The Valparaiso women’s track and field team completed its final tuneup for the upcoming Horizon League Championships on Saturday, making the short trip south to compete at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Crusaders boasted a pair of top-six finishers in the 800m run Saturday.  Senior Alyssa Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) led the way with a podium finish, coming home third in a season-best time of 2:21.00.  Fellow senior Windy Santa Cruz (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) followed shortly thereafter, crossing the line in 2:30.51, good for sixth place and also setting a new season-best in the event.

Freshman Danisha Nunn (Indianapolis, Ind./Covenant Christian) also stood out on the track at Purdue, placing eighth in the 60m dash with a time of 8.51 seconds in the finals.  On the infield Saturday, redshirt junior Ini Umana (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) paced Valpo in both throwing events, placing 12th in the weight throw (46’6”) and 16th in the shot put (34’5 ¾”).

Valparaiso has been tuning up all season for the 2010 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships, to be contested next Saturday and Sunday, February 27 and 28 in Ann Arbor, Mich.  The two-day meet begins on the 27th at 8 a.m. CST.