And They're Off

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/20/18)---Concordia opened the 2018 season by hosting the Cobber Open and came away with four event wins and 12 Top 3 finishes.  

A trio of veterans led the event winners as David Supinski, Eli Beachy and Adam Frazier all cruised to wins in their specialties and freshman Gabe Eisenbacher earned a win in his very first collegiate meet.

Supinksi started his junior season with the same winning form that he has shown in his first two seasons in maroon and gold. He eased to a 1:23.08 in the 600 meters and won the event by three full seconds.

Beachy, who will once again make an ascent towards the school record in the pole vault, started his senior season by clearing 14-08 and winning the pole vault by almost a full foot. After winning the event Beachy pushed the bar to a school-record height of 15-01.75 but failed on three attempts. Beachy set the school mark in the event last year when he cleared 15-01.50.

Frazier got off to a great start in his senior season by capturing the first indoor shot put event of his career. Frazier, who was throwing in the second flight, uncorked a distance of 45-11.75 to beat teammate Jake Steiner by two feet. Fraziers' throw is a career best and inside the Top 20 in program history.

Steiner had one of the eye-opening performances of the meet for the Cobbers. He wasted little time in showing his potential by recording a distance of 43-01.75 which is among the Top 25 in school history.

Eaisenbacher wasted little time in getting used to the college competition. He posted a winning height of 5-10.00 in the high jump which beat fellow CC freshman Jake LePard by four inches. Leard clad second with a mark of 5-06.00.

Senior Nick Solheim had a pair of Top 3 finishes at the meet and brought the Cobber crowd to their feet with his second-place finish in the mile. Solheim found another gear in the final two laps in the race and sped by competitors to finish with a career-best time of 4:30.69. His time is the 15th fastest in school history.

Solheim then had a break before finishing third in the 1000 meters. He used the momentum from the thrilling mile finish to post a time of 2:41.84 in the event. His end time was a mere .43 of a second off his career best.

Besides the 1-2 finishes in the shot put and high jump, the Cobbers also claimed first and second place in the pole vault. Junior Sam Haley was runner-up to Beachy. Haley cleared 13-08.25.

The other event to have a pair of Concordia athletes in the Top 3 was the 60-meter hurdles where Willie Julkes ran an 8.74 and was second while Matt Bye was just behind with a time of 8.82 and claimed third place.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will head up I-29 to compete in the UND Open on Jan. 26-27.