Chelsea Handles Records At MIAC Meet

ST. PAUL, Minn. (3/03/12)—Concordia freshman Chelsea Klemetson went prime time at the MIAC Championship Meet as she set a school and conference record and qualified for the NCAA National Meet. Klemetson's feats helped the Cobbers finish ninth at the conference meet held at Macalester.

Klemetson's award-winning production came in the high jump on Saturday. She leapt to a height of 5-06.50 which broke the 31-year-old Cobber school record by .50 inches. Her mark also broke the conference record at the meet. Despite her jaw-breaking performance, Klemetson ended up finishing second in the vent because she tied for the top height but had more misses at the lower heights. The even better news for Klemetson was that her height qualified her for the NCAA National Meet. She is currently ranked seventh in the nation.

The other national-qualifying performance at the meet was turned in by junior multi-event athlete Kaari Jensen. Jensen kicked off the conference meet by posting a score of 3,314 points in the pentathlon. Her mark was good for second place in the event and was also the sixth best in all of Division III for the year. In addition it is the second highest pentathlon total in school history. Jensen had a pair of program top 10 marks during the event. She ran a 9.45 in the 60-meter hurdles which is the third fastest in school history and had the 10^th highest mark in the high jump (5-01.75). Jensen also went on to score team points in the 60-meter hurdles and as part of the 4x200-meter relay.

Concordia had three other field athletes earn All-Conference or All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. Trina Gerzema and Hilary Thompson both posted third-place finishes in jumping events and both had all-time top 10 marks. Gerzema had a distance of 17-09.00 in the long jump which ties for the seventh best in school history while Thompson recorded a mark of 36-11.75 in the triple jump. That distance is third best in program history. Sophomore Olivia Decker came away with a sixth-place finish in the pentathlon with a total of 2,757 points.   

The Cobbers had a pair of relay teams record all-time best times.  The 4x2000-meter relay team of Jensen, Thompson, Gina Weiss and Tatijana MullerDahlberg raced to a 1:47.99 which is the third best in the history of the program. The distance medley relay quartet of Paige Rygg, Megan Hoffman, Ana Sather, Liz Hanson earned MIAC All-Conference Honorable mention honors by placing fourth in a time of 12:47.32. That mark is the No.6 mark on the school's all-time list.  

The top track finish came from sophomore Callie Christianson who was ninth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:26.50.

Klemetson and Jenson will now compete at the NCAA Championship Meet on Mar. 9-10 at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. Klemetson will take part in the high jump competition which takes place on Friday, Mar. 9 at 4:30 p.m. Jenson's national meet experience will be an all-day affair in the pentathlon on Friday.       
       

Final MIAC Meet Team Standings
1. St. Thomas - 164.0
2. Carleton - 114.0
3. St. Olaf - 97.0
4. Bethel - 85.0
5. Saint Benedict - 74.0
6. Hamline - 70.0
7. Gustavus - 46.0
8. Macalester - 43.5
9. Concordia - 43.0
10. St. Catherine - 21.0
11. Augsburg - 13.5
12. Saint Mary's - 9.0

COBBER NOTABLES:

MIAC CHAMPION:
None

MIAC RECORD:
High Jump – Chelsea Klemetson – 5-6.5 (1.69m)
(same record height as MIAC winner but finishes 2^nd based on misses)

MIAC ALL-CONFERENCE (places 1-3 + 1st place relays only):
2^nd - High Jump – Chelsea Klemetson – 5-6.5 (1.69m)
2^nd – Pentathlon – Kaari Jensen – 3314 points
3^rd – Long Jump – Trina Gerzema - 17-9 (5.41m)
3^rd – Triple Jump – Hilary Thompson – 36-11.75 (11.27m)

MIAC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION (places 4-6 & relay places 2-6):
4^th - Distance Medley Relay – Paige Rygg, Megan Hoffman, Ana Sather, Liz Hanson – 12:47.32
6^th – Pentathlon – Olivia Decker – 2757 points

OTHER SCORERS (places 7-8)
7^th – 60 Hurdles – Kaari Jensen – 9.68 (9.63 prelims)
7^th – 4x200 Relay – Kaari Jensen, Hilary Thompson, Gina Weiss, Tatijana MullerDahlberg – 1:47.99
8^th – Long Jump – Kaari Jensen – 16-3.25 (4.96m)
8^th – Triple Jump – Tatijana MullerDahlberg – 35-8.75 (10.89m)
8^th – Pole Vault – Tessa Comstock – 10-0.75 (3.07m)

NCAA NATIONAL QUALIFYING:
High Jump – Chelsea Klemetson – 5-6.5 (1.69m)
Pentathlon – Kaari Jensen – 3314 points

SCHOOL RECORD:
High Jump – Chelsea Klemetson – 5-6.5 (1.69m)

COBBER ALL-TIME TOP 10 PERFORMERS:
60 Hurdles (pentathlon) – Kaari Jensen – 9.45 – Top 10-#3
4x200 Relay – Kaari Jensen, Hilary Thompson, Gina Weiss, Tatijana MullerDahlberg – 1:47.99 – Top 10-#3
Distance Medley Relay – Paige Rygg, Megan Hoffman, Ana Sather, Liz Hanson – 12:47.32 – Top 10-#6
Long Jump – Trina Gerzema – 17-9 (5.41m) – Top 10-#7 tie
Triple Jump – Hilary Thompson – 36-11.75 (11.27m) – Top 10-#3
High Jump – Chelsea Klemetson – 5-6.5 (1.69m) – Top 10-#1
High Jump (pentathlon) – Kaari Jensen – 5-1.75 (1.57m) – Top 10-#10
Pentathlon – Kaari Jensen – 3314 points – Top 10-#2

PERSONAL RECORDS:
600- Ana Sather;
800- Kaari Jensen (pentathlon), Olivia Decker (pentathlon);
60 Hurdles- Kristin Boyum, Kaari Jensen (pentathlon), Olivia Decker (pentathlon);
Long Jump- Katrina Gerzema;
Triple Jump- Hilary Thompson, Kaari Jensen (tie), Danielle Bolme;
High Jump- Chelsea Klemetson, Kaari Jensen (pentathlon);
Pentathlon- Kaari Jensen.