Marquette Cross Country to Compete at Bradley "Pink" Classic

MILWAUKEE- The Marquette University men's and women's cross-country teams are set to compete at Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Illinois, on Friday, Oct. 18. The race will take place at Newman Golf Course.

"This course has the potential to be a fast one if it stays dry," Senior captain Ryan Burd said. "Last year [at the Bradley "Pink" Classic] it rained and there was a little bit of snow, so the course was really muddy. That made the competition more gritty and it effected our footing throughout the race."

The men's 8k white race will begin at 1 p.m., followed by the women's 6k white race at 1:45 p.m. The men's 8k red race begins at 2:30 p.m. and the day concludes with the women's 6k red race beginning at 3:15 p.m.

HISTORY AT THE BRADLEY "PINK" CLASSIC:
The MU men's and women's cross country teams have competed at the Bradley "Pink" Classic in six of the past seven seasons. Last year, the men took ninth out of 33 teams, led by Daniel Pederson's 28^th-place finish.

Mary Hanson led the women's team to a 26^th place finish, taking 23^rd overall out of 298 runners. The women's team had its best-ever finish at this event in 2017, when they placed second overall out of 31 teams with an average 6k time of 21:40.6.

The men's team posted its top finish at the BPC in 2012 when they placed 12^th in the 18-team event. They've finished in the top-10 at Bradley in each of the last two years.

LAST TIME OUT:
On Oct. 5 at the Louisville Classic, the Marquette Golden Eagles women placed fifth (5k) out of 39 teams in the 5k gold race, its best finish in program history at the event. The men's team earned its best finish at the event since 2011, finishing sixth in the gold race.

"The competition we faced in Louisville was the best we've seen all year," Interim head coach Sean Birren said. "For both teams to run the way they did was really impressive. From our seniors down to our freshmen, we we're pretty consistent from top-to-bottom and a lot of kids set PR's."

Senior Caitlin McGauley led the women's team, finishing 28^th out of 324 runners with a 5k time of 17:41.2, followed by the top five MU women who all finished 21 seconds apart.

On the men's side, senior Daniel Pederson led Marquette for the third race in a row, taking 11^th out of 370 runners with a new personal-best time of 23:57.3.

12 of the 13 men's runners and nine of the 13 women's runners achieved personal bests at the Greater Louisville Classic.

"Setting a new personal best is one of the best feelings you can have as a runner," junior Emily Foley said. "We get up for 6 a.m. practice every day to put the work in and try to get better than we were the day before. Then we're going to class all day after that. To see our hard work being rewarded is just such a sweet feeling to have as a student-athlete."

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
Sophomore Kendall Pfrimmer: "This will be our first 6k of the season so we're all trying to get used to that before regionals. As a team the sky is the limit and I think we have a lot left in us for the rest of the season. Individually, I've been on a PR kick lately and I want to try to beat my time from Louisville."

Junior Emily Foley: "We want to execute the race in the same way we did at Louisville. We're making sure we keep working how we have been, take care of our bodies, get enough rest and take our nutrition seriously."

Senior Ryan Burd: "This is the time of year where we're starting to cut down on the mileage a little bit and focus on getting the proper rest and recovery so we're 100 percent ready to compete at the highest level. We want to work hard without overtraining to make sure we're not fatigued for the postseason and can run our fastest times."

UP NEXT:
After Friday's meet, both teams will prepare to compete at the Leatherneck Invitational on Friday, Oct. 25, in their last tune up before hosting the BIG EAST Championships on Nov. 2.

MARQUETTE ENTRIES:

WOMEN:
Sophie Bolich
Anna Buckstaff
Grace Dargiewicz
Mary Rose Flood
Emily Foley
Kalina Gardiner
Kate Jochims
Mallory Lafever
Caitlin McGauley
Emma Moravec
Lauren Neiheisel
Emily Noone
Lauren Pappas
Anna Penzkover
Kendall Pfrimmer
Hannah Ray
Marissa Valentini

MEN:
Patrick Bruch
Ryan Burd
Patrick Burns
Matt Cavanaugh
Jadon Conroy
Brad Eagan
Cade Ferron
Alex Gill
Derek Gross
Jack Hawes
Patrick Hetlage
Johnny Hyland
Jordan Janusiak
Matt Moravec
Daniel Pederson
Danny Peterson
Joshua Urban
Greg Van Hollen

Keep up with the Marquette cross country program through social media by following on Twitter (@MUTFXC) and Instagram (@MUTFXC) and `liking' on Facebook (/MUTFXC).