Men Finish 19th at Bradley Pink Classic, Continue Battle With DuPage

Peoria, IL: The Harper men's cross country team continued its 2026 campaign Friday at the Bradley Pink Classic, hosted by Bradley University at Newman Golf Course. Competing in the Men's White 8K race, the Hawks finished 19th overall with 517 points and an average team time of 27:34.

Harper finished behind College of DuPage, which placed 16th with 463 points and an average time of 26:53. Despite the team result, the Hawks continued to compete closely with DuPage, with several Harper runners working to close the gap throughout the race.

Ryan Golden led Harper, finishing 47th overall in 25:47.9. Golden made a strong push over the final kilometer, closing the gap on DuPage's Michael Gamboa, who finished 45th in 25:46.2. After trailing Gamboa by more than 30 seconds through much of the race, Golden finished just 1.7 seconds behind him.

"I started the race in 146th and spent the whole race closing gaps on DuPage runners. When I passed the second DuPage runner, I started to get in my head and thought Gamboa was out of the picture. With about a mile to go, I noticed a DuPage uniform. This gave me more motivation to keep pushing and catch Gamboa, and I only missed him by 1.7 seconds," Golden said.

Sebastian Welc was Harper's second finisher, placing 91st in 26:28.7. Looking ahead to the team's remaining races, Welc believes Harper can continue improving and challenge DuPage's top runners.

"I am sure I can run with Ryan to beat DuPage's top runner. I think the rest of the team can do better as well," Welc said.

Mozart Ontiveros followed in 27:24.3, continuing to build experience and confidence as the season progresses.

"I have gained a lot of confidence since my first 8k, this past week wasn't my best performance but it was close to my personal best, but I'm also not completely satisfied with this season yet so I hope I can run better or at least faster with the last two races of the season," Ontiveros said.

Ethan Waddell finished fourth for the Hawks in 27:41.9, just 17.6 seconds behind Ontiveros. Waddell said he kept his teammate in sight throughout the race and used him as a target.

"I saw Mozzy pretty much the whole race, and my goal was to just keep him in my eyesight and hopefully reel him in and be with him at the finish," Waddell said.

Kevin Martinez rounded out Harper's scoring five with a time of 30:32.3. Nestor Sanchez completed the Harper lineup in 32:06.4.

"As Harper's fifth runner, the responsibility of contributing to the team motivates me a lot, because it keeps me focused and motivated to keep bringing my time down and hope for a time that will satisfy not only me, but my teammates as well," Martinez said.

With the Bradley Pink Classic behind them, the Hawks will look to continue improving as they approach the final races of the season. Harper will aim to close the scoring gap with DuPage and build momentum heading into the NJCAA Division III National Championships in November.

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Players Mentioned

Ryan Golden: Sophomore

Ethan Waddell: Sophomore

Sebastian Welc: Sophomore

Mozart Ontiveros: Freshman

Kevin Martinez: Freshman

Nestor Sanchez: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ryan Golden
: Sophomore

Ethan Waddell
: Sophomore

Sebastian Welc
: Sophomore

Mozart Ontiveros
: Freshman

Kevin Martinez
: Freshman

Nestor Sanchez
: Freshman