Rugloski & Landsverk Are 1-2, But Johnson Steals The Show
Seniors Emily Rugloski and Amelia Landsverk once again led Concordia, but it was the race of sophomore Airial Johnson that stole the show at the Tori Neubauer Invitational hosted by Wis.-La Crosse.
LA CROSSE, WIS. (10/15/22)---Seniors Emily Rugloski and Amelia Landsverk once again led Concordia, but it was the race of sophomore Airial Johnson that stole the show at the Tori Neubauer Invitational hosted by Wis.-La Crosse.
The three runners helped Concordia place 11th in the final team standings in a meet that had 30 teams competing, with almost all of the top DIII region teams at the race.
Rugloski and Landsverk both crossed the finish line in under 24 minutes for the first time in their careers on a 6K course.
Rugloski led the way with a mark of 23:45.2 which pushed her into 37th place in a race that featured 364 runners. Her finishing time is almost a full minute faster than her mark at the same meet last year. Rugloski has now led the team in three of the five meets this year.
Landsvek was just outside the Top 40 at the meet as she placed 46th in a time of 23:51.6. Her time is 23-seconds faster than her finishing mark in 2021 at the meet.
Johnson, who had never been inside the team's Top 5 finishers all season, dropped a personal best time of 24:19.8 to finish just off the pace of Rugloski and Landsverk, and crossed the line as the team's No.3 finisher.
To put that further into perspective, in her only other 6K race of the year, Johnson posted a time of 26:20.5 at the Roy Griak Invite on Sept. 23. Her finishing time on Saturday blew that mark away by over 2 minutes.
To go even further, last year at the Tori Neubauer Invite, Johnson wasn't in the team's Top 7 and posted a time of 26:05.6. To say it was a good day for Johnson, would be an understatement.
Sophomore Eden Smith and freshman Kiya McLaurin were the team's No.4 and No.5 finishers at the meet. Smith ran the 6K in a time of 24:45.7 which is a season-best time.
McLaurin, competing in her first big regional meet, was close behind Smith as she crossed the line in a time of 24:52.1. That mark is also a season-best time on a 6K course.
UP NEXT: The Cobbers will now prepare for the conference meet. Concordia train for two weeks, and then compete at the MIAC Championship Meet on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Highland National GC in St. Paul.