The Athlete And The Cheetah Make Their Mark At NDSU
FARGO, N.D. (2/07/15)—The Athlete and the Cheetah made their mark among Division I athletes as they were the top Cobber finishers at the Thundering Herd Classic hosted by North Dakota State University.
Brandon Zylstra continues to show off his freakish athletic ability in the infant stages of his collegiate track and field career. Zylstra, who owns the 12th best mark in the high jump this season, won the long jump by posting a distance of 22-05.75. That mark was seven inches farther than the next scholarship athlete in the event.
Zylstra's winning distance of 22-05.75 in the long jump is the farthest in the MIAC this season and in the top 25 of the nation. With just two collegiate meets under his belt, Zylstra owns the top marks in the conference in both the high jump and long jump and is ranked in the top 25 of the nation in both events. He still has three more meets to improve on those marks before the conference indoor meet which will be held at Concordia on Mar. 6-7.
Brandon Zylstra Winning Long Jump Attempt - Feb. 7, 2015
Ben Vickstrom earned the nickname the Cheetah last year after he became the first person in Cobber track and field history to run a sub 7-second 60-meter dash. Last year at the MIAC Indoor Meet he ran a 6.98 in the 60 meters and a 22.58 in the 200 meters and placed in the top 3 in both events. Over the weekend Vickstrom showed he is right on pace with last year's history-making performances.
Vickstrom placed in the top 7 in both events at NDSU. He started the weekend by running a 22.97 in the 200 meters and coming home in sixth place. That time is the second fastest in the MIAC this year and only .39 of a second behind his third-place time at the MIAC Meet last year. Vickstrom then finished off the weekend by speeding down the straightaway and taking the tape in the qualifying heat of the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.16. He wound up finishing seventh in the event after running a 7.18 in the finals. His time of 7.16 in the qualifying heat is the fourth fastest in the conference this year.
In addition to the two top guns for the Cobbers, Concordia once again showed off its new-look depth in all events. CC had a slew of top 10 finishes and earned many season-best marks.
Zylstra had a third-place finish in the high jump to go with his win in the long jump. He led a group of four athletes who all placed in the top 10 of the event. Aylstra had a top height of 6-04.00 which is four inches shy of his MIAC-leading mark set last weekend. Teammate Mark Goss also cleared 6-04.00 at the meet and placed fifth. Jackson Schepp and Nick Anderson both cleared 6-02.00 but Schepp was seventh and Anderson 10th because of misses at lower heights.
Junior Josh Murrey once again went above 14-feet in the pole vault. He finished sixth in the open pole vault competition at the Thundering Herd Classic after clearing a height of 14-01.25. That is just under his season-best mark of 14-03.50 which is the second highest in the conference this year.
Besides Vickstrom, Theo Betting was the top finisher among the Cobber track athletes. Betting finished fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 53.39. That is a season best time and currently in the top 20 of the MIAC.
Concordia will compete in a more DIII-friendly invite when they travel to Collegeville to compete in the St. John's Triangular on Saturday, Feb. 14.