Benzie Leads PR Frenzy
FARGO, N.D. (4/12/14)—Senior captain Alex Benzegala achieved a life-long goal and led a contingent of Concordia athletes which set 31 personal records at the NDSU Bison Open on Saturday.
Benzegala, who is enjoying the best season of his career, realized his dream goal of breaking the 50-second barrier in the 400 meters. He clocked a 49.59 in the race and finished in fifth place in the Division I meet. His time is the fastest in the MIAC this season. Benzegala added the cherry on top of his Bison sundae by clocking a conference-best time in the 200 meters. He sped to a finishing time of 22.54 which betters his previous season best by .92 of a second. Benzegala's time in the 200 meters betters the previous conference best mark by .47 of a second. His time in the 400 is .10 of a second better than the previous top time in the MIAC this season.
Not only do Benzegala's times show up at the top of the MIAC charts, they are also in the top 7 on the school's all-time list. His time of 49.59 in the 400 meters is the fourth fastest in school history and his mark of 22.54 in the 200 meters is sixth fastest in program history.
Concordia turned in 11 personal records in track events and 20 in field competitions. The Cobbers had four other athletes turn in five top 5 finishes at the meet. All five top 5 marks came in field events.
Freshman Jackson Schepp recorded a pair of top 5 finishes at the meet. He was second in the triple jump and fifth in the high jump. Schepp came away with a distance of 42-11.00 on his very first triple jump attempt. That mark is a personal best and the second best in the conference this season. He then cleared 6-02.75 in the high jump.
Schepp's high jump teammate Mark Goss was tied for second with a height of 6-04.75. That mark ties a personal best record and is the second best in the MIAC in 2014.
The pole vault provided the other two top 5 finishes for CC on the day. Josh Murrey and Eddie Clifton tied for fifth place by going over 13-11.25. That mark is a PR for Clifton and ties a personal best for Murrey. The two entered the meet with the second-best height in the MIAC and improved their previous season-best height of 13-02.50.
Connor Johnson and Carl Wahlin just missed out on the top 5 at the Bison Open. Johnson was sixth in the javelin while Wahlin was sixth in the 1500 meters. Johnson finished with a distance of 172-08.00 which is best effort of the season and pushes him into the top 3 in the conference. Wahlin ran a season-best time of 4:15.18 in the 1500 meters.
The Cobbers had a trio of athletes compete in the decathlon over two days at the Bison Open. Freshman Joe Hendrickson led the CC multi-eventers by scoring a career-best 5,277 points. That total is higher than any Cobber athlete posted at last year's MIAC conference meet.
Concordia will have less than week to celebrate their success at the Bison Open. The Cobbers are scheduled to compete in the St. Thomas Tomcat Invite on Thursday, Apr. 17.
Bison Open Cobber All-Time List
200 - #6 - Alex Benzegala - 22.54
400 - #4 - Alex Benzegala - 49.59
Bison Open Personal Records
100 - Collin Scherber - 11.82
100 - Tony DeLeon - 12.15
200 - Alex Benzegala - 22.54
200 - Tony DeLeon - 25.50
400 - Alex Benzegala - 49.59
800 - Ethan Spittle - 2:01.59
1500 - Henry Dobbs - 4:27.31
1500 - Peter Simon - 4:39.62
HH - Jamie Marrier - 16.15
400H - Jeff Fiebelkorn - 57.62
400H - Jamie Marrier - 60.18
HJ - Mark Goss - (tie) 6-4.75
HJ -Theo Betting - (tie)6-0.75
PV - Josh Murrey - (tie) 13-11.25
PV - Eddie Clifton - 13-11.25
TJ - Jackson Schepp - 42-11
SP - Ian Lane - 35-7.25
DS - Hans-Kristof Nelson - 96-0
JV - Cole Young - 159-2
JV - Ian Lane - 115-0
JV - Hans-Kristof Nelson - 112-3
HH - Gabe Wright - 16.63
PV - Gabe Wright - 11-1.75
DS - Gabe Wright - 86-3
JV - Gabe Wright - 107-8
JV - Nikolaj Hagen - 113-2
LJ - Nikolaj Hagen - 16-5
HJ - Nikolaj Hagen - 5-3.25
HH - Joe Hendrickson - 17.68
PV - Joe Hendrickson - 10-2
DS - Joe Hendrickson - 111-3
JV - Joe Hendrickson - 115-3
LJ - Joe Hendrickson - 18-9