McLean County Times

Junior Nora Brady set a new Illinois State University record in the women's 6K at the Bradley Pink Classic, held Friday in Peoria. Brady finished fifth overall with a time of 20:38.89, surpassing her previous personal best by more than a minute and breaking the school record set last year by Mattison Plummer by two seconds.

"Big performance today by Nora," head coach Jeff Bovee said. "She has been ready to perform and put it all together today. I'm so proud of her. More to come as we head into the postseason."

Other members of the Illinois State women's cross country team also saw significant improvements. Freshmen Pauline Schedler and Cameron Crump both lowered their best times by over 30 seconds, while fifth-year Viviana Sanfilippo improved by nearly 30 seconds. Sophomore Astrid Van Breedam was the team's final point scorer, finishing 73rd with a time of 21:56.02.

Bovee commented on their progress: "Really pleased with Vivi, Cameron and Pauline," he said. "Huge improvements by them all. Pauline was the second-best freshman in the field. Vivi and Cameron filled new roles with a couple of teammates struggling with illness. They stepped up big time."

On the men's side, sophomore Julian Baker led Illinois State for the second consecutive race, placing 20th in the 8K with a time of 24:33.32. Junior Cayde de Waal followed closely behind in 22nd place at 24:36.46. Other notable performances included sophomores Will Gelon (42nd), Luke Barham (88th), and true freshman Logan Scott (95th), who achieved a personal best of 25:37.53.

"Strong front two for the men with Julian and Cayde leading the way again this week," Bovee said. "Our men struggled today after number two, and we need to become more dependable as we go into MVC."

Both Illinois State teams placed sixth overall at the meet, with eleven Redbird runners finishing among the top 100 in their respective races.

The Redbirds will next compete at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships hosted by Evansville on October 31.