Deeper Cobbers Head To MIAC Meet

MOORHEAD, Minn. (10/26/11)-- For the first time in recent history the Concordia men's cross country team will bring a deep squad to the MIAC Championship Meet. The Cobbers will have at least three runners that have the capability to finish in the top 40 of the conference.

Leading the way for the group of Cobber top runners is senior Tom Sederquist (Moorhead, Minn.). Sederquist, last year's conference runner-up, has battled through sickness and injuries in 2011. However, when he is healthy he is one of the top runners in the region. Sederquist has won all three of the meets he has participated in this season and was named the MIAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Oct. for his victory at the UMD Pine Hill Invite. Sederquist will be with the lead pack the entire race as he hopes to become the Cobbers' third MIAC Cross Country champion in program history.

Tanner Sakrismo (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.) has had a breakout season in 2011. Last year he finished 46th at the MIAC Meet but this year he has posted three different top 5 finishes. Sakrismo's top finish this year came at the UMD Pine Hill Invite where he was runner-up to Sederquist. He has also posted a third-place finish at the Valley City Invite and was fifth at the Jamestown Invitational. Sakrismo's recent form has Cobber head coach Garrick Larson hoping for a top 25 finish at the MIAC Meet.

After Sederquist and Sakrismo, the Cobbers have a question mark and then a pack of three runners. The question mark comes from junior Brad McConn (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South). McConn, the team's No.2 runner at the MIAC last year with a top 25 finish, was second at the Valley City Invite in his only meet of the year. Since then he has fought with injuries. If McConn can compete at the conference meet, he will give Concordia a great shot at putting three runners inside the top 25.

Jake Stunek (Sr., Baxter, Minn./Brainerd HS) and Ryan Sederquist (Fr., Moorhead, Minn.) have consistently been in the team's top 5 all season long. Stunek has been steadily progressing all season long and posted his best finish in the team's final meet before conference. His commitment to e posted a career-best seventh-place finish at the Jamestown Invitational on Oct. 14. He laso had a top 15 finish at the UMD meet. Sederquist's top meet of the year came at the Valley City Invite where he finished fourth. He has been the team's No.2 runner at a pair of other meets this season.

If Concordia can get the depth they have shown in the first two months of the season at the MIAC Championship Meet, then Larson is hoping the team can post their first top 6 finish since the 2002 season.   



Complete MIAC Men's Cross Country Championship Meet Preview