Bradley Harkrader

Height:
5-8
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Westminster, Colo.
High School:
Thornton

COLLEGE?2007: Harkrader had a slow start to the 2007 season, but made an impact on the team by the end. He started off by taking 12^th at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and was the eighth Buff across the finish. Harkrader took top honors at the Air Force Invite, clocking a time of 25:27.30. He scored for the Buffs in the next three meets. At the Big 12 Championships, he was 16^th overall, just missing out all-conference honors, as CU’s No. 5 racer. He was the fourth Buff to cross the finish at regionals and nationals. At regionals, he placed 12^th overall and earned his second all-region honor. At NCAA’s, he placed 92^ndand was the fourth Buff to cross the finish.

2006: Harkrader was CU’s sixth runner in three races. At pre-nationals, he took 57th overall. Harkrader earned his best finish of the season and his first all-region honor by placing 22nd at the NCAA Mountain Region. He also took 152nd at nationals. Harkrader placed 53rd at the Big 12 Championships as CU’s ninth harrier.

2005: Redshirt. Did not compete.

2004: As a true first-year runner, he scored in three races in ?04. Harkrader is following in a strong freshman lineage that include recent froshes Jorge Torres (1999), Dathan Ritzenhein (2001), Billy Nelson (2002) and Brent Vaughn (2003). He was the top newcomer, seventh overall, in CU’s Rocky Mountain Shootout and 34th overall, in a field of 256 at Pre-Nats. He pulled out of the conference championships the morning of the race with a sore foot, but rebounded two weeks later to finish 12th and score as the Buffs’ third runner at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. In his first NCAA championship, he finished 121st, as CU’s seventh runner, after covering the Wabash Valley 10k course in 32:50.07.

HIGH SCHOOL: As a freshman, Harkrader was a second-team All-Front Range League performer in cross country before turning in first-team finishes as a sophomore and before winning the league and regional crowns as a junior and senior. He was also named all-region and all-state as a junior and senior. He was the Rocky Mountain News runner of the year following his senior campaign. The Trojans were the 2002 and ’03 Front Range League Cross Country Champions. Harkrader won the 5A State Cross Country title in state best 14 minutes, 49.4 seconds, a meet record previously held by 1998 NCAA Champion and 2000 Olympian Adam Goucher (14:54.7) and was named USA Track and Field’s Athlete of the Week as a result. He concluded his prep career with a fourth place finish at the 2003 Foot Locker Midwest Regionals in a time of 15:19 before an All-American 12th place finish at nationals in San Diego in 15:24. Harkrader’s prs in the 5k cross country (14:49), 1,600-m (4:18) and 3,200-m (9:75) double as Thornton HS records and all were ran in state championship races in 2003 and 2004.

IN THE CLASSROOM: In the classroom, he is a four-year Front Range League All-Academic team member and a member of the National Honor Society. A chemical engineering major at Colorado, he has a 3.27 grade point average and has been a member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

PERSONAL: Born May 1, 1986 in Louisville, Colo., Bradley James Harkrader is the son of Ronald and Karyn Harkrader of Westminster. His older sister Aubrey attends UC-Colorado Springs and another sister, Kristen, attends Thornton High School. His hobbies include running and road biking.