Cobbers Feel At Home At Valley City Invite
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (8/30/13)—For the third straight season Concordia started the cross country campaign by winning the Valley City State Invitational. The Cobbers placed three runners in the top 5 and won the meet by nine place points.
While the outcome of the team competition might not have been surprising for head coach Marv Roeske, the individual order of Cobber runners might have held a pleasant outlook. Concordia had a pair of seasoned veterans finish fourth and fifth in the race but were led by sophomore Melissa Uhrich. Uhrich ran a 16:07 over the 4k course and finished in second placed. She bettered the times of last year's No.1 runner Hannah Knickerbocker as well as distance standout Morgan Christian. Uhrich ran a 16:30 at the meet in 2012 and finished in 14th place.
Christian, who is returning to the team after suffering through an injury during the track and field season in 2012-13, was fourth in 16:24. Knickerbocker crossed the line in 16:30 and was fifth. Last year Knickerbocker was the team's No.1 runner in all seven meets a year ago and narrowly missed out on All-Region honors.
The Cobbers had three other runners finish in the top 15 of the meet. The trio included a pair of veterans and a freshman. Junior Anna Sneltjes was the No.4 athlete for CC at the meet. She posted a time of 17:07 and captured 10th place. Fellow junior Heather Olson was :12 seconds behind Sneltjes and finished in 14th place in a time of 17:19. Kaya Baker recorded the fastest time of the five Concordia freshmen at the meet. She ran a 17:14 and was 12th overall.
Concordia will have two weeks to train before returning to competition when they participate in the MSU Moorhead Invite on Friday, Sept. 13 at the Ponderosa GC in Glyndon. The meet will start at 5 p.m.
Final Team Totals
1. Concordia – 33
2. UM-Morris – 42
3. Jamestown – 50
4. Valley City State – 306