Junior Meritt Miller leads a pack of runners at the MIAC Championship Meet. She went on to earn All-Conference honors for the first time in her career. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Lodermeier)

Posted: Nov 02, 2019

First Top 5 MIAC Finish Since 2000

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (11/02/19)---Concordia pulled off a feat that they hadn't achieved in 19 years. The Cobbers used the strength of four finishers in the Top 40 and placed fifth at the MIAC Championship Meet.

The last time Concordia finished in the Top 5 at the MIAC Championship Meet was in 2000 when they placed second and went on to compete at the NCAA National Meet.

Junior Meritt Miller led the Cobbers over the 6K course at Carleton College. She covered the course in a time of 22:38 which pushed her into 14th place and earned her MIAC All-Conference honors. It is the first time in her career she has earned All-MIAC honors and it comes a year after she placed 80th at the 2018 MIAC Meet.

Miller becomes the first Cobber athlete to earn MIAC All-Conference honors since Kaya Baker placed 15th at the 2015 meet.

Kara Andersen finished off her MIAC career by just missing out on All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. She placed 27th in a time of 23:16, and with finishers 16-25 earning honorable mention honors, Andersen missed out on 25th place by a mere 3.9 seconds. It is the second straight year that Andersen has finished 27th at the conference meet. Andersen finished in the Top 40 at the MIAC Meet for three straight years.

Fellow senior Miriah Forness was the team's No.3 finisher. She recorded a time of 23:30 and placed 33rd in the final individual standings. Last year Forness finished 60th in a time of 24:39.

Isabel Fredrickson also posted her best finish at a conference meet. The sophomore was right behind Forness and came home in 37th place with a mark of 23:45. Fredrickson was outside the Top 100 at last year's MIAC Meet and ran a time of 25:52 in 2018.

Emily Rugloski was the final member of Concordia's scoring team. She ran a 24:05 and was the No.46 finisher in the meet. Her finish and time is also an improvement from a year ago when she ran a 25:01 and was 73rd at the meet.

Freshman Amelia Landsverk was the only other CC finisher in the Top 75 at the meet. She clocked a time of 24:43 in her very first conference race.

UP NEXT: The Cobbers will try and continue their outstanding season when they compete at NCAA Central Region Meet on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Wartburg College. Concordia finished 12th at the region meet last year and hasn't posted a Top 10 finish since 2012.

Saturday recaps sponsored by Bufffalo Wild Wings: Grab your friends and get to B-Dubs on Sunday nights for College Nights at 9 p.m. 50% off 1 food item with ID and $3 apps at the Buffalo Wild Wings located on Hwy 10 in Moorhead.