Houska, Lebrija & Evans Lead Cobbers In Outdoor Opener
Junior Blake Houska and sophomores Ethan Lebrija and Tyler Evans posted event wins to lead Concordia at the outdoor season opener at St. John’s.
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (3/28/26)---58 degrees and sun was the perfect recipe for the start of the outdoor season for the Cobbers.
Junior Blake Houska and sophomores Ethan Lebrija and Tyler Evans posted event wins to lead Concordia at the non-team scored St. John's Optimistic Meet in Collegeville. Houska claimed the crown in the shot put while Lebrija sprinted to first place in the 200 meters and Evans soared to the tile in the pole vault.
The trio was a part of nine Top 3 finishes for the Cobbers in a meet that featured teams from NCAA Division I, II and III.
Houska opened his outdoor account by coming up with a distance of 50-09.50 in the shot put and beat teammate Sam Dioszeghy, who finished second, by almost 2 feet. His winning distance is the top mark in the MIAC this year and a personal best. Dioszeghy's best mark of 48-11.00 is No.2 in the conference.
Houska was also fourth in the hammer throw at 165-03. That mark is No.3 in the MIAC and also a personal best.
Lebrija pulled off a pair of Top 3 sprint finishes at the meet. He won the 200 meters with a time of 22.41 and was third in the 100-meter dash at 11.00.
Senior Nolan Morical pulled off the Top 5 double in both events as well. He was fourth in the 200 at 22.81 and fifth in the 100 with a mark of 11.07.
Evans continued his sophomore success from the indoor season to the first outdoor meet – although the pole vault competition was held inside due to dangerous wind conditions.
Evans cleared the bar at 14-11.00 which was a meet record and the top height in the MIAC this season.
The outdoor season means that 2-sport athletes Eli Hayes and Jacob Pipho can finally come out and play. The pair posted Top 5 marks in the javelin. Hayes was third at 173-04 and Pipho was fourth at 171-05. The teammates are 2-3 in the conference this year.
The hurdle tandem of Hayden Hauf and Ryan Richardson recorded Top 3 finishes in the two hurdle events. Hauf was third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.87 and Richardson crossed the line in 57.00 to claim second place in the 400-meter hurdles.
One of the best non-Top 3 finishes for the Cobbers in the meet came from junior Tyler Goss, who was the top DIII finisher in the 10K with a time of 31:54.63. His finishing mark is a personal best and No.6 on the school's all-time list.
Concordia will head west next weekend to compete in the Al Bortke Open held at the University of Mary in Bismarck.
