For the first time this season, the men’s side of Bradley’s cross country team traveled without their women counterparts to compete at the Stan Lyons Invitational.
The Braves traveled to Carmel, Indiana to participate in the tournament hosted by Butler. Although only a few runners competed, it was the final regular season event before the MVC Championship in Nashville, Tennessee on Oct. 27.
As a team, Bradley finished second behind the host Bulldogs in a race that also included an assortment of runners from Illinois State and IUPUI. The Braves’ leading finisher was freshman Zachary Balzer with a time of 23:05.7, which earned him fifth place. It was the highest finish of Balzer’s young career.
Two other Braves had performances that landed them spots in the top 20. Junior Mickey Vreeland finished 15th with a time of 23:57.6 and freshman Jaxson Copelin crossed the finish line in 18th place at 24:03.2.
Freshman Kaden Kingsmith came in 25th with a time of 24:44.5 to round out the competition. He was followed by seniors Mason Jones and Aidan Donohue, who came in 27th and 28th, respectively.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams will rejoin each other and head to the Music City to compete in the MVC Championship on Friday. The event will be available to watch on ESPN+ from Percy Warner Park.
https://twitter.com/BradleyXCTrack/status/1717611912643363169
