Wonderful Wahlin Wins Opener

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (8/29/14)—Concordia sophomore Carl Wahlin capped off an intense summer regimen by shocking  his coach and teammates and  winning the season-opening Valley City Dual Meet on Friday. Wahlin outraced fellow Cobber Ryan Sederquist to capture his first-ever collegiate race in a time of 16:30.23.

"Carl came to camp two weeks ago looking very fit, telling me he had run 80 minutes a day over the summer (about 12 miles per day)," said head coach Garrick Larson.  "He ran with (Ryan) Sederquist almost the whole week of preseason camp, so I knew he was ready to compete at a higher level."

Wahlin edged Sederquist by 14 full seconds on the 5k course at the Valley City Country Cub to help Concordia beat the Vikings 30-27. Last year the Cobbers finished second after losing to VCSU by two points.

The dedication to a more intense training program over the summer paid off for Wahlin as he shaved over 1:11 off his time at the same race last season. Wahlin finished sixth in 2013 and never led Concordia at any meet during the entire 2013 campaign. Wahlin finished 51st at last year's MIAC conference meet and was a full 1:30 off of Sederquist's finishing time.

Sederquist, the Cobber super senior this season, commented about Wahlin's opening meet by stating, "I thought he ran a great race, very smart and tough.  I'm proud of him."

Sederquist went on to place second at the Valley City meet. He covered the course in 16:44.81. Sederquist also finished second at last year's season-opening meet.  

Concordia won the meet by placing their other three top 5 runners in the top 10 of the meet. The Cobbers had harriers place seventh, eighth and ninth to account for their final team total of 27. That came after Valley City had their top 4 runners finish from third to sixth.

Senior Tim Peterson led the trio of top 10 finishers behind Wahlin and Sederquist. Peterson ran an 18:13.40 and was seventh. A pair of freshman runners came away with top 10 performances in their very first collegiate meet. Noah Pilgrim clocked an 18:28.93 to claim eighth place and fellow first-year athlete Brendan Johnson was close behind at 18:44.33 and placed ninth.

Wahlin will look to continue his early-season success when the Cobbers compete in the Augustana (S.D.) Twilight Meet on Friday, Sept. 5 at the Yankton Trails Park.