenth place.

Two more Bradley runners finished in the top-25, including freshman Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) and senior Rachel Brubaker (Davis, Ill./Durand H.S.) Gustafson crossed the finish line in 18:20.6 for 12th place, while Brubaker finished 25th with a time of 19:17.6.

The men's and women's cross country teams will return to action Saturday, Oct. 10 at SIU-Edwardsville at 10:30 a.m.