Many Bradley Braves track and field athletes enjoyed their time in Iowa at the Hawkeye Invitational to start the indoor season and at the Cyclone Open on Jan. 22. Three school records and a meet record from the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City, plus three more school records and 26 personal bests at the Cyclone Open in Ames certainly prove that point.
Freshman sensation Nicola Jansen won the 3,000-meter title with a time of 9:26.14, the fastest mark ever at the Hawkeye Invitational. If that was not impressive enough, she won the event by over 50 seconds. Junior Tyler Schwartz also finished in fifth, crossing the line at 10:19.98.
After being named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in cross-country, the Invitational was Jansen’s track debut.
“I approach races the same way I did in cross-country,” Jansen said. “I shouldn’t be hard on myself because I know there are people who compete that are way older than me.”
Needless to say, Jansen doesn’t have much to be hard on herself for after starting her track career off with a near-school record.
“I’m enjoying [track] a lot more than I expected,” Jansen said. “Usually, I’m a longer distance person, but I have enjoyed the indoor track so far.”
The school records broken from the Hawkeye Invitational came from redshirt freshman Tiana LoStracco, freshman Eli Rieker and redshirt sophomore Miguel Agyei. LoStracco now owns the school record for women’s 600 meters, Rieker in the men’s 60 meters and Agyei in the men’s 60-meter hurdles.
The Cyclone Open was just as enjoyable for the Braves, as they finished the meet with 26 personal bests.
Freshman Amiyah Davis finished the 400 meters run at 56.40 seconds, breaking the school record on the women’s side. Her freshman classmate Maya Hendersen won the 600 yards event with a time of 1:25.64, taking the school record. Another Bradley freshman, Reina McMillan, finished the event in second with a time that also beat the old school record.
To little surprise, another freshman, Shae Fuller, set the school record in the triple jump with 10.83 meters.
“I think we are set up very well for the future,” head coach Darren Gauson said.
Sophomore Julia Nielsen finished second in the women’s 800 meters with 2:11.06. Her sophomore teammate Sophia McDonnell also had a second-place finish competing in the women’s 3,000 meters with a time of 25.89.
A personal best and strong finish came from Max Dieterich in the mile. LikeJansen, Dieterich also competed in cross-country during the fall season. He finished with a time of 4:04.93, which led his fellow Braves.
“The cross-country season helped me a lot actually,” Dieterich said. “It feels a lot easier than it used to because my endurance has improved.”
With a trip to neighboring Iowa in the books, the Braves are set to travel a little farther to Seattle, Washington for the UW Invitational this weekend. Eight Braves will make the trip and according to Gauson, it would not be surprising for some more school records to be broken.
“I think we got good momentum,” Gauson said. “It’s just consistency; making sure we don’t get people with COVID, or get sick or get injured. If we just continue to progress, we’re going to have a really good showing at the Missouri Valley Indoor Championship in February.”
With a roster filled with athletes from around the world, this trip is something special for the international participants.
“One of the best things about being an athlete is the opportunity to see other places and to get around the U.S. as an international student,” Dieterich said. “Having that opportunity because of athletics is great.”
The UW Invitational begins at 5 p.m. at Dempsey Indoor Arena in Seattle, Washington.
