A Real Rollercoaster Ride On Day 1 At NCAA Indoor Meet

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (03/11/22)---It was a rollercoaster ride for Concordia on Day 1 at the NCAA National Indoor Meet in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Cobbers had one athlete qualify for the finals, another gain valuable experience at the national level, but had a pair of athletes have to pull out of evens due to ailments and injuries.

The peak of the rollercoaster ride came in the 400 meters where senior Cal Wright finally got his chance to compete in a national meet, and he made it pay off in a big way. Wright raced to a personal best time of 48.82 in the first heat of the prelims. That time was the sixth fastest in the prelims and earns him a spot among the eighth finalists in the event.

Wright will now run for All-American honors in the finals of the 400 on Saturday at 2:20 p.m.

Junior Wade Rhonemus qualified for his first NCAA meet in the heptathlon and was able to compete on the national level. He finished his opening day of the seven events with 2,412 points which puts him in the No.18 spot in the event heading into the final three events on Day 2.

Rhonemus opened his first NCAA meet by running a personal best time in the 60-meter dash. He clocked a 7.45 which earned him 729 points – the most of any of the first four events of the competition. He followed that up with mark of 20-03.00 in the long jump which was just shy of his PR. The distance in the long jump added 624 points to his total, and would be his second highest point total of day 1. Rhonemus then scored 539 points in the shot put with a distance of 35-08.75. The final event on Friday was the high jump where Rhonemus was able to clear the bar at 5-05.75 and come away with 520 points.

Rhonemus will start 2 of the heptathlon when he races in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday at 10 a.m.

The low point of the rollercoaster ride was dealt to senior All-American Jesse Middendorf and freshman Tommy Kern who both had to pull up midway through Friday with injuries. Middendorf suffered a lower leg injury in the warm ups of the 800 meters and could only come up with a time of 1:53.83 in his prelim heat. That time missed out on qualifying for finals by .92 of a second and earned him 12th place in the final event standings.

Kern came down with a stomach ailment earlier in the week and wasn't fully recovered when he lined up for the prelims in the 400 meters. He had to ease up on the second lap of the race and coasted to a time of 1:02.64.

Neither Middendorf nor Kern were able to compete in the 4x400-meter relay – an event where they helped to qualify with the third fastest time in the nation.

Wright was then joined by Colin Schuller and alternates Hayden Gagnon and Trevor Tiongson and the quartet ran a 3:23.53 in the second prelim heat. That time missed out on the finals by 3.21 seconds.

UP NEXT: Rhonemus will start the final day of the NCAA Meet for the Cobbers when he runs the 60-meter hurdles in the heptathlon. Sophomore Cooper Folkestad will compete in the shot put at 1 p.m., and then Wright will go for All-American honors at 2:20 p.m.