Jumping Into 2018

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/20/18)---Jenna Stilwell led Concordia in the first event of the 2018 season as she captured the title in the 60-meter hurdles in the Cobber Open.

Stilwell was the lone events winner of the day but Concordia had eight Top 5 finishes at the meet.

Stilwell earned her win by racing to a 9.84 in the 60-meter hurdles and winning the event by .08 of a second. Her time is .41 of a second faster than she ran in her first 60-meter event last season and just off the Top 10 on the Cobber all-time list. Stilwell's time is No.10 on the MIAC best list this season.   

Bailey Hovland provided the excitement in the field events for the Cobbers as she posted career best marks in both the shot put and weight throw and came away with Top 4 finishes in both events.

Hovland's top event of the day was the weight throw where she put up a career-best distance of 48-02.75. That mark is the 11th farthest in school history and currently the third farthest in the MIAC. Hovland then stepped inside the shot put circle and heaved a throw of 37-04.00 which is also a career best and is the second best in the conference this year.

Hovland is looking to duplicate former teammate Mandy Mercil's season from last year where she won the weight throw and finished second in the shot put at the MIAC Indoor Meet. Hovland is off to a great start as both of her marks in the season opener would have earned her All-Conference Honorable Mention honors at last year's meet.

Senior Vanessa Johnson had the other Top 4 field finish for Concordia in the opener. Johnson cleared 5-0.25 and placed second in the high jump.

Distance runners Maria West and Kara Andersen both had third-place finishes at the meet. West clocked a 2:30.59 in the 800 meters while Andersen earned her third-place finish with a time of 11:17.06 in the 3000 meters. Andersen's time is faster than any Cobber ran last year in the 3k at the season opener while West's mark would have been good for second place at last year's season-opening meet.

Junior Lauren Santl was the final member of Concordia to claim a spot in the Top 4. Santl was fifth in the 200 meters with a time of 28.52. Her mark is the exact same finishing time she posted in last year's season opener.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will participate in its first road meet of the year when they travel north to Grand Forks to compete in the UND Open on Jan. 26-27.       

COBBER NOTABLES – COBBER OPEN:

Cobber All-Time:

Weight Throw – Bailey Hovland – 48-2.75 (14.70m) – All-Time #11 (this is a PR by 1.1 meters) 

Personal records:
Mile- Liz Vought; Shot Put- Bailey Hovland (PR by almost 4 feet), Kelsey Rajewsky, Marissa Andersen; Weight Throw- Bailey Hovland, Kelsey Rajewsky (PR by 7 feet), Emily Albers.