Folkestad & Rhonemus Headed To NCAA Indoor Meet

MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/5/24)---Concordia seniors Cooper Folkestad (Wadena, Minn./Wadena Deer Creek HS) and Wade Rhonemus (Foley, Minn.) have been officially entered into the NCAA National Track and Field Indoor Championship Meet which will be held on Mar. 8-9 in Virginia Beach, Va.

It is the second time for both athletes to earn a spot at the NCAA Indoor Meet. Folkestad and Rhonemus both went to the national indoor meet in 2022 and Folkestad went on to earn All-American honors. It will be the third straight meet for Rhonemus, who also qualified for the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Meet.

Concordia has now had 12 athletes qualify for the national indoor meet in the past five years.  

Folkestad posted his national qualifying mark in the shot put at the St. John's Invitational on Feb. 10. He recorded a mark of 54-10.25. His "PR" distance came on his third attempt and won the meet by almost three feet.

Folkestad's season-best distance puts him No.16 on the national list as he heads east.

The shot put competition will be held on Saturday, Mar. 9 beginning at 10 a.m. (CST).

Rhonemus stepped into the Top 20 of Division III when he set the school record in the heptathlon at the MIAC Championship Meet. Rhonemus came through with a final total of 4,967 points. That score bettered the old Cobber record of 4,884 points which was set in 2017 by Jackson Schepp.

Rhonemus is currently seeded No.12 in the event heading into the national meet. Rhonemus' previous best finish at a national multi-event competition was 12th at last spring's decathlon event.

Rhonemus will start his trek for a Top 10 finish in the 60-meter dash on Friday, Mar. 8 at 9 a.m. (CST).

PAST COBBER NCAA INDOOR MEET PARTICIPANTS
2023 - Hayden Gagnon
2022 - Cooper Folkestad - Shot Put
2022 - Tommy Kern - 400 Meters
2022 - Jesse Middendorf - 800 Meters
2022 - Wade Rhonemus - Heptathlon
2022 - Cal Wright - 400 Meters
2022 - Cal Wright, Hayden Gagnon, Trevor Tiongson, Colin Schuller - 4x400 Meter Relay    
2019 – Matt Bye – heptathlon
2017 – Jackson Schepp – heptathlon
2009 – Paul Schol – pentathlon
2009 – Paul Westmark – pentathlon
2001 – Joe Schmidgall – high jump  
2000 – Micah Benson – long jump
2000 – Adam Strainer – triple jump   
1996 – Aaron Banks – shot put, weight throw
1995 – Aaron Banks – shot put, weight throw
1994 – Aaron Banks – shot put, weight throw
1993 - Kyle Johnson - 800 meters 
1992 – Jon Ault – weight throw
1992 - Kyle Johnson - 800 meters
1992 – Jason Schlepp – weight throw
1991 – Jon Ault – shot put, weight throw
1990 – Jon Ault – shot put
1990 – Mark Olson – shot put
1990 – Don Worcester – 55-meter hurdles