Illinois State XC Set to Finish Regular Season at Bradley Pink Classic

Written by Jakob Stegmiller on October 15, 2026

Image courtesy of Illinois State athletics

PEORIA, Ill. — The Illinois State cross-country team will compete in their final meet of the regular season at the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday at Newman Golf Course.

The Redbird men’s team will begin at noon, with two runners competing in the men’s white 8k race. The rest of the team will compete in the red 8k race at 1:30 p.m. The women’s team will begin shortly after in the red 6k race at 2:15 p.m

You can follow the live results through Shazam Racing. The event will also be streaming on ESPN+, beginning at noon.

This will be the sixth-consecutive year that the Redbird’s compete in the Bradley Pink Classic. Their last time out there was in 2025 where both men and women squad’s placed in sixth. Junior Julian Baker led the Redbird men 24:33.32 in the 8k for 20th place. Senior Nora Brady still holds the current program record with a time of 20:38.89 in the 6k, finishing fifth among all women.

The Redbirds’ last race was at the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Indiana. The men’s team placed fifth in the blue 8k race, while the women’s team finished 11th in the blue 5k race.

Baker led the men’s team in consecutive meets, finishing with a personal-best time of 23:26.5 for 10th place. This was the second time in his collegiate career where he accomplished the feat, following the Gans Creek Classic and Bradley Pink Classic in 2025.

Senior Norah Brady also looks to build on her last performance, in which she led the Redbird’s women team for the second consecutive meet in South Bend. She finished with a personal-record time of 17:07.98 for 46th place.

The Redbird women enter this week ranked 13th in the Midwest Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), while the Redbird men are ranked 12th in the Week 4 NCAA DI Cross Country Regional Rankings.

More than 20 collegiate programs from various conferences will compete in the men’s and women’s red races. Familiar Missouri Valley Conference programs include Bradley, Drake, Illinois-Chicago, and Northern Iowa.

STARTING LINE – WOMEN

Nora Brady (Sr.) // Cameron Crump (So.) // Johanna Ebert (Jr.) // Grace Erb (Sr.) // Becca Heitzig (Jr.) // Emily King (Fr.) // Pauline Schedler (So.) // Astrid Van Breedam (Jr.)

STARTING LINE – MEN

Julian Baker (Jr.) // Luke Barham (Jr., Open) // Quinn Davis (So.) // Cayde de Waal (Sr.) // Ethan Eichhorn (Jr.) // Will Gelon (Jr.) // Karson Hollander (Sr.) // Blake Oleson (Sr.) // Ethan Reynoso (Sr.) // Alex Rodriguez (Fr.) // Kane Shields (Sr., Open) // Max Weber (Fr.)

For all thins Illinois State Cross Country, stay tuned to WZND.com