An All-Around Good Showing

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (4/11/15)—Ben Vickstrom, Tim Peterson and Cole Young won events and Gabe Wright posted the best score in a decathlon since 2011 at the St. John's Spring Invite and Multi-Event.

The four athletes were a part of a smaller group of Concordia athletes who competed at the SJU meet. The Cobbers finish third at the meet with 96.0 total team points.

Vickstrom won the 100-meter dash and placed second in the 200 meters. He posted a time of 11.58 in the 100-meter dash. That time is .23 of a second behind his season best which he posted at the St. John's Quad on Mar. 28.

Vickstrom was one of three CC runners to place in the top 4 of the race. Freshmen Chris Cunningham and Dominic Neameyer placed third and fourth and were separated by .01 of a second. Neameyer's fourth-place time of 11.951 is a season best.

Vickstrom then crossed the tape in 23.14 in the 200 meters. He once again led a group of Concordia athletes in the top 8. Jason Montonye came away with a third-place finish at 23.15 while Neameyer was seventh at 23.76 and Cunninghame was eighth in a time of 23.81. Both Montonye and Neameyer's times were season bests.

Peterson raced to a season-best time in the 3000-meter steeplechase. He won the event in a time of 10:37.19. That time is the 14th fastest in the MIAC this year and just a second behind his career-best time.

Young continues to master the javelin in the early stages of the outdoor season. Young won the event in the opening meet of the outdoor slate and repeated the performance by winning the event on Saturday. Young posted a winning distance of 161-05 which was 17 feet farther than the runner-up.  

A trio of other CC athletes recorded season-best marks in the event and all were good enough to jump into the top 15 of the conference. Freshman Zach Kellen was fourth in the event with a distance of 146-02. Juniors Connor Malone and Josh Murrey went fifth and sixth. Malone topped out at 144-01 and Murrey's best throw was 142-09.

Wright was the top Division III finisher in the decathlon in the multi-even portion of the meet. He finished with a total of 5,767 points which is a career best and is No.15 on the school's all-time record list. It is the highest total posted by a Cobber athlete since Caleb Giesen scored 6,128 points on May 17-18, 2011. Wright's total is also the top mark in the MIAC this year and 12th best in all of Division III this year.

Teammate Joe Hendrickson was only 72 points behind Wright. Hendrickson finished with 5,695 points which is also a career best. His final total is No. 17 on the school's all-time list and 14th highest in DIII in 2015.

Concordia will have a week to train before returning to action at the Carleton Relays on Saturday, Apr. 18. CC will then host the Cobber Twilight on Tuesday, Apr. 21 beginning at 3 p.m.