Senior Ashley Thompson recorded the first event win of her collegiate career as she unleashed a personal best distance in the shot put at the Ole Open.
Senior Ashley Thompson recorded the first event win of her collegiate career as she unleashed a personal best distance in the shot put at the Ole Open.

Lundstrom, Peterson & Thompson Shine At Olaf

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (2/26/16)—Hannah Lundstrom can run, Emma Peterson can jump and Ashley Thompson can throw. Those are the three things that Concordia learned at the St. Olaf Ole Qualifier.

Lundstrom, Peterson and Thompson all won events in the final competition before the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet.

Lundstrom continues to tear up the track in the 200 and 400 meters in 2016. She won both races at the Ole Qualfier against similar competition she will face next weekend in the MIAC Meet at Carleton. Lundstrom clocked a 26.08 on the 200 meters and won the event by 1.26 seconds. Her finishing time would be the top time in the MIAC this season but Lundstrom ran a sub26-second 200 at the NDSU Thundering Herd Classic on Feb. 13.

Lundstrom also owns the top time in the MIAC in the 400 meters and at the Ole Qualifier she proved she would be the athlete to beat as she raced to a 58.64 and won the race by .84 of a second. Her winning time was a mere .01 of a second off her season best mark of 58.63 which she also posted at NDSU.

Peterson, who was an All-MIAC honoree in the high jump at last year's MIAC Meet won the Ole Qualfier with a mark of 5-03. That was two inches higher than the next competitor. Peterson currently ranks third in the MIAC head into the conference meet. She cleared a season best height of 5-03.75 at the Cobber Open on Feb. 26.

Thompson was the "feel good" story of the meet. She unleashed a throw of 41-07 on her sixth, and final, attempt and won the event by over three feet.

The story line for Thompson is that it was her first-ever event win at a college meet and lands her in the top 10 on the Cobber all-time list. Her winning mark is the third best in the MIAC this year and No.8 on CC's top 10 list for the indoor shot put.

The other notable performance at the meet for Concordia came from junior Mikayla Forness who sped to a personal best time of 9.93 in the 60-meter hurdles final and finished third in the race. That time is the 12th fastest in school history.

Forness also finished second in the 600 meters with a time of 1:42.18.

Freshman Jenna Stilwell and senior Anna Skow-Anderson had the other top 5 finishes for the Cobbers. Stilwell posted a distance of 34-05.75 in the triple jump and placed fifth. Her mark is also the fifth best in the conference this season.  Skow-Anderson was fourth in the shot put with a mark of 37-2.75. She also had a personal-best distance in the long jump.

COBBER NOTABLES
COBBER  ALL-TIME LIST:
60 Hurdles – Mikayla Forness – 9.93 – ALL-TIME #12
Shot Put – Ashley Thompson – 41-7 (12.67m) – ALL-TIME #8

PERSONAL RECORDS:
60 hurdles- Mikayla Forness;
long jump- Anna Skow-Anderson;
shot put- Ashley Thompson, Emily Albers, Jenna Stilwell;
weight throw- Emily Albers.

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will compete in the one meet that counts all season as they square off in the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet on Mar. 5-6 at Carleton College. The multi-event athletes will participate in the conference pentathlon on Mar. 3 and then join the team for the rest of the meet on the weekend. Concordia was sixth at last year's meet which was excellently hosted by Concordia.