3 + 2 = 1 Happy Coach At The Season Opener

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (9/04/21)---A trio of lifetime person bests from veterans and two freshmen in the team's Top 5 led to one happy first-year head coach at the season-opening meet.

Senior Isabel Fredrickson led Concordia to a third-place finish at the UND Ron Pynn Invitational on Saturday. The Cobbers also had four runners cross the line in the Top 20 in the triangular meet that featured Division I teams from host North Dakota and North Dakota State.

Fredrickson came through with a time of 19:40.2 over the 5K course which was good for 16th place.

The experienced trio of Amelia Landsverk, Kelly Lorenz and Kaitlyn Rooney all put up lifetime best times in the 2021 opener. Landsverk finished in 19th place at 19:54.9. That time beat her previous PR by 21 seconds which was on the same course in 2019. Lorenz had the team's fourth Top 20 finish. She came home in 20th place at 20:02.1. That mark trimmed an impressive 41-seconds off her previous lifetime PR – which was also at the 2019 UND meet. Rooney was just outside the Top 20 wither her time of 20:17.5. That mark was a full 1-minute cut off her previous PR.

The newcomers that stepped into the team's Top 5 were Drew Frolek and Eden Smith. Frolek was the team's No.2 finisher. She crossed the line in 19:53.5 in her very first collegiate 5K. Smith was No.4 for the Cobbers. She broke the 20:30 mark in her first college meet by recording a 20:16.5               

UP NEXT: Concordia will look to continue their early-season success when they compete at the MSU Moorhead Twilight Meet on Friday, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m.