CEDAR FALLS – Bradley claims the 2024 MVC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship titles after claiming seven all-conference honors and three all-conference honorable mention honors as a program. These team titles mark the Braves fourteenth MVC cross country titles as a program (seventh women’s and seventh men’s). This is the first time both men's and women's teams have secured both team titles since the 2022 conference championships, won by the Braves. This is also the third time in MVC history that both men's and women's cross country team champions have scored the same total, but the first time in MVC history that both team champions have scored the same total from the same institution. The women finished five in the top fifteen of the race earning four all-conference spots and one all-conference honorable mention spot. Led by Sophomore Kaitlyn Sheppard’s third place finishing time of 20:27.2. Freshman Sophia Cino claimed the women’s freshman of the year title for the Braves as well, as the highest finishing freshman of the meet with a thirteenth-place individual finish. The Bradley women finished the meet with a total score of 42.
For the men, the Braves finished five in the top fifteen of the meet as well, marking all-conference honors for three runners and two all-conference honorable mention honors. The Braves were led by sophomore Jayde Rosslee’s finishing time of 23:25.0, earning him third individually. Travis Graffney also claimed the freshman of the year honors for the Braves finishing thirtieth individually with a time of 24:24.9. The Bradley men finished the meet with a total score of 42 as a team.
Emma Gresham of Indiana State claimed the individual MVC Champion title for the Sycamores, finishing with a time of 20:09.7 for the fastest women’s time at the MVC Championship since the 2020-21 championship. Gresham becomes the first Sycamore to claim the individual title since 2003, where Jessica Crowder marked a time of 17:09. Gresham also earned high honors as the MVC Elite 18 award recipient with her 4.00 GPA in Environmental Geoscience.
William Sinclair of Illinois State claimed the individual MVC Champion title for the Redbirds, after marking a time of 23:09.9. This marks the fastest time ran at the Valley Championship since at least 2000 and the first time in the 23-minute marker since 2018, where Josh Maier of Southern Illinois clocked a time of 23:57.3. Sinclair is also the first Redbird to claim the individual title for the men since the 2020-21 championship. Teammate Mathis Chavand aided the Redbirds to a second-place team finish earning runner-up honors at a time of 23:16.5. Chavand also earned high honors as the Elite 18 award recipient with his 3.89 GPA in Political Science.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
Final Team Standings:
UP NEXT – The Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Programs gear up to compete in the NCAA regional meets for the chance to claim their spot at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country National Championships in Verona, Wisconsin at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
Regional Sites - November 15th:
- Great Lakes - Cleveland, Ohio - hosted by The Mid-American Conference
- Indiana State, Evansville, Valparaiso
- Midwest - Peoria, Illinois - hosted by Bradley
- Bradley, Drake, UIC, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois
- South - Tallahassee, Florida - hosted by Florida State
- Southeast - Rock Hill, South Carolina - hosted by Winthrop