SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State women's cross country team will be back in action this weekend when it competes at the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday, Oct. 15. Bradley University will host the classic which will be held at Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill.
The meet will feature two heats for the women, with the first race kicking off at 1:30 p.m. The second heat will begin at 3 p.m. and will feature each school's top athletes. Missouri State will send 14 total women to the meet with seven competing in each race.
Friday's race will be the Bears' first time competing at the classic since 2018, when the team finished in 18th place out of 39 schools. This year, MSU will run against 36 schools for its team competition.
"This should be a highly competitive meet with a lot of teams that we'll also see at our Midwest regional meet in a month," said head coach Jordan Fife. "I'm looking forward to seeing how our non-conference group finishes off their competitive season as well. They've all worked really hard this season I'm hopeful they can all go out there and leave with something to show for it."
MSU is coming off the Chile Pepper Festival two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Ark., where several Bears made big strides. Edna Dar solidified her place as MSU's top finisher, leading the team for the third-straight meet (17:45.4). She finished in 39th place out of the field of 322 runners. Sierra Williams (18:07.2) and Shelby Palmer (18:08.1) were the next finishers for the Bears, with the latter shaving over 20 seconds off her former career best, achieved this season as well. MSU's fourth finisher, Alex Hamre, ended the day with a time of 18:30.6, another personal best from her previous one recorded two weeks earlier.
"We're feeling really confident going into this meet," added Fife. "Our training is continuing to go well and we're always appreciative of the opportunity to go out and compete. With eight other conference schools in attendance this should give us a really good idea what we can expect two weeks from now."
The Bradley Pink Classic will also be MSU's first 6-kilometer race of the 2021 season, as the Bears prepare for the Missouri Vally Conference Championships in two weeks.
