Massive Improvement At Jimmie Invite

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (10/09/15)—Concordia made a massive improvement at the Jimmie Invite. The Cobbers plummeted times by over 2:00 for their top 5 runners compared to the Griak Invite just two weeks ago.  

Concordia had an average time of 28:57 per man at Jamestown as compared to 31:04 at the Griak.
 
The Cobbers finished seventh out of eight teams at the Jimmie Invite which featured the majority of teams from NCAA Division II conferences the NSIC and North Star. 

"The guys just ran great today," beamed head coach Garrick Larson. "They've been training so hard, especially the last three weeks. It just makes me smile when they are rewarded for the hours of training."

Injuries once again played a part in the outcome for the Cobbers. CC was forced to compete without its No.1 and No.3 runners Brandon Quibell and Race Heitkamp who are both nursing nagging injuries. In addition to two of the top three athletes on the shelf, the Cobbers were without four other runners for the meet. Despite all those setbacks, Concordia came very close to beating rival Jamestown. 

"Jamestown just utterly destroyed us here [at Jamestown] on September 1," exclaimed Larson.  "We lost by 1:00 per man.  Today the race was down to 11 seconds per guy.  We surely would have upended Jamestown running with our two missing top 5 guys."

Ryan Turner led the way for the Cobbers for the first time in his career finishing 29th in a time of 28:19. Teammate Erik Larson was right on his shoulder at the finish line in 30th place at 28:20. The brother tandem of Matthew Lillehaugen and Luke Lillehaugen also finished neck-and-neck. Matthew crossed the tape in 28:52 to capture 39th place while Luke was 40th at 29:20. Will Corbett rounded out the Cobber scoring in 47th at 29:55. 

"Ryan and Erik ran awesome today," praised Larson. "Erik is right at his lifetime best and Ryan had a truly breakout race nearly 2:00 faster than his previous best." Turner is the team's third different No.1 runner this season. 

When asked about the team's improvement Coach Larson said, "the Griak course was very difficult and slow, but that shouldn't take away from the leap the guys made today. We are clearly improving and it's a testament to our guys' hard work and a well-designed training plan. But there is no improvement without the athletes' willingness to sweat it out on hard workouts and mileage. The guys are getting the work done."

WHAT'S NEXT: The Cobbers head to St. Bonifacius to compete in the Crown Invite on Saturday, Oct. 17. CC will get to face NCAA Division III teams at the meet which they won in 2014.