Sederquist Leads But Lillehaugen Shines At MIAC
ST. PAUL, Minn. (11/02/13)—It was business as usual for Concordia at the MIAC Championship as senior Ryan Sederquist led the team and a whole pack of freshmen were littered in the top 7.
The Cobbers had a pair of runners in the top 40 of the conference meet and finished eighth as a team. The eighth-place finish is two spots higher than Concordia's pre-race seed of 10th.
Sederquist capped his conference career by running a 26:19.6 and finishing in 20th place. His end time is over one minute faster than his time from last season. His No.1 team finish marks the fourth time this year he has been the Cobbers' top runner.
The Concordia kiddie crew pushed five runners into the top 7 of the team. Cobber freshmen came home as the team's No.2, 3,5,6 and 7 runners. All five freshmen ran to the top of their ability and several had breakout meets.
Matthew Lillehaugen turned in the fastest time by a freshmen at the MIAC Meet in the history of Cobber men's cross country. He has been the team's No.2 athlete throughout the season and the conference meet was no different. Lillehaugen came home in 34th place in a time of 26:55.4. He was the top true freshmen from any team at the meet.
Carl Wahlin was the team's No.3 runner and he was almost a full minute behind Lillehaugen. The freshman Wahlin ran a 27:50 and was just outside the top 50 in 51st place.
Henry Dobbs was the only other upperclassman in the team's top7 at the meet. Dobbs clocked a 28:16 and was the race's No.59 runner. His time is 18 seconds quicker than his time in 2012.
Freshmen Ethan Spittle, Phil Manley and Cody Bekkerus capped out the team's contingent at the championship meet and all three finished within 14 seconds of one another. Spittle finished in a time of 28:26.0 while Manley ran a 28:33.7 and Bekkerus came home in 28:40.5. Manley was the biggest surprise of the day as he jumped into the team's top 6for the first time this season. He also trimmed 30 seconds off of his personal best on an 8k course.
Concordia will look to continue to improve when they compete at the NCAA Central Region Meet on Saturday, Nov. 9 at St. Olaf College in Northfield.