Cobbers Overcome Adversity To Post Another Successful Finish

LA CROSSE, Wis. (10/15/21)---No meet competition in three weeks? No problem. Food poisoning to start a 6-hour bus ride? No problem.

Concordia senior Munir Isahak overcame an unexpected break in competitions and a bout with food poisoning to post his fourth Top 10 finish of the year, and help the Cobbers place ninth in the field of 23 teams at the Jim Drews Invitational hosted by Wis.-La Crosse.

The Cobbers, who had their Jamestown Invite meet on Oct. 1 canceled due to Covid protocol issues, hadn't raced since Sept. 25. That was no problem for Isahak and the rest of his CC teammates as they turned another outstanding performance.

Concordia had three athletes post Top 50 scoring finishes and recorded a team total of 251. That score was the second best out of the seven MIAC squads that competed at the meet.

Isahak was the leader of Team Adversity. He came down with a case of food poisoning during the trip to La Crosse and couldn't keep down any food until after the meet. He was able to overcome the obstacle and still post his season-best time on an 8K course. Isahak won the Carleton Invite with a time of 26:11.1 three weeks ago. He almost shaved a full minute off that time by crossing the line in 25:10.11 at La Crosse. He placed ninth in the meet, and was less than 5-seconds away from a Top 5 finish.

Sophomore Tanner Olson was the team's No.2 runner on the day. He ran a 26:08.12 and finished 41st in the overall standings and had a point-standings finish of 36. It is the third straight meet that Olson has been in the Top 3 for CC, but it marks the first time in 2021 as the team's No.2 finisher.

Senior track All-American Jesse Middendorf had his best cross country meet of the year. He clocked a 26:24.38 and was the No.3 finisher for the Cobbers. It is the first time this year that he has been in the Top for the team. Middendorf's time was over a full minute faster than his time at the Carleton Invite – the only other 8K course CC has competed on.

Freshman Joe Lee and senior Nolan Christenson were the final two members of Concordia's scoring squad. Lee ran a 26:50.49, while Christenson clocked a 27:10.68.    
                           
UP NEXT: Concordia will hope to avoid any more adversity as they prepare for the MIAC Championship Meet. The Cobbers will go up against the rest of the league at the conference meet on Saturday, Oct. 30 at St. Olaf.