Dupage Policy Journal

With the end of the cross-country season, the Wheaton College men and women’s track and field team head indoors to prepare for the upcoming indoor track and field season.

Head coach Scott Bradley told the DuPage Policy Journal he is excited for the teams to get back to work after the end of the cross-country season.

“We’re excited to get going again,” Bradley said. “The students right now are doing finals and there’s not much track action going on right now. After Christmas break, we’ll ramp things up and then the first meet will be at the end of January. We are really looking forward to the season.”

The indoor track and field season will begin Jan. 26 when the Thunder take part in the Carthage College Tad Metzger Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. Bradley said that without a true indoor practice facility, getting the team ready for the indoor season is an added challenge.

“The team is really varied, and there’s a lot of different events,” Bradley said. “The distance runners will be working outside putting in a lot of miles, sprinters and most everyone else will be inside. We don’t have a true indoor facility, so it’s a little hard to beat the schools that do have quality indoor facilities, but we want to do as best we can.”

Last season, the women’s team won the conference title, and Bradley said he is looking forward to seeing how they perform this year, especially the distance runners.

“Our lady’s cross-country team is coming off a really good season, so our distance runners will be coming off the momentum of that,” he said. “They had a good year last season, and we have a lot of people coming back this year, and I don’t think it’s unrealistic to be shooting for that same goal.”

Bradley said he thinks the women will be especially strong in distance events this year with the addition of freshman cross-country runner Hannah Roeske. 

“Hannah Roeske is one of our top distance runners, she was an All-American in cross-country as a freshman and we think she’ll really do some great things for us on the track,” Bradley said. “Some other distance runners who we think could do well for us include Aryn Embretson won the indoor 5K last year, and I’m looking for really good things from her this year. “

The men’s side finished in fourth place last year, and Bradley said he thinks the team improves upon last year’s finish.

“This year I think finishing in third place is a realistic goal,” Bradley said. “The top two teams in the conference are probably out of reach, but I think we can still be competitive. Adam Terrini will be key for the men’s side this year. He runs the 400 meter and got second in the conference last year. He should be competitive again this year.” 

Overall, Bradley said he is looking forward to the indoor season and is excited to see how the new members of the team will perform and how the returning members of the team will do this year.