PEORIA, Ill. -- Freshman women's cross country runner Sarah McMahon (Colfax, Wis./Colfax) earned Junior All-American honors after finishing eighth at the USA Junior National Cross Country Championships in St. Louis this past weekend.

McMahon covered the 6K course in 21:40.3, which would rank fifth in school history among the all-time performances, and was eighth overall in the field.  She was five seconds out of fifth and is an alternate to represent Team USA at the North American, Central American Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships March 17 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. 

"Sarah ran a smart and strong race," said Bradley cross country/track & field head coach Marc Burns.  "The conditions were tough and she showed great patience in moving up throughout the race to finish eighth.  She continues to get better each training cycle and her finish is evidence that she has emerged as a national level runner.  We will continue to develop her slowly and prepare her to be a factor up front at the Missouri Valley Championships next fall."

The third freshman in program history to earn All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, McMahon finished seventh at the MVC Cross Country Championship in the fall and was Bradley's top finisher in five of six races in her first season on The Hilltop. 

McMahon and the Bradley track and field team will be back in action Friday at the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tune-Up in the team's final indoor meet before next week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship.