The 2009 Bradley Open was both a last and a first for women's cross country runner Katie Nowak. It was the last Bradley Open of her career and her first individual meet victory in a Bradley uniform.
"I was really excited," said Nowak. "It was a great feeling to actually win a race. I have won races in high school, but it's not the same."
In addition to winning the meet, the fifth-year senior from Avon Lake, Ohio also set a personal-best 5K time of 18:03, improving her previous 5K best by 13 seconds. For her efforts, the Missouri Valley Conference named Nowak the women's cross country athlete of the week on Sept. 15.
Most runners would consider this a successful week, but Nowak was just getting warmed up. The victory at the Bradley Open, along with her academic prowess, resulted in Nowak being named the Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week and the Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 16. A mechanical and bio-medical engineering major, Nowak boast an impressive 3.97 cumulative grade point average.
Nowak credits her time management skills as the reason for her academic and athletic success.
"That's probably one of the most important things to being a student-athlete," Nowak said. "Put a schedule of academics and athletic practices that you have going on to make sure everything gets done and everything gets done well."
Bradley cross country head coach David Beauchem attributes Nowak's success to her intensity.
"What you see at the track is pretty much what you get from her," Beauchem said. "Class wise, academically, she is pretty intense and competes pretty sincerely in that area and really personally, it's the same thing. What you see is what you get from her."
Nowak's Bradley career began with three top-50 finishes as a freshman in 2005. She recorded a personal-best 5K time of 18:16 at the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Championships and ran a personal best in the 6K at the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional. Nowak redshirted in 2008 and utilized her time to improve her strength and flexibility, which has been a major part of her individual success in 2009. Coach Beauchem believes Nowak's leadership has been pivotal for the team's success this season.
"To our program, Katie has really been the bridge between the success we had in the late 1990's and early 2000," Beauchem said. "Katie has been the bridge between where we were then and now to back where we are right now."
As a mechanical engineering major with a concentration in bio-medical engineering, Nowak has done research on artificial hearts and even worked as an intern with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but hopes one day to use her knowledge and expertise to help people.
"I think the human body is interesting and I think machines are interesting so why not combine the two and help people out," Nowak said. "(The) options are limitless. I hope to be working and helping to develop things to help people in the future."
Nowak and the Braves will host the sixth annual Bradley Classic Friday, Oct. 16, at Newman Golf Course. The meet opens with the men's 8K at 4:15 p.m., followed by the women's 6K at 5 p.m. The Bradley Classic is the final tune up for the Braves before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships Saturday, Oct. 31 at Newman Golf Course.
