West Central Reporter

After a week without competition, the Western Illinois cross country team is set to compete at the Bradley Pink Classic. The event will take place at the Newman Golf Course in Peoria on Friday, starting with the women's 6k race at 3 p.m., followed by the men's 8k race at 3:45 p.m.

The Bradley Pink Classic is known for its strong competition, drawing over 30 Division I teams from across the Midwest this year. Western Illinois, known as the Leathernecks, will compete against four other Summit League schools: North Dakota, North Dakota State, St. Thomas, and South Dakota State.

In last year's event, Western Illinois saw personal record performances on the women's side. Paulina Wuestefeld was a standout performer with a time of 22 minutes and 42.6 seconds. The team returns three men and three women who participated last year and hopes for improved performances.

Head coach Trey Brokaw expressed his pride in the team's progress: "I am really proud of how the team has improved this year. Our returners have worked so hard to come back better than ever, and our freshmen show up every day excited to compete their best." He anticipates not only individual improvements but also better overall team scores.

Junior Logan Lommel aims to break the men's 8k school record, currently standing at 24:24 set by Michael Castel in 2012. Senior Paulina Wuestefeld also targets a school record in the women's 6k after running a close second-best time in school history earlier this season.

"This is Logan's first year of cross country in his entire life," Brokaw noted. "We are all excited to see what he can do the rest of this season." On Wuestefeld's prospects, he said, "Paulina has been able to stay healthy and string a lot of quality work together."

The Fighting Leathernecks will conclude their regular season with this meet before heading to the Summit League Championship at the University of North Dakota on October 29th.