1st-Place Finish At Busy Cobber Twilight

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/23/19)---There was plenty of action and excitement at the annual Cobber Twilight Meet. Concordia used its all-around athletes, middle distance runners and throwing crew to claim the team title. The Cobbers finished with 143 points which was 18 clear of second-place MSU Moorhead.   

Junior Matt Bye was the busiest Cobber athlete on the day as he competed in half of the decathlon events in a single afternoon as he prepares for the upcoming MIAC multi-event championships. Bye won the 110-meter hurdles and scored team points in three other events. Bye's time of 15.32 in the hurdles is the second fastest in the MIAC this year. He placed fifth in the long jump at 20-09.25, seventh in the pole vault and eighth in the high jump. Bye was also 14th in the highly competitive 100-meter dash.

Bye single-handedly earned 17 team points over his five events.

Jesse Middendorf continues to shine in his first collegiate season. He earned the only other event win as he outkicked the competition in the 800 meters. He broke away from the competition down the stretch and crossed the line in a time of 1:54.43. That time is the second best in the MIAC this year and the ninth fastest in school history. It is the fastest time by a CC runner since 2005.

Cal Wright and Munir Isahak posted Top 5 finishes on either side of the 800 meters to score big team points for Concordia. Wright was second in the 400 meters at 49.94 and Isahak was fourth in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:09.68. Wright's time is seventh best in the MIAC and the three runners combined to score 23 team points in the three races.

Concordia's throwers had a stellar day at home. Sophomore Jake Steiner led the way with Top 7 finishes in the shot put, hammer throw and discus. His top finish came in the hammer where he uncorked a distance of 162-07 and placed third. His mark is the seventh best in the conference and fourth farthest in school history. He was sixth in the discus and seventh in the shot put. He put up season-best marks in all three events. Steiner came away with a mark of 140-02 in the discus and 48-07.50 in the shot put. Both distances put him in the Top 12 of the MIAC.

In his three events, Steiner was able to post a total of 13 team points as he scored in all three throwing compeitions.  

Junior Will Berning continues to get better and better in the javelin. Berning's first year in the event came last season where he finished ninth at the conference meet. This year he has put up personal bests in all of his outdoor meets. He let go a throw of 183-02 at the Cobber Twilight which earned him second-place honors and is the top mark in the MIAC this year.

Sam Haley and Jacob Probst had the other Top 3 finishes for Concordia. Haley cleared 14-0.50 in the pole vault and was third while Probst was also third in the triple jump with a distance of 40-09.75. Both marks are also No.6 on the conference's performance lists this year.    

UP NEXT: Concordia will split its squad for meets over the weekend. A few Cobber athletes will head south to compete in the Drake Relays on Apr. 25-27 while the other members of CC will head east to participate in the Ron Masanz Meet at MSU Moorhead on Saturday, Apr. 27.