A Quintet Of All-Region Honorees

MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/24/21)---Concordia had five student/athletes earn U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Central All-Region honors for the 2021 indoor season.

Cooper Folkestad, Jesse Middendorf and Wade Rhonemus were honored from the men's team while Josie Herrmann and Cayle Hovland received the award from the women's squad.

To earn All-Region honors, an athlete must be one of the Top 5 individuals in their respective region on the final TFRRS Descending Order List. In addition, each member of a region's top-3 relay team was also selected for distinction.

Folkestad, competing in his first collegiate track and field season, earned All-Region honors for finishing in the Top 5 in the region in the shot put. He posted his mark at the St. John's Invitational when he posted a distance of 52-04.75 which is the second farthest mark in school history.

Middendorf continued his record-setting ways in 2021 and earned All-Region honors in the 800 meters. Middendorf earned a spot in the DIII Elite Meet at Wartburg with a time of 1:54.09. He proceeded to best that time at the meet and break his own school record with a mark of 1:53.31. His finishing time broke his own school record which he set last season.

Rhonemus won All-Region honors in the heptathlon. His top score came at the NDSU multi-event where amassed a total of 4,053 points.

Herrmann saved her best indoor season for last. She broke multiple school records and earned All-Region honors in the 800 meters and the mile. Herrmann broke the school record in both events during the season. She posted her best time in the 800 at the UND Tune-Up meet with a school-record time of 2:13.68. That time qualified her for the DIII Elite Meet where she won the event with a time of 2:13.81.

Herrmann added the school-record in the mile at the DIII Elite Meet when she clocked a 5:00.39 and finished in third place. The previous school record in the mile had stood since 2006 and was held by Natalie Hanson at 5:05.32.

Hovland has the best indoor season of her career as she posted personal bests in both the shot put and weight throw. She earned All-Region honors in the shot put. That mark came on the very last attempt in the very last indoor meet of the season. She entered final meet with a career-best mark of 52-01.00 and then put up a distance of 52-02.25 in her final attempt of the year.  

The five All-Region award winners will join the rest of the Cobber track & field teams to start the outdoor season at the St. John's/St. Ben's meet on Saturday, Mar. 27 at 12 p.m.