Slow Start Sets Up High-Scoring Saturday

ST. PAUL, Minn. (5/10/19)--- Concordia head coach Garrick Larson knew that team points would be scarce on Day 1 at the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet at St. Thomas and his prediction unfortunately came true. The Cobbers only scored team points in the 4x800-meter relay as they ended Friday in eighth place in the team standings.

The Cobbers had several close calls in the four field events and one track race on Day 1. Concordia had a pair of ninth-place finishes (one place out of team scoring) and one 11th-place finish on the day.

Eric Wicklund and Hayden Gagnon recorded the ninth-place finishes for CC. Wicklund ran a 32:35.73 in the 10,000 meters and missed scoring team points by a scant 2.36 seconds. Wicklund's finishing time was a collegiate best by over a full minute. Gagnon's Top 10 finish came in the high jump where he cleared 6-01.25. His height was tied for seventh best but he had more misses at lower heights and finished ninth. Gagnon's height of 6-01.25 ties for his personal best.

Jake Steiner started his MIAC Meet by finishing 11th in the discus and 13th in the hammer throw. Steiner came up with a distance of 133-04 in the discus which missed qualifying for the finals by 3-03. Steiner's best attempt in the hammer hit the turf at 149-02.

Concordia's team points on Day 1 came from the 4x800-meter team of Munir Isahak, Nolan Christenson, Tom Whiting and Dan Wilson who ran a 8:00.54 and finished sixth. They missed out on a Top 5 finish by only .21 of a second.

The good news for Larson is that the Cobbers had several track athletes qualify for finals on Saturday. Wright led the finals group as he will race in a pair of events on Day 2. He qualified in the 200 and 400 meters. He was sixth in the prelims in the 200 with a time of 22.40 and was fourth in the 400 meters at 49.11. The 400 posted the fastest qualifying times in MIAC history as all eight qualifiers ran under 50 seconds. It also marked the first time in league history an athlete who ran a sub 50-second 400 didn't qualify for the finals in the event.

The 110-meter hurdles produced a pair of finalists for the Cobbers. Decathlon champion Matt Bye was second and qualified with a time of 15.31 while Julkes recorded a qualifying time of 15.47.   

Freshman Jesse Middendorf qualified for two finals in his very first conference outdoor meet. He will be competing on Saturday in the 800 and 1500 meters. Middendorf qualified in the 800 meters at 1:57.59 and clocked a 4:08.95 to qualify in the 1500 meters.

Concordia will look to move up in the team standings when it finishes off the MIAC Meet at St. Thomas on Saturday, May 11 beginning at 2 p.m.