This past week, Bradley’s cross country team traveled to Macomb to take part in the Early Bird invite hosted by Western Illinois.
Both sides shined in the matchup, with the men’s team claiming five of the top eight spots and the women taking home three top-five finishes to add on to an already successful day for the Braves.
Leading the charge for the men’s team was sophomore Mickey Vreeland, who finished third with a 6k time of 19.28.5. Junior Rodrigo Alvarez Gonzalez followed Vreeland in fifth with a time of 19.49.7. Also placing for the Braves were redshirt freshman Ivan Westcott (sixth) as well as juniors Billy Hauenstein (seventh) and Max McDaniel (eighth). The impressive showing for the men’s team gave them the edge to take home first place in the meet.
On the women’s side, the Braves put on another solid showing. Freshman Alice Narciso paced the group with a third place finish for her debut on the squad. Behind Narcisco were freshmen Julia de La Piedra Stijas in fourth and Kelly Carpenter in fifth.
Despite the strong outing from the Braves, the women fell a bit short and placed second in the meet to Western Illinois, resulting in a split between the two programs. Carl Sandburg, the other team in the meet, finished third in both races.
The next meet for the Braves will be next week as they host the Bradley Intercollegiate on Friday, Sept. 16. There, at Detweiller Park, the Braves will look to add on to an already impressive start to the season.
