Eight Even Wins Signal Start Of Chilly Outdoor Season

MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/29/14)—Concordia's first outdoor track and field meet of the season fit into the category "it's just nice to finally be outside". The Cobbers braved a biting wind and temperature that dipped into the 30's and recorded eight event wins at the Concordia March Madness Triangular Meet.  

The Cobbers finished second in an incredibly tight team competition. CC came away with a total of 296.8 points which was less than two points shy of meet winner St. Benedict who had a final total of 298.1 points. Martin Luther was third with a score of 53 points.

Concordia's close with the Blazers in the meet, CC lost by over 120 points in an indoor quadrangular, was the result of outdoor events which are usually the strength of the Cobber team and the addition of several athletes who joined the squad after the end of the winter sports season.

Cobber freshman Emma Peterson was one of the winter sport athlete boosts. Peterson played for the Concordia women's basketball team during the winter and joined the track and field team during the past couple of weeks. She promptly posted two event wins in her very first collegiate meet. Peterson ran a 16.56 in the 100-meter hurdles and won the event by .21 of a second. She then won the high jump with a height of 5-02.25.

Concordia NCAA Indoor National Meet participants Cherae Reeves and Hilary Thompson wasted little time in acclimating to the elements of outdoor competition. Reeves, who earned indoor All-American honors, won the shot put with a distance of 44-11.00 which is the top mark in the country so far this season. Thompson won both the triple jump and long jump after participating in the triple jump at the indoor national meet. She went 37-07.75 in the triple jump in her first outdoor meet. That distance is the fifth best in Division III this season and less than a foot off her MIAC-winning mark last season. Thompson also had a national top 25 distance in the long jump with a final winning mark of 17-07.50.

The other individual event wins for Concordia at the opening outdoor meet were turned in by Paige Rygg and Mandy Mercil. Rygg ran a 2:32.89 and bettered a pack of five athletes from St. Benedict. Her finishing time was a full second faster than the second-place finisher. Rygg's time is also faster than any time she posted in all of the 2013 season. Mercil finished on top of a 10-athlete list in the pole vault. She claimed the win with a height of 9-05.00.  

The Cobber 4x400-meter relay team of Callie Christianson, Mikayla Forness, Katie Rosenfeldt and Morgan Christian posted the final win of the day for the Cobbers. The quartet clocked a 4:14.85 which beat their Blazer counterparts by a full two seconds.

Concordia will be hoping to continue to compete outside when they travel to Northfield to participate in the Carleton Invite on Saturday, Apr. 5 at 10 a.m.



COBBER NOTABLES:

COBBER OUTDOOR ALL-TIME LIST:
High Jump – Emma Peterson – 5-2.25 (1.58m) – All-Time #11
Pole Vault – Mandy Mercil – 9-5 (2.87m) – All-Time #10 (tie)
Pole Vault – Jessie Marken – 9-5 (2.87m) – All-Time #10 (tie)

PERSONAL RECORDS:
long jump- Anna Skow-Anderson;
pole vault- Jessica Marken, Andie Baker, Andrea Major;
shot put- Ashley Thompson;
hammer throw- Ashley Thompson;
javelin throw- Hannah Fordahl, Ashley Thompson, Ali Chudy.