TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Last season, Laura Engle's first place finish among Division I runners propelled the ISU women's team to a first place finish at the Bradley Open, while the men's team was led to the team title by Kyle Walsh's third-place finish to complete the Sycamores sweep.  On Friday, both teams will open their 2007 seasons at the 22nd annual Bradley Open looking to get off to good starts once again.  The meet is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Detweiller Park in Peoria, Ill.

Both the men's and women's teams will face off against the host Bradley Braves as well as fellow Missouri Valley Conference foe Northern Iowa in their respective races.  Northern Illinois and Western Illinois will also present tough challenges for the Sycamores among the Division I opponents in the meet.

“This meet should be a very good way to start the season,” said women's head coach John Gartland.  “There are a few less Division I teams competing this year than in previous races, but I still think the field is going to be very competitive.  Northern Iowa and Bradley were both picked ahead of us in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll and Western Illinois should also be very good.  We have a young, but talented team and I am looking forward to seeing how we match up and compete in this first meet.”

On the men's side, nagging injuries have forced head coach John McNichols to hold out several runners for the first meet of the season.  However, he still believes his squad has enough talent to compete for its second-straight title.

“Despite holding out some guys who are a little banged up right now, I'm confident that we are going to field a very competitive team on Friday,” said McNichols.  “This first event will tell us a lot about where we are as a team and it will be vital for the younger members of the squad to post good times.  They need to know how they stack up against good teams and need to get the feel of what it's like to really compete against good runners like the ones they will face in this meet.”