Business As Usual On MIAC Day 1

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (2/28/20)--- It was business as usual for Concordia on Day 1 at the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet. The Cobber posted multiple Top 10 program marks, Josie Herrmann ran fast and the Cobber throw crew was once again scoring mega team points.

In the end, the Cobbers finished the opening day of the championship meet in sixth place with 41 points and recorded six Top 10 school marks. Concordia is only one point shy of the Top 5 and only three points behind fourth-place Hamline.  

Hermann and Allyson Kangas, Cayle Hovland and Kelsey Rajewsky combined to score 21 of the team's 41 points on Friday.

Herrmann helped out the Concordia team total in the 800 meters where she ran a season-best 2:15.55 and finished in third place. That time is the third fastest in school history and fastest by a CC athlete since 2007 when Heather Schuster ran a 2:15.33. Hermann's third-place showing was worth six team points for CC.

Kangas, Hovland and Rajewsky went 3-4-5 in the weight throw. They combined to amass a huge 15 points for the Cobbers.

Kangas continued her upward trend by letting loose with a big PR throw of 50-10.00 and placed third in the event. That is the farthest distance of any Cobber athlete this year and a PR by almost 10 inches. It is also the second best mark in program history – second only to the record of 54-04.00 set by All-American Laura Utke in 1999.

Hovland saved her best for last in the meet. She entered her sixth, and final, attempt of the day with a distance of 48-07.50 but then came away with a mark of 49-01.00 on her last throw and finished fourth in the event.

Rajewsky gave the Cobbers three finishers in the Top 5 when she posted a distance of 48-08.75 on her final attempt of the afternoon. That mark is a season best by over two feet and is also a personal best by over two feet. It was also her second straight fifth-place finish in the MIAC weight throw. Last year she placed fifth with a toss of 46-03.50.

Concordia had six other athletes post Top 6 finishes on Day 1 with four coming from the track side of the results sheet.

Freshman Sarah Faber had the lone Top 6 field finish. She cleared a season-best height of 5-00.25 and placed fifth. Her height was tied for the top mark in the event but she finished fifth on the number of misses at lesser heights.

Fellow freshman Carlie Heinecke earned a spot in the finals of the 60-meter dash in her first-ever conference meet and then crossed the line in a time of personal-best time of 8.06 and was sixth. That mark is the fifth fastest in school history and fastest since 2016.    

The Forness sisters – Miriah and Lauren – both had sixth-place finishes and both recorded Top 10 times in program history.
 
Miriah Forness was close behind Herrmann in the 800 meters and came home in sixth with a time of 2:19.11. That mark is a personal best and the eighth fastest in school history. Younger sister Lauren followed up her Top 10 finish in the pentathlon by running a 9.50 in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles and placing sixth. Lauren Forness came across the line in a time of 9.39 in the prelims which is a career best and tied for the fourth fastest in school history.

Senior Kara Andersen capped her indoor career by finishing in sixth place in the 5000 meters. She crossed the line in a time of 18:22.34 which is a personal best and the third fastest in school history.

The Cobber distance medley relay team of Isabel Fredrickson, Heinecke, Carly Fornshell and Emily Rugloski scored four team points with a fifth-place finish at 12:51.66  

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 12 p.m. at St. John's University.  

MIAC Indoor Meet Team Standings After Day 1
1) St. Thomas (Minn.) – 100
2) St. Olaf – 53
3) Bethel (Minn.) – 52
4) Hamline – 44
5) Gustavus - 42       
6) Concordia-Moorhead – 41
7) Carleton - 33       
8) Saint Mary's (Minn.) – 21
9) St. Catherine (Minn.) – 15
10) Macalester – 11
11) Augsburg - 10
12) St. Benedict - 7