Improvement Shown At Region Meet

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/12/16)--- Concordia showed huge improvement at the season-ending NCAA Central Region Meet at Carleton on Saturday.

The Cobbers finished 109 points above their seeded total and placed 24th at the meet. Senior Matthew Lillehaugen capped his cross country career as he was the team's top finisher at the meet. Lillehaugen clocked a 27:14.8 over the 8K course and placed 96th in the 207-athlete region meet.

The region meet has been good to Lillehaugen the last two years. Last season he ran his best race of the year at regions. He ran a 28:52 and placed 140th. Lillehaugen improved on both his place and time at this year NCAA Central Region Meet. He improved by 44 places and by a time frame of 1:38.

Concordia had an average time of 27:55 on Saturday. Eric Wicklund and Brandon Quibell were the other two members of the Cobbers to record times under the team's average. Wicklund ran a 27:23.8 in his first region meet and Quibell was only .05 of a second behind Wicklund with a mark of 27:24.3

The Cobber No.4 and No.5 runners were also bunched tightly together. Nick Solheim was the team's fourth runner after he crossed the line in 28:43.8. Junior Brendan Johnson was only 2.5 seconds behind Solheim. He recorded a time of 28:46.3 to be the team's final scoring member.

Concordia Finishers At NCAA Central Region Meet   
96. Matthew Lillehaugen - 27:14.8
105. Eric Wicklund - 27:23.8
108. Brandon Quibell - 27:24.3
150. Nick Solheim - 28:43.8
152. Brendan Johnson - 28:46.3
175. Will Corbett - 29:48.9
188. Olsen Pancoast - 30:47.3