Discus Dominates Day 1 At MIAC Meet
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (5/13/16)—Concordia kicked off the quest for their 26th consecutive Top 6 finish at the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet by posting 46.8 team points which has them in second place after the opening day of the meet.
Fighting cold temperatures, a stiff breeze and the injury bug the Cobbers were led by their outstanding field crew which came away with 11 team-scoring finishes (Top 8 in individual events). The top event of the day for Concordia was the discus where five different athletes finished in the Top 8.
Senior Ashley Thompson led the discus group. She placed second with a distance of 128-06. That was less than three feet off the winning mark of 130-11. Tresa Reuter, Kristin Drechsel and Bailey Hovland went 3-4-5 for the Cobbers. Reuter uncorked a lifetime best distance of 125-09 and earned MIAC All-Conference honors by finishing third. Drechsel was fourth at 125-01 and Hovland claimed all-conference honorable mention honors by placing fifth at 12-02. Olivia Johnson was the final member of Concordia to place in the Top 8. She posted a mark of 116-05 and was eighth.
Johnson also scored points in the hammer throw. On her very first throw she came away with a mark of 136-04 which was good for fifth place.
The other two filed events on Day 1 were both in the jump category and junior Emma Peterson placed in the top 5 in both the high jump and long jump. Peterson put up a mark of 17-0.00 in the long jump and placed eighth. Her distance was a season best and the farthest by a Concordia athlete all season. She then finished fourth in the high jump by clearing 5-03.
Peterson was one of three Cobbers to place in the scoring spots in the high jump. Vanessa Johnson tied for fifth place at 5-01 and senior Anna Skow-Anderson was tied for eighth at 4-11.
The Concordia 4x100-meter relay team of Chelsey Petrich, Emily Payne, Paige McCullough and Gift Ben-Bernard had the third fastest preliminary time of the day and is situated well for the finals on Saturday. The quartet clocked a 50.35 which is a season best and just outside the Top 12 in school history.
The Cobbers had one track athlete qualify for the finals of an event on Saturday. Junior Mikayla Forness crossed the finish line in a time of 68.03 in the 400-meter hurdles and will be among the eight finalists. Her time won the third prelim heat and was the fifth fastest of the day.
Sophomore Sarah Curran broke a personal milestone in the 10,000 meters. She fought through until the finish to place 13th in a time of 39:41.29 which marked the first time she had bettered the 40-minute mark in the event. It is also just outside the Top 11 in school history.
One of the hard luck stories of the day for Concordia was posted by sophomore Hannah Lundstrom. Lundstrom, who won the 200 and 400 meters at the MIAC Indoor Meet, entered the meet with the fastest time in the 200 meters and the fourth fastest mark in the 100 meters. Unfortunately a leg injury kept her from posting a quality time 100 meters and she had to scratch in the 200 meters.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will finish off the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet on Saturday, May 14. The first field events of Day 2 are the javelin and pole vault which start at 2 p.m. The first track event is the 3000-meter steeplechase which begins at 3 p.m.