For Bradley’s cross-country team, the Illini Open featured some new faces, and those new faces thrived.
Sophomore Max Dieterich took home the title for the Braves cross-country team in the 8K race and finished with a time of 25:58.8, a pace of 3:15/K.
The women’s team did not compete at the meet and the men’s team’s lineup all consisted of back-up runners. Most of these runners will not compete in the Missouri Valley Championship, or the NCAA Midwest Regional but this was their opportunity to show off what is not seen from practice.
“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to run because I was feeling a bit sick the Tuesday before,” Dieterich said. “I decided to do it because it was probably my last race.”
The results show that Dieterich made a good choice.
Dieterich has not always been known as a cross-country runner; he has always thrived more in track.
“Leading up to it, many people kept saying, ‘You’re just not a cross-country runner; you’re more like a track guy,’” Dieterich said. “Now I can finally show that I can also run cross-country, which I really wanted.”
Dieterich took advantage of his opportunity, as did his fellow teammates. Mickey Vreeland finished sixth, Brandon Kamp finished 10th, Zach Albrecht finished 13th and Ismail Tineh finished 16th. The lone upperclassmen in the Bradley lineup, Michael Hahndorf, finished 18th.
“It feels very satisfying because I can finally show a little of my potential I show in practice,” Dieterich said.
As the Illini Open wrapped up, the Braves look forward to their most important meet of the year: the MVC Championship.
Stars from both the men’s and women’s team shared some of their thoughts as they spent this week prepping for the big day.
Some college students will start their Fridays off sleeping, but that is not the case for the freshman from Pretoria, South Africa, Nicola Jansen. She plans to start Friday off with a light run six hours before the 1 p.m. start to the championship.
Jansen was named the MVC Female Cross Country Athlete of the Week after a fifth-place finish in the Bradley Pink Classic. Nine other conference schools partook in this meet and the Braves finished third overall.
“It made us look forward because we know we are strong going into Friday,” Jansen said. “That boosted our spirit a whole lot more. We realized we can win [the MVC Championship].”
As a freshman on the team, Jansen has had a lot of adjusting to do when she became a college athlete. Nevertheless, Jansen has a very mature mindset as a freshman when it comes to how to approach meets.
“I’ve learned to take the recovery days easy,” Jansen said. “Here, I have learned you should have easy days so you can race harder on race days. [The meets are] just another workout.”
Just like Jansen, her junior teammate George Watson won the MVC Cross-Country Athlete of the Week on the men’s side. Watson has been hot as of late, as he is now the school record holder of the 8K race.
“I know there is pressure on me, but likewise that pressure is shifted on those around me,” Watson said. “I’ve been really trying not to stress as much and focus on the things I can control.”
Watson has a number of high finishes on the season and the junior from England is no stranger to the spotlight that has recently been put on him.
The ability to be humble after achieving such an impressive feat is rare. Watson is very proud of his accomplishment, but knows he should not settle and always puts the team before himself.
“We are really lucky here at Bradley that we have such a tightly bonded team,” Watson said.
Watson has the chance for yet another record breaking performance on Friday, but that could still not be enough to guarantee a good team finish. The entire team has to be clicking when the clock strikes 1 p.m. at Illinois State.
“I can’t really dull it down, we really want to win,” Jansen said. “I know it is going to be a challenge because there is some tough competition from the other teams, but really, we just want to win. We know we can; we just have to execute our best races.”
Both men’s and women’s teams will compete for the MVC title on Oct. 29 at Weibring Golf Club in Normal.
Nerves are natural in these types of races, but Watson explained why he believes Bradley may have an advantage.
“We are comfortable being uncomfortable,” Watson said.
