PEORIA, Ill. - The Bradley track and field team opens the 2011 indoor season when the Braves head to the Iowa Open in Iowa City, Iowa, Saturday. The meet will be the first of six events for Bradley before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship (Feb. 26 & 27) in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Bradley is one of six teams expected to compete in the Iowa Open, which starts at 11 a.m. with the field events. A total of 15 Braves are expected to compete in eight events during the one-day event. Live scoring for Iowa Open will be available at www.hawkeyesports.com
Senior Mary Goldkamp (Florissant, Mo./McCluer North) returns for the track for the first time since competing in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas, last May and will compete in both the 800 meters and mile during Saturday's action. Freshman Whitney Schumacher (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) is one of five Bradley runners that will join Goldkamp in the mile.
Fellow senior Lauren Fog (Harvard, Ill./Harvard) and freshman Cassie Lohmeier (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) will represent the Braves in the 3K. Fog was part of Bradley's second-place distance medley relay team at the 2010 State Farm MVC Indoor Championship.
Bradley kicks off the indoor season with three consecutive events at Big 10 schools beginning with this weekend's Iowa Open. The Braves make the first of back-to-back trips to Champaign, Ill., next weekend for the Illini Classic (Jan. 21 & 22), before taking part in the Illinois Intercollegiate (Jan. 29) in Champaign, Ill.
A trip to South Bend, Ind., for the Meyo Invitational (Feb. 5) falls before the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa (Feb. 11 & 12). Bradley's final tune up for the MVC Indoor Championship will be Feb. 18 at the UWM Panther Invite in Milwaukee, Wis., and the 2011 Valley Indoor Championship is slated for Feb. 26 & 27 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The Braves will run at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind., March 5 and the NCAA Indoor Championships will be held March 11 & 12 in College Station, Texas.
