November 16, 2024
Frolek And Johnson Cap Careers At NCAA Regional Meet
Seniors Drew Frolek and Airial Johnson finished off their Cobber careers at the NCAA Regional Meet. The duo helped Concordia to a 22nd-place team finish and Frolek came away with her best finish at a regional meet.
Recap courtesy of Ben Becker
NORTHFIELD, Minn.(11/16/24)--- Concordia ran in its final race of the season as they competed at the NCAA North Regional Meet. The Cobbers returned to Northfield for the third time this season but this time they crossed over the Cannon River to compete at Carleton.
The race conditions were not favorable as the winds, which were gusting over 30 mph, made the already hilly Carleton course even more difficult.
The weather factor didn't stop the Cobbers from posting a good performance with the Top 3 being close to season or personal bests.
Concordia finished 22nd out of 31 competing teams in the final standings. Out of the 12 MIAC schools, the Cobbers beat four 4. They placed eighth among the MIAC schools, only four points back from the seventh MIAC school, and 21st overall team, Macalester.
The Cobbers were led by senior Drew Frolek for the fourth time in the six meets this year. Frolek led Concordia from start to finish as she posted a time of 24:00. Frolek earned the highest regional finish of her career as she placed 72nd overall out of 222 runners. Frolek improved by six places from last year's meet and it was her third Top 100 regional finish of her career.
Frolek ran a total of 21 meets in her career. She was in the Top 5 for 17 of those races and was the Cobbers' top runner in nine meets. This is also her second straight regional meet where she was the Cobber's top finisher. Frolek is the first Cobber to lead the team in back-to-back regional meets since 2018 and 2019 when Meritt Miller accomplished the feat.
Running closely behind Frolek was first-year athlete Ashley Nelson. Nelson, running in her first regional meet, was 5 seconds behind Frolek, covering the 6k course in 24:05. Nelson placed 74th overall. Nelson was one of the Cobber's top two finishers in all six meets this year.
When comparing to other MIAC athletes, Frolek placed 22nd out of the 72 that ran, and Nelson placed 24th.
Concordia's No.3 finisher was another first-year runner, Kelyn Henry-Perlich. She just missed her fourth straight personal best by a single second. Henry-Perlich crossed the line in Northfield with a time of 24:36. Over the course of the season, Henry-Perlich cut over 80 seconds off the first 6k she ran back in September. Henry-Perlich placed 97th overall and 27th out of the MIAC runners.
Nelson and Henry-Perlich became the first, first-year athletes to place in the top 100 of a regional meet since Frolek did it back in 2021. It was also the first time the Cobbers had a pair of first-year runners in the Top 100 since 2018
The next CC runners to cross the liner were sophomore Londyn Ames, and senior Airial Johnson. Ames, who was competing in her first regional meet, completed the course in 25:43, placing 155th overall and 52nd among MIAC athletes. Johnson, who was competing in her third regional meet, clocked a time of 25:55, placing 160th overall and 54th among conference competitors.
Rounding out the Top 7 were two runners who were competing in their first regional meet. Junior Ava Chevalier placed 181 overall with a time of 26:52 and first-year athlete Abbi Lemelin placed 200th with a time of 28:12.
The Cobbers had five of their seven runners run in their first regional meet. The only two with experience were seniors Frolek and Johnson, who finished up their careers where they started. Both completed their first 6k at this same course back on Sept. 25, 2021. Frolek ran a time of 24:04, while Johnson ran a time of 27:00.
COBBER SEASON HIGHLIGHTS