After moving into the top-10 in program history in the 8K at the Bradley Intercollegiate two weeks ago, redshirt junior Alexander Bruno (Bloomington, Ill./University) topped himself on Saturday, breaking Valpo’s 8K record which has stood for 17 years as the Valparaiso University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in their third meet of the season at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky.

How It Happened

• Bruno continued his historic form this Saturday, earning a top-50 finish against some of the top runners in the nation. His record-setting time read 24:51.8, surpassing Valpo Hall of Famer Aaron Crague, who set the previous mark in 2001 at 24:55.
• The rest of the men’s team rallied behind Bruno again, as each top-five finisher for Valpo set personal records. The average time for the men’s top five rounded out to an impressive 25:36.2.

• Freshman Ignacio Veloz-Bonilla (San Juan, P.R./American Military Academy) impressed once again, completing the circuit in 25:34.7. He finished in 98^th place overall, and his freshman teammate Jack Worman (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) finished just six runners behind him, stopping the clock at 25:37.5.
• Sophomore Dominic Paoletti (Monroe, Mich./Monroe St. Mary) also finished just outside of the top-100 runners on the afternoon, placing 109^th overall, and was the fourth Valpo runner to finish, doing so in 25:39.4.

• In the women’s race, Katherine Germann (Cincinnati, Ohio/Finneytown) kept up her strong 2018 season, finishing within the top-100 Saturday morning. She crossed the finish in 18:29.1, good for 81^st overall.

• Sophomore Sarah Caesar(Fox River Grove, Ill./Cary-Grove) was the second Valpo runner to finish, doing so in 20:00.4, while Sarah Messerschmidt (Tower Lakes, Ill./Barrington) came in not too far behind Caesar at 20:42.8. 

Up Next

Valpo will look ahead to their next scheduled meet on Friday, Oct. 12, where they will travel back to Peoria, Ill. to compete in the Bradley Pink Classic. The women’s race is scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m., followed by the men’s race at 4 p.m.