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ST. LOUIS – The 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship will be held this Saturday, October 28, at The Springfield Underground in Springfield, Mo. hosted by Missouri State University. Once again, Bradley’s men’s and women’s teams were voted as the pre-championship favorites in the coaches’ pre-championship poll. The men’s team is looking for their third-consecutive win while the women are looking for their fourth title in school history. The men’s 8k race will start at 10:35 a.m. followed by the women’s 5k race at 11:35 a.m.
After winning the last two Championships, the Bradley men’s cross country team is picked to win the 2017 MVC Men’s Cross Country Championship with seven first-place votes and 79 points. Taylor Floyd Mews has the third fastest 8K time in the Valley with Jake Hoffert having the fourth-best after their performances at the Bradley Pink Classic. Teammates Nikolas Hess and Alec Danner also hold top-15 times at the 8K distance. The Braves have been in the USTFCCCA’s regional rankings every week of the season with their latest ranking being seventh in the Midwest Region.
Picked by the coaches in second-place, Indiana State had two first-place votes and 65 points. The Sycamores have five of the top-ten times in the Missouri Valley Conference. Akis Medrano has the second-best Conference time and the fastest time for Indiana State. Quentin Pierce, Seth Cousins, Blake Kramer and Ryan Cash have the seventh thru tenth times on the MVC 8K Best List, respectively, with Corey Alfredson right behind with the 11th-best time.
Loyola earned third-place with 60 points. As a team, the Ramblers finished third at the Illinois State Invitational and fifth at the Notre Dame Invitational. Loyola will be led by Alex Baker (sixth-fastest time in the MVC), Peter Schaible and Derek Rink. Baker was named MVC Male Cross Country Athlete of the Week once this season and was the first Rambler to cross the finish line three times during the 2017 season.
Illinois State swiped the fourth spot in the pre-championship poll with 56 points. Junior Kyle Mattes looks to improve upon his fourth-place finish from a year ago as he holds the fastest-time in the Missouri Valley Conference after the Greater Louisville Classic race in September. Kevin Koski and Cody Baele hold the second and third-best times for the Redbirds, respectively.
Drake came in fifth with 50 points. Josh Yeager, Maximilian Fridrich and Kyle Brandt have set the pace for the Bulldogs during the 2017 season. Yeager has earned MVC Cross Country Male Athlete of the Week twice this year. In Drake’s last race of the season, the Bradley Pink Classic, Maximilian Fridrich was the first Bulldog to cross the finish line.
Northern Iowa checks in at No. 6, having received 37 points. At the head of the group for the Panthers will be Wal Khat (junior), Luke Johnston (redshirt senior) and Mitch Pritts (senior). CJ May led the team in three of the four meets this season.
Southern Illinois notched the seventh spot with a total of 31 points. Josh Maier will pace the Salukis at the Championship. His fastest 8k time this season currently sits at fifth on the MVC Best List.
Valparaiso and Evansville round out the final positions with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Valparaiso’s lead runners are Victor Fortin, Ben Zibricky and Sidney Noble. Fortin and Noble ran season-best times at the Bradley Pink Classic. Evansville will look to Dawson Hood and Ethan Price who have the the best times for the Purple Aces.
Bradley was the coaches’ pick for first in the women’s pre-championship poll with seven first-place votes and a total of 96 points. In the last three races, the Braves have three different runners cross first. McKenzie Altmayer finished first at the Bradley Pink Classic, Nicole Alfano at the Bradley Intercollegiate and Sara Piller at the Sam Bell Invitational. Natalie Burant claimed MVC Female Athlete of the Week honors this season after the Bradley Intercollegiate race. In the October 16 USTFCCCA Regional Polls, the Braves were ranked ninth, tying their highest ranking this season.
UNI had 91 points and three first-place votes, claiming a close second spot in the poll. The Panthers have the most top-ten times on the MVC 5K Best List with four. Hannah Truniger has the fastest 5K time for Northern Iowa this season and the fourth-best time in the Missouri Valley Conference. Also in the top-ten are Brette Correy (fifth), Tiffany Christensen (sixth) and McKayla Cole (tenth). As a team, the Panthers won the Joe Piane Invitational, beating 24 other teams.
Loyola checks in at the No. 3 position with with 78 points. Redshirt junior Lindsey Brewis has had a great redshirt junior campaign as she won the Bradley Pink Classic and posted a new personal-best. Brewis also holds the second-best 5K time in the Valley and earned Athlete of the Week honors twice. Teammate Emma Hatch’s top-time came at the Greater Louisville Classic at the end of September and sits at the 11th-fastest time.
Indiana State sits at the fourth position, getting 67 points. The trio of Alli Workman, Megan Doty and Taylor Austin will lead the Sycamores at this year’s MVC Cross Country Championship. Austin’s performance at the Joe Piane Invitational secured her with the third-fastest time in the Conference. Workman also holds a top-20 performance in the league.
Picked by the coaches as fifth-place is Illinois State with 63 points. The Redbirds hold four times in the top-20 on the MVC 5K Best List in Dakota Roman (ninth), Grace Beattie (12th), Lindsey Lewis (15th-best) and Erica Brown (16th-fastest). At the Bradley Pink Classic, Beattie shaved 34 seconds off her previous personal-best 6K time.
Missouri State notched the sixth spot with a total of 47 points. Jessica Allen, Grace Breiten, Jordyn Capra and Erica Wollmering have run the best 5K times for the Bears during the 2017 season. Allen holds the fastest 5K time in the Valley and Beiten ran the seventh-best.
Southern Illinois earned seventh in the coaches’ poll with 42 points. Megan Krolak has paced the Saluki’s this season and has the eighth-best time in the MVC. Claire Darnell and Kelly O’Shea will be strong competitors during this year’s Championship.
Drake took eighth-place (36 points) while Evansville and Valparaiso finish out the final positions with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Bailee Cofer and Morgan Garcia of Drake are finishing the season strong. Cofer knocked almost 20 seconds off her personal-best 6K time at the Bradley Pink Classic two weekends ago.
Sienna Crews, Anna Lowry and Ashton Bosler have paced the Purple Aces during the 2017 season who all ran their best times at the Austin Peay Invite.
In their first season in the Missouri Valley Conference, Valparaiso’s Kim Heiny has been the team’s first finisher for four races this season. The Crusaders will also look to freshman Sarah Caesar and sophomore Katherine Germann at the Championship.
