NORMAL, Ill. - Seniors Mary Goldkamp (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North) and Andrew Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) both turned in career-best performances in the 5K and 8K, respectively, to highlight action for the women's and men's cross country teams at the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships Friday afternoon.
Goldkamp finished fourth overall and third among NCAA Division I competitors as she helped the Bradley women's cross country team to a fifth-place finish. She crossed the line with a career-best 5K time (17:48) and was 13 seconds off the pace set by individual champion Audrey Huth of Northwestern.
"Mary Goldkamp ran a fantastic race today," Bradley head coach Marc Burns said. "We asked her to go out controlled and it probably cost her a shot at winning the race but will help her in the long term. Several individuals set personal bests and the freshmen continue to improve each time out. We have some things to improve on, but are certainly heading in the right direction."
Wieser turned in a career-best 8K time of 25:39, surpassing his previous career-best time set during the 2007 season to help the men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish among NCAA Division I teams in the field. He finished 11th among Division I runners and was one of four Bradley men's runners to clock career-best times.
"Our upperclassmen turned in strong performances to lead us, highlighted by Andrew Wieser," Burns said. "He continues to be a great leader on and off the course as we look for him to help us pull a few guys closer to him in future races. Overall, it was a good effort and something to build on as we look to build momentum for later in the season."
On the men's side, senior Zach Bowling (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth/Danville Area C.C.) improved his best 8K time by two seconds to finish 15th at 25:59, while fellow senior Billy Miller (Metamora, Ill./Metamore/Illinois Central) also turned in a career-best time (26:39) and was 27th among NCAA Division I runners. Freshman Thomas Harayda (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) was eight seconds behind Miller in 29th at 26:47 and senior Brian Tune (Polo, Ill./Polo) rounded out the scoring with a 26:56 to finish 32nd.
Four women's runners turned in career-best 5K times led by Goldkamp's 17:48, but four newcomers followed on the heels of the All-Missouri Valley Conference performer. Freshman Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) was 12th among Division I competitors with a time of 18:35, while freshman Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) was 31st overall at 19:08. Freshman Kayla Austin (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) clocked a 20:04 to finish 53rd and frosh Emily Wolbers (Moline, Ill./Moline) was close behind at 20:18 to finish 56th.
Junior Sarah Hallstein (Minier, Ill./Olympia) completed BU's scoring with a career-best 20:29 (57th), while junior Rachel Garret (20:59; 62nd) and sophomore Chelsea Griffin (21:30; 67th) each turned in career-best 5K times.
Both the men's and women's cross country teams return to action Saturday, Oct. 2 at the Sean Earl Loyola Invitational in Chicago.
