Cobbers Go The Extra Mile In The First Meet Of 2026
Concordia went the extra mile in its first meet of 2026. The Cobbers earned four event wins and posted eight Top 3 finishes at the 86th annual Cobber Alumni Open.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/24/26)---Concordia went the extra mile in its first meet of 2026. The Cobbers earned four event wins and posted eight Top 3 finishes at the 86th annual Cobber Alumni Open (formerly the Cobber Open).
Concordia's distance crew led the way by posting a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 finish in the mile. Junior Londyn Ames paced the Top 7 clean sweep for the Cobbers by clocking a personal best time of 5:19.77 which beat teammate Kelyn Henry-Perlich by .06 of a second.
Ames' winning time is the third fastest in the conference this season.
Ashley Nelson, Addie Dahl and Lilly Dickinson went 3-4-5 and all three posted PR finishes. Nelson crossed the line in 5:26.38, while Dahl came up with a mark of 5:36.80 and Dickinson ran a 5:38.14.
The other individual event win for Concordia came in the high jump where first-year athlete Lauren Pearson cleared a height of 5-02.50. That mark is No.4 in the MIAC this year.
The two sprints produced the other big podium finishes.
Lydia Fynboh led the CC charge in the 60-meter dash. She finished third with a PR time of 8.00 which is tied for third best in the MIAC.
Emily Rengo and Andie Sandman were the other Top 8 finishers for the Cobbers in the event. Rengo was fourth at 8.02 and Sandman was seventh at 8.06
The 60-meter hurdle corps went 2-3-4-5. Pearson backed up her win in the high jump by clocking a 9.68 in the spring hurdles and placed second. Abby Lovelace was third at 10.10, while Lauren Selle finished fourth with a time of 10.27 and Annalise Gerlach was fifth at 10.47. Both Selle and Gerlach's times are personal bests.
Rengo and Sandman were joined by Piper Osborne and Josie Brown to win the 4x200-meter relay. The quartet ran a 1:47.43 which is one of the fastest times in the MIAC this year.
Rengo and Brown did double duty with the event-winning 4x400 team. Pearson and Kyla Nygaard joined the duo to clock a season-best mark of 4:04.01. That time is No.2 in the MIAC.
After the high jump, the top finish for Concordia in a field event came from first-year jumper Aftyn Hahn who cleared a height of 7-07.75 in the pole vault and placed fourth.
First-year thrower Genevieve Dabout posted a pair of Top 8 finishes in her first collegiate home meet. She was fifth in the shot put at 37-11.50 and seventh in the weight throw with a distance of 42-09.00.
The Cobbers will start the month-long trek to the MIAC Indoor Meet when they compete in the highly confusing UND Open on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Coach Marv's Story of the Week
During this season, as I enter my 31st year, beginning my fourth decade as the Cobber Women's head coach (and 40th year overall of coaching), I will at times use this space to tell some Cobber T&F history and the importance of the legacy of those before you. Hopefully, this provides context, inspiration, and sense of being a part of something special.
This week was the historic first-ever Cobber Alumni Open Meet! Previously this meet was the Cobber Open, called Concordia Invite in the earliest years, and dates back to the first season of the Olson Forum, 1995. We have hosted indoor Alumni Meets before. They disappeared with COVID- cancelled 2020 never to return. The old Alumni meet featured a competition between three co-ed teams -The Alumni, Cobber Maroon, and Cobber Gold. It's been difficult to resurrect the meet due to finding a date that fits for our team and ever decreasing alumni participation. Our early Alumni grew into family and work commitments. Taking a page from other schools, we decided to try combining our smaller home meet with an alumni flavor. We hope to continue to do so including adding the Alumni to our outdoor home meet this spring.
During the early years of the Olson Forum, it was the pinnacle of local indoor T&F. There was a lack of indoor tracks in the region. NDSU had the old BSA (Bison Sports Arena) which was 200 meters but was getting old and in desperate need of updates and improvements. UND did NOT have their 300 meter track until 2017 but instead just a tiny little track, maybe 146 or 165 yards or something, in the recently demolished Hyslop Arena. The Olson Forum locally was in high demand. In 1997 we hosted Jan 11 Alumni Meet, Jan 25 Concordia Open, Feb 15 Concordia Quad, and Feb 22 St. Ben's dual, AND the MIAC Indoor Championships Feb 28-March 1 (including the Feb 27 Pentathlon)!
WOW! Garrick and I were younger back then!
COBBER NOTABLES:
Cobber Alumni Open
Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
January 24, 2026
COBBER ALL-TIME Performer LIST:
60 – Lydia Fynboh – 7.99 – All-Time #4
60 – Saphira Rynaski – 8.7 – All-Time #27
Mile – Londyn Ames – 5:19.77 – All-Time #11
Mile – Ashley Nelson – 5:26.38 – All-Time #17
60 Hurdles – Lauren Pearson – 9.68 – All-Time #12 tie
4x200 Relay – Emily Rengo, Andie Sandman, Piper Osborn, Josie Brown – 1:47.43 – All-Time #4
4x400 Relay – Emily Rengo, Josie Brown, Lauren Pearson, Kyla Nygaard – 4:04.01 – All-Time #10
High Jump – Lauren Pearson – 5-2.5 (1.59m)
PERSONAL RECORDS:
60- Lydia Fynboh, Alice Zulu, Aunika Reynolds
200- Alice Zulu; Mile- Londyn Ames, Ashley Nelson, Addie Dahl
60 Hurdles- Lauren Pearson (finals), Lauren Selle, Annalise Gerlach
Long Jump- Grace Ciarrochi, Ella Starzl, Ellie Machayya
High Jump- Abby Lovelace, Emma Norton
Shot Put- McKinley Folland, Gracie Hartl, Grace Ciarrochi, Lauren Selle
Weight Throw- McKinley Folland, Gracie Hartl, Alaina Voss