Eric Wicklund covers the NCAA Region Meet course on his way to leading the Cobbers to a 17th-place finish.
Eric Wicklund covers the NCAA Region Meet course on his way to leading the Cobbers to a 17th-place finish.
Posted: Nov 11, 2017

Trending Up At NCAA Region Meet

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/11/17)---While the Top 2 finishers for Concordia at the NCAA Central Region remained status quo, it was the finishes of the Cobbers' No.3, 4 and 5 runners that caught the attention of head coach Garrick Larson.

"Erik Larson, Nick Solheim and Noah Kneeskern had a great meet," commented Larson. "They really impressed me with their determination during the race."

The three Cobber harriers, along with Eric Wicklund and Munir Isahak, helped Concordia finish with their fastest average time at a regional meet and place 17th in the final team standings. The 17th-place finish is an improvement of seven spots from last year's place at the region meet.

Wicklund led the Cobbers for the second straight championship meet. He earned MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention honors two weeks ago with a 19th-place finish. On Saturday he ran a 26:44 and placed 76th among the 200 competitors. He also improved by 29 places from last year's finish at the NCAA Region Meet.

Isahak was 12 seconds behind Wicklund in his very first region race. Isahak covered the 8k course in a time of 26:56, giving CC two runners under the 27-minute mark, and came home in 96th place.

The trio of Larson, Solheim and Kneeskern finished within 16 seconds of one another and crossed the line just behind Isahak. Larson, who didn't compete at last year's Central Region Meet, was the team's No.3 runner with a time of 27:00.

Solheim made a huge improvement over his placement from last year. He crossed the line at 27:04 and was two places behind Larson. Solheim placed 150th in the 2016 region meet and bettered that by 47 spots as he came home in 103rd place.

Like Isahak, Kneeskern showed signs of success in his first collegiate region meet. He was the team's No.5 finisher with a time of 27:16.     

COBBER NCAA CENTRAL MEET FINISHERS:
76. Eric Wicklund - 26:44.7
94. Munir Isahak - 26:56.8
101. Erik Larson - 27:00.5
103. Nick Solheim - 27:04.4
110. Noah Kneeskern - 27:16.4
128. Brandon Quibell - 27:40.9
159. Connor Haugrud - 28:57.4