Trio Of Cobbers Headed To Nationals

MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/22/21)---It's official. The NCAA released the participants for the 2021 Division III National Outdoor Meet and Concordia will have three student-athletes headed to Greensboro, N.C.

Jesse Middendorf, Josie Herrmann and Cayle Hovland will all make their first-ever appearance at an NCAA Championship Meet. Herrmann and Middendorf qualified for the 2020 NCAA National Indoor Meet which was subsequently canceled due to the pandemic.

The three Cobbers will compete at the NCAA National Outdoor Meet on May 27-29 at the Irwin Bell Track in Greensboro, N.C.

Middendorf will be the first Cobber track athlete to compete at an NCAA National Outdoor Meet since 2005 when Nick Myran ran in the 1500 meters.

Middendorf owns the ninth fastest time of any of the 17 athletes in the 800 meters at the national meet. His top time of the year came at the Ron Masanz Classic at MSU Moorhead on Apr. 30. Middendorf broke the 33-year-old school record in the 800 for his qualifying mark. He raced to a time of 1:51.27 which bettered the old mark set back in 1988 by .67 of a second.

Middendorf will have to wait one day before lining up for his first national meet experience. The prelims in the 800 will be held on Friday, May 28 at 3:15 p.m. (cdt) with the finals scheduled for Saturday, May 29 at 1 p.m. (cdt).

Herrmann and Hovland both qualified in two different events. Herrmann will be competing in the 800 and 1500 meters while Hovland will participate in the discus and shot put.

Herrmann is ranked ninth in both the 800 and 1500 meters among the 19 competitors in each race. She posted her qualifying time of 2:11.67 in the 800 meters at last weekend's MIAC Championship Meet when she won both the 80-0 and 1500. Herrmann's qualifying mark in the 1500 meters also came at the conference meet when she crossed the finish line with a winning time of 4:33.94.

Herrmann will open her national meet career when she runs in the prelims of the 1500 meters on Thursday, May 27 at 2:55 (cdt). The prelims for the 800 meters is on Friday, May 28 at 3 p.m. (cdt). The finals for both events take place on Saturday, May 29.   

Hovland is the No.10 seed in the shot put and the No.15 seed in the discus heading into the national meet. Unlike Herrmann, Hovland recorded one of her qualifying marks earlier in the outdoor season and then posted her second at the MIAC Meet.

Hovland's top distance in the shot put came at the St. Ben's Last-Minute Meet on Apr. 10 when she came up with a mark of 45-05. Hovland qualified for the discus during her award-winning performance at the MIAC Championship Meet. She won the discus with a season-best distance of 146-10 which helped her to go on and earn the Outstanding Field Athlete honor.

Hovland will start her national meet on Thursday, May 27 at 1 p.m. (cdt) when she steps inside the discus circle. The prelims and finals for the event will be held on the same day with the finals following the prelims. She will then have a day off before competing in the prelims and finals of the shot put on Saturday, May 29 at 9:30 (cdt).


Women's 2021 NCAA Qualfiers | Men's 2021 NCAA Qualifiers | NCAA Meet Schedule of Events (pdf)