First Back-To-Back Top 5 Finishes At MIAC Since 1983

ST. PAUL, Minn. (10/29/22)---Senior Leo Smith and sophomore Joe Lee both placed inside the Top 25 to earn MIAC All-Conference Honorable Mention honors, and helped Concordia to a fifth-place finish in the final team standings at the conference meet held at Highland National GC.

The Cobbers finished with a final team score of 175 which was only two points clear of St. Scholastica who was sixth at 177.

It marks the second straight year that the Cobbers have finished fifth at the MIAC Championship Meet. It marks the first time since the 1982 and 1983 seasons that Concordia has recorded back-to-back Top 5 finishes at the conference meet.

Smith led Concordia for the sixth straight meet, but he was pushed by Lee throughout the 8K course. The two finished consecutively at the No.20 and No.21 spots with times of 26:15.56 and 26:19.41.

It is the second straight season that Smith has claimed All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. He placed 17th at last year's meet.  

Lee, who was competing in only his second meet of the year, races his way to his first-ever conference meet award. He moved up 18 spots over his 38th-place finish from a year ago.  

Freshman Jonathan Krueger was the team's No.3 finisher in his very first MIAC Meet. Krueger paced his way to a time of 27:28.29 which was 5-seconds faster than Tanner Olson who was the team's No.4 runner.

Olson covered the course in a time of 27:33.54. He was able to hold off freshman Mustafe Abdi who was one spot behind Olson in a time of 27:34.16. Abdi continued his upward improvement at the meet as he recorded his fourth straight Top 5 team finish.   

UP NEXT: Concordia will be looking to carry over its success from the conference meet when they compete at the NCAA North Regional Meet which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 12 at St. Olaf.