Alyssa Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) and Laura Rolf (Rochester, Mich./Lutheran Northwest) each earned individual event victories on Friday evening as the Valparaiso women’s track and field squad competed at the Mike Lints Alumni Open, hosted by Grand Valley State.

Bradford broke the tape in the one mile run, crossing the line with a time of 5:28.41.  She took the victory by a mere two one-hundredths of a second, as teammate Sara Christensen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) followed in the runner-up spot in 5:28.43.  Whitney Bowman (Portage, Ind./Portage [Purdue]) made it three Crusaders in the top-ten, completing the race in 5:47.74, good for ninth place.

Rolf, in her first track meet since earning All-American honors indoors in 2007, easily outpaced the field on Friday to capture top honors in the 3,000m run.  The senior crossed the line in 9:51.17, nearly 40 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.  Caitlin Sauerhage (Rising Sun, Ind./Rising Sun [Indiana]) placed eighth in the same event with a time of 11:24.59, while Bowman added her second top-ten of the meet, placing ninth with a time of 11:27.43.

Amanda Body (Harlan, Ky./Harlan) recorded a pair of top-ten finishes in the sprints as well for the Crusaders.  The senior registered a third-place showing in the 200m dash, crossing the line in 25.92 seconds, and posted a time of 7.99 seconds in the event finals of the 60m dash, good for sixth place.

The Valparaiso women return to the track next weekend on Saturday, January 24 at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich.  The meet is slated for a 9 a.m. start.