Redbirds Take to the Course for Bradley Pink Classic

PEORIA, Ill. – After a pair of strong races at the Gans Creek Classic two weeks ago, the Illinois State cross country squads travel to nearby Peoria to compete in the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday afternoon.

The women's 6,000-meter race begins at 3:00 p.m., while the men's 8,000-meter race goes off at 3:45 p.m.

THE FIELD

There are 38 schools competing on the women's side for the Bradley Pink Classic, and 35 men's squads. Among the schools in the field including: Augustana (W), Bellarmine (M / W), Bradley (M / W), Cincinnati (W), Drake (M / W), Eastern Illinois (M / W), Grand Valley State (M / W), Green Bay (M / W), Illinois (M / W), Illinois State (M / W), Indiana State (M / W), IUPUI (M / W), Lindenwood (M / W), Louisville (M / W), Loyola (M / W), Marquette (M / W), Miami (Ohio) (M / W), Milwaukee (M / W), Murray State (M / W), North Dakota (M / W), North Dakota State (M / W), Northern Kentucky (M / W),  Northern Iowa (M / W), Northwestern (W), Oakland (M / W), Purdue Fort Wayne (M / W), SEMO (M / W), SIUE (M / W), St. Thomas (M / W), South Dakota State (M / W), Southern Illinois (M / W), Southern Indiana (M / W), UIC (M / W), Valparaiso (M / W), Western Illinois (M / W), Western Michigan (W), Wichita State (M / W), Wright State (M), Xavier (M / W), 

LAST TIME AT THE EVENT

The Redbirds have competed at the Bradley Classic event every season since at least 2005. Last season the Redbird women placed sixth at the event, while the men placed 11th. ISU had 16 runners record personal-best times during the race, as Ailey Mitchell finished 19th overall with a 6,000-mter time of 21:30.2. On the men's side the 'Birds were led by Charlie Wetzel who finished 52nd in a time of 25:02.2.

ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – WOMEN

Mackenzie Brownrigg (Sr.) // Maddi Exline (5th) // Claire Fuhlhage (r-Sr.) // Ashley Heagy (So.) // Rachel Hickey (5th) // Caroline Meyers (r-Sr.) // Ailey Mitchell (Jr.) // Mattison Plummer (So.) // Lauren Schulze (So.) in the Red race, while Jenna Gruber (So.) // Maggie Reed (Fr.) // Vivianna Sanfilippo (So.), and Kendy Ummel (Jr.) are competing in the White race.

ILLINOIS STATE STARTING LINE – MEN

Yusuf Baig (Fr.) // Mathis Chavand (r-So.) Charlie Kistner (Jr.) // Tyler Klouda (Sr.) // Zack Loomis (So.) // Joe Morrison (Sr.) // Baptiste Tardiveau (Jr.) // Charlie Wetzel (So.) // Jordan Wood (5th) are all entered in the Red race, while Julian Head (So.) // Jeff Luka (Fr.) // Charles Murphy (So.) // Connor Murphy (Fr.) // Tyler Polak (Sr.) // Harris Porter (Jr.) // Garrett Slack (Fr.) are competing in the White Race.

LAST TIME OUT

Behind 11 different runners setting career-bests, the Illinois State men's and women's cross country teams put together strong performances at the 2022 Gans Creek Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri. Baptiste Tardiveau ran to a time of 24:14.0 for 8,000-meters, which makes him the sixth-fastest 8,000-meter runner in program history, and he placed 21st. Zack Loomis eclipsed the 25-minute plateau for the first time in his career in a time of 24:48.3, nearly 40 seconds better than his previously-best 5-mile time, crossing the tape in 69th place. Tyler Klouda also went sub-25 minutes for the first time in his career in a time of 24:58.4 to take 80th. Mathis Chavand became the third first-time member of the under-25-minute club during the race when the freshman ran the five miles in a time of 24:59.5 to place 85th.

Caroline Meyers ran a time of 21:24.0 over the 6,000-meter course, which puts her as the eighth-fasts 6k runner in program history, as she placed 36th overall. Claire Fuhlhage – who also ran a career-best time with a 21:28.0 – finished 39th overall and just outside of the top-10 10k runner in program history. Ailey Mitchell – with a time of 21:37.9 – narrowly missed a career-best while placing 49th. Rachel Hickey – in her first completed race of the season – placed 77th overall in a time of 21:58.2.

FOLLOW LIVE

Keep track of the Redbirds at the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday morning by clicking the link HERE.

UP NEXT

The ISU harriers lace up their spikes again next week at the Illini Open, before a week later - on October 28 - the squad travels to Terre Haute, Indiana, to compete at the 2022 MVC Championships.

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