SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Bradley men's and women's cross country teams completed the 2009 season with solid performances at the NCAA Midwest Regional Saturday. Redshirt-freshman Nicole Benson (Peoria, Ill./Limestone H.S.) set a 6K personal best with a time of 21:34.4, good enough for 24th place. Behind Benson's All-Region performance, the Bradley women earned 11th place overall. In the men's 10K race, senior Pat Greene (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield South H.S.) finished 98th overall in 33:55.6, helping the Braves claim 21st place.
After Greene cracked the top-100, freshman Jon Richards (Streator, Ill./Streator H.S.) crossed the finish line in 34:30.3 for 121nd place. Bradley's next three runners - juniors Billy Miller (Metamora, Ill./Illinois Central/Metamora H.S.) and Andrew Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) and senior Nathan Ahart (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central H.S.) - all finished within seven seconds of each other. Miller earned 136th with a time of 35:07.7, followed by Ahart in 137th (35:10.5) and Wieser in 139th (35:14.8).
In the women's race, junior Mary Goldkamp (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North H.S.) also set a 6K personal best Saturday, finishing nine seconds behind Benson in 29th (21:43.0). Senior Katie Nowak (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake H.S.) cracked the top-100 with a 90th-place finish in 23:09.2. Senior Amanda Switzer (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem H.S.) and freshman Emily Gustafson (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria H.S.) capped Bradley's scoring with 107th and 122nd-place finishes, respectively. Switzer crossed the finish line in 23:30.9, while Gustafson ran a time of 23:54.6.
