Seventh Heaven

WAVERLY, Iowa (5/27/16)—Olivia Johnson and Emma Peterson both finished seventh at the NCAA Outdoor Championship Meet to earn All-American honors. Johnson was seventh in the shot put while Peterson was seventh in the high jump.

Mikayla Forness, the third member of the Cobbers who earned a spot at the national meet, finished ninth in the two-day heptathlon competition.

Johnson and Peterson continue Concordia's impressive streak of All-Americans. The Cobbers have now had at least one All-American in 14 of the past 15 seasons and have had at least two All-Americans in four straight years.

Johnson earned her first-ever All-American honor in the shot put with a distance of 45-03.00. Johnson, who was making her fourth straight national meet appearance, put up her best mark of the day on her second attempt in the preliminary round. She qualified sixth for the finals and then dropped to seventh in the final event standings. Johnson's previous best finish at an NCAA Meet was ninth. She placed ninth in the shot put at the 2014 NCAA Meet.

Johnson will have a chance to earn another All-American honor when she competes in the javelin competition on Saturday, May 28.

Peterson once again showed that she is at her best in the "Big Meet". Hampered by a lower leg injury for the past month, Peterson flew over the bar in her first attempt at 5-05.25 and placed seventh. She missed her very first jump of the competition at 5-01.75 but then rebounded to clear the bar on her next three jumps.

Peterson easily went over 5-01.75 on her second attempt at that height. She then bested 5-03.75 on the very first attempt at the height and then went over 5-05.25 on the next attempt to lock down her spot as an All-American. There were six competitors who all finished at 5-05.25 but due to fewer misses at the lesser heights, Peterson finished on top of the group of six and in seventh place.

Forness was the hard-luck story on Friday. She entered the day in 18th place, climbed to the No.13 spot after the second event on Friday and finished a mere 20 points out of a podium finish and All-American honors.

Forness made her move in the javelin as she posted the farthest distance of any heptathlete in the competition. Her distance of 133-11 moved her all the way to 13th heading into the 800 meters – the final event of the competition. Forness then ran away with the first heat of the 800 meters by clocking a 2:23.47. Her time was five seconds faster than any other competitor in the first heat and wound up being the fourth fastest overall in the event.

Her time in the 800 gave her 777 points which vaulted her all the way to ninth place in the final standings. She finished with 4,449 points which was only 19 points behind the eighth-place finisher.

Forness will have a second chance to crack the Top 8 in an event and earn All-American honors when she competes in the javelin on Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m. 

Cobber Women's Track & Field Outdoor All-Americans
2016 - Olivia Johnson, Emma Peterson
2015 - Hillary Birchem, Cherae Reeves 
2014 - Hilary Thompson, Cherae Reeves
2013 - Kaari Jensen, Cherae Reeves
2012 - Kaari Jensen
2010 - Leah Kay
2009 - Leah Kay
2008 - Leah Kay
2007 - Heather Schuster
2006 - Angie Pfeiffer, Natalie Hanson
2005 - Nicole Plante
2004 - Angie Pfeiffer, Amy Ravenhorst, Alissa Bilden, Kelly Olson
2003 - Angie Pfeiffer
2002 - Kelli Tranby
2000 - Maria DeBoer
1999 - Maria DeBoer
1998 - Maria DeBoer, Laura Utke, Becky Kearns
1997 - Renee Erickson
1996 - Renee Erickson
1995 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten
1994 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten, Merrilee Rutherford