Thoughts on Bradley and Tulsa

Jimmy78 wrote:

Looking for some insight into the Bradley and Tulsa running programs, as well as any insight you may have into the universities themselves. Both of these programs appear to be developing some fast runners, and look to be pretty stable from an outside perspective.

Trying to start narrowing down the college search to some of the more prominent Midwest D1 running schools, but don't want to be lost in the shuffle of a huge roster. Any thoughts on other programs or great coaches to consider would also be appreciated.

I can give outsider perspective on Bradley. It is a large, combined, distance-oriented program. Inherently, it is going to be easy for an average freshman to be just another guy in the pack. That said, most freshmen are overlooked before being able to contribute, so it’s nice that you’d at least have plenty of training partners.

There’s also been a lot of turnover with the head coaches, although each successor has continued to have success with the program.

The focus on XC has a major drawback though: you’ll never be a part of a conference winning track team.

Thank you! I appreciate the insight. I definitely understand the strong XC program vs success in big track meets dynamic. It is a bummer, but with the limited scholarships available I guess it's almost inevitable in a lot of cases.

Have never heard of Bradley. What have they achieved lately?

Very solid finish at Midwest XC, conference XC champs, some impressive times this year at indoor distance events. Looks like they have taken solid runners to a very respectable level. Short sample size I know, but just sharing what I have seen this year.

Bradley had 2 make xc nats from midwest region this year. Some pretty solid indoor times considering they don't have an indoor facility.

Bradley has a good coach and good distance runners. They utilize trails and golf courses for their training and they host several xc meets. They don’t have an indoor facility and they share an outdoor track but they still manage to develop guys during indoor.

Tulsa is a very solid academic school in a medium sized city with plenty to do. Speaking as a foreign athlete, I was shocked at how kind the people in Tulsa are (and Oklahoma in general). The coaching is great, and you'll likely have training partners that will be on the national collegiate scene- i.e. O'Hare, Scott, etc. There are multiple areas to run, but really only one that is a soft path. It's a flat 15 miles of gravel along a river.

Thank you for the information. Very much appreciate it.

Bradley is distance focused but has added a few 200 400 runners recently. They will dominate the men’s Mvc indoor this year in distance events, possibly winning 400,800,mile, 3000, 5000 and DMr. Their cross country team is loaded for years to come. Virtually all their school records have been broken in the last 2 years. Small school, good academics. They’re routinely getting sub 9:20/ 4:15 kids now. They go to large competitive meets in all 3 sports. They ran 9:32 DMr this weekend at Notre dame.

Just another Brit wrote:

Speaking as a foreign athlete, I was shocked at how kind the people in Tulsa are (and Oklahoma in general).

That's because you are white.

Tulsa has a great program. Produced lots of successful runners. Very solid freshman class this year. The program is on the rise. Lots of dedicated GRINDERS.....specifically one handsome slender 800m runner who wears glasses, studies physics, and brings his lunch pail to every practice. August is the perfect combo of talent and hard work....total package.

Pope T-Bag II wrote:

Just another Brit wrote:

Speaking as a foreign athlete, I was shocked at how kind the people in Tulsa are (and Oklahoma in general).

That's because you are white.

Nah. We aren't THAT racist until you hit south of Norman, so Tulsa is just fine.

Do you care about the quality of academics?

Bradley info wrote:

Bradley has a good coach and good distance runners. They utilize trails and golf courses for their training and they host several xc meets. They don’t have an indoor facility and they share an outdoor track but they still manage to develop guys during indoor.

If you don't mind, what trails do they use? The university itself is smack-dab in the middle of Peoria. I know there are some trails surrounding the city and some great dirt roads once you get out in the country, but I would have imagined a fair amount of their daily running would be done on roads around campus.

This is in no way a knock on the program. I'm just genuinely curious and looking for somewhere new to run next time I'm in town. Thanks!

The Rock Island trail is a former railroad on the north side of town. It is great for long runs or tempo runs. Bradley hosts 3 meets at Donovan Park (a former golf course turned trails), Detweiller Park, and Newman Golf Course (they run intervals here).

Bradley Info wrote:

The Rock Island trail is a former railroad on the north side of town. It is great for long runs or tempo runs. Bradley hosts 3 meets at Donovan Park (a former golf course turned trails), Detweiller Park, and Newman Golf Course (they run intervals here).

Cool, thanks! I knew about the others but not Donovan Park. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm down that way.