Schepp Soars, Julkes Speeds To Records

ST. PAUL, Minn. (2/24/17)--- Athletes on opposite ends if their college careers led Concordia on Day 1 at the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet. Senior Jackson Schepp and freshman Willie Julkes III both broke school records and helped the Cobbers into fifth place after the first 11 events of the meet.

Schepp broke his school record over a span of two days as he successfully defended his title in the heptathlon. He entered the event seeded third and pulled off the upset by scoring a total of 4,884 points over the seven events and smashed the old school record of 4,700 points set in 2009 by Paul Westmark.

Schepp won the heptathlon by 67 points. His highest scoring event in the two-day event was the high jump where he cleared 6-06.75 and gathered 803 points. That height is a career best for Schepp. He also scored over 700 points in five of the seven events. Besides the high jump, Schepp also passed the 700-point barrier in the 60-meter dash, long jump, 60-meter hurdles and 1,000 meters.

Schepp used his success in the heptathlon to post a second-place finish in the overall high jump competition on Day 1. He wasn't able to get back to the career-best height he posted in the heptathlon but he got over 6-03.50 and helped the team cause by earning eight team points.

Julkes showed no signs of nerves in his very first conference meet. He started the 60-meter hurdles by running an 8.75 in the prelims which was the third fastest but only .01 of a second behind the top two times. Julkes time in the prelims was the third fastest in school history.

Julkes opened eyes at the conference meet by winning the 60-meter hurdle title in the finals by clocking an 8.54 which won the race by .05 of a second. His winning mark was also better than the school record of 8.58 set by Westmark back in 2008.

Concordia had four other individual athletes score team points on Day 1. Joe Hendrickson gave the Cobbers a pair of athletes in the Top 6 of the MIAC heptathlon. Hendrickson scored 4,238 points over the seven events and finished in sixth place. His best event came in the final race of the competition. He clocked a 2:50.10 in the 1,000 meters which was good for 765 points. His only other 700-point plus event came in the 60-meter hurdles.  

Senior Matthew Lillehaugen raced to a 1:56.80 in the 800 meters and placed fifth. He was only 1.51 seconds away from second place in a very competitive race.

Sophomore David Supinski crossed the line in 51.02 in the 400 meters and finished in seventh place.

Brett Brenden was the only other field athlete to gain team points on Friday. He was just behind Schepp in the high jump as he cleared 5-11.50, which was a season best, and finished in seventh place.

Freshman Matt Bye missed qualifying for the finals in the 60-meter hurdles by .09 of a second as he finished with a time of 8.99 in the prelims and placed 11th in the event.

MEET PICTURES: Click on the link below to see awesome pictures from Day 1 at the MIAC Meet which are available for purchase and come courtesy of former Cobber Nathan Lodermeier.

Link to Nathan Lodermeier's meet pictures  

TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 1:
1. St. Thomas (Minn.) - 103
2. St. Olaf - 65
3. Bethel (Minn.) - 45      
4. Carleton - 44
5. Concordia-Moorhead - 39      
6. Saint John's (Minn.) - 33  
7. Hamline - 26      
8. Gustavus - 25
9. Augsburg - 24      
10. Saint Mary's (Minn.) - 15  
11. Macalester - 9     

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will close out the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet when they compete at St. Thomas on Saturday, Feb. 25 starting at 11:30 a.m.