Two Directions To Success
Concordia went in two directions for the weekend and was successful in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota
ST. PAUL, Minn. (4/29/17)---Concordia set out in two different directions to compete in meets from Iowa to Minnesota to North Dakota over a three-day weekend.
The Cobbers sent a group of athletes south to participate at the Drake Relays on Friday and then at the Janis Rider Meet hosted by Macalester while another group headed west to take part in the Al Cassell Relays hosted by Jamestown.
Concordia had several outstanding performances over the three days but it was Emma Peterson who continued to post incredible numbers in her senior season. Peterson broke her own school record in the high jump on Friday at the Drake Relays and then recorded the seventh farthest distance in Division III this season in the triple jump at Macalester on Saturday. For good measure she also put up a conference Top 10 mark in the long jump.
Peterson cleared 5-07.75 in the high jump to break her record of 5-07.25 which she set last season. Her height pushed her into a fifth-place finish in a meet that featured athletes from some top Division I schools. She was the lone Division III athlete in the Top 20 of the event.
Peterson then hopped in the van and stopped in St. Paul on Saturday and put up a pair of season best marks in the triple jump and long jump. She won the triple jump at the Macalester meet with a personal best distance of 39-01.25. That mark is the best in the MIAC this year and No.7 in the nation.
Her distance in the triple jump is also the second best in program history and less than a foot behind the school record of 40-0.75 set by Hilary Thompson in 2014.
Peterson then capped her weekend by qualifying for the MIAC Meet in her third event. She recorded a distance of 17-00.75 which was good fourth place and is the ninth best in the conference this year.
Mikayla Forness joined Peterson on the trek to Iowa and St. Paul. She also earned a spot in the finals of the Drake Relays. Forness let go with a distance of 134-06 in the third round of the prelims in the javelin and qualified for the finals. She wasn't able to better that mark in the finals and placed seventh in the event.
Forness has the best mark in the javelin this year with her season-best distance of 138-03.
Forness then turned her attention to the track in St. Paul and ran a pair of hurdle races. She clocked a 1:06.26 in the 400-meter hurdles to finish in fifth place and then had a season-best mark of 15.88 in the 100-meter hurdles.
Maria West was also a part of the Iowa-St. Paul contingent. She was a part of both the 4x800-meter relay team and the 1600 sprint medley relay. West teamed with Isabelle Andriessen, Sara Whiteman and Forness to record a time of 9:49.67 in the 4x800. That mark is the second fastest in the MIAC this year.
West, Forness and Andriessen added Hannah Lundstrom for the 1600 sprint medley and they crossed the line in 4:16.27. That time is the fifth fastest in program history.
West posted a Top 10 mark at Macalester when she posted a season-best time of 4:56.30 in the 1500 meters. Her mark was good for sixth place and is just outside the Top 20 of the MIAC this year.
Whiteman had the other Top 10 finish at Macalester. She came home in 12:06.85 in the 3000-meter steeplechase and placed sixth. It was her first time running the steeplechase this year and pushes her into the Top 20 of the MIAC.
Jenna Stilwell and Mollie Francis had the top finishes from the crew that went to Jamestown. Stilwell was second in the javelin with a mark of 118-05 and Francis was second in long jump at 17-07.00. Not only did both athletes post second-place finishes but both had marks that were No.4 in the conference.
Freshman Tierza Engen had the only MIAC Top 10 mark of the weekend. She had a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 34-04.75. That distance is the ninth farthest in the conference this year.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Concordia multi-event athletes will kick off the conference meet when they compete in the MIAC heptathlon at Carleton College on May 4-5. The rest of the Cobbers will then head across 8th street to participate in the Ron Masanz Meet hosted by MSU Moorhead.
COBBER NOTABLES:
Drake Relays
Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa
April 28, 2017
SCHOOL RECORD:
High Jump – Emma Peterson – 5-7.75 (1.72m)
Cobber All-Time:
High Jump – Emma Peterson – 5-7.75 (1.72m) - All-Time #1
Sprint Medley Relay – Hannah Lundstrom, Mikayla Forness, Isabel Andriessen, Maria West – 4:16.27 – All-Time #5
Personal records:
high jump- Emma Peterson.
Janis Rider Meet
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
April 29, 2017
Cobber All-Time:
1500 Meters – Maria West – 4:56.30 – All-Time #11
Triple Jump – Emma Peterson – 39-1.25 (11.92m) - All-Time #2
Personal records:
1500- Maria West;
steeplechase- Sara Whiteman;
100 hurdles- Mikayla Forness;
long jump- Emma Peterson;
triple jump- Emma Peterson
Al Cassell Relays
University of Jamestown, Jamestown, ND
April 29, 2017
Cobber All-Time:
Long Jump – Mollie Francis – 17-7 (5.36m) - All-Time #15
Personal records:
200- Mollie Francis;
400- Shelby Gelinske;
1500- Erica Hauf, Liz Vought;
long jump- Mollie Francis;
triple jump- Tierza Engen;
high jump- Miriah Forness;
shot put- Emily Albers;
discus- Kelsey Rajewsky.