Record Demolition Days At NDSU

FARGO, N.D. (02/05/22)---Pop Quiz: What does the infamous Disco Demolition Night hosted by the Chicago White Sox in 1979 (go ahead and google it, we'll wait) and the Cobber men's track and field team at the NDSU Bison Open have in common?

Answer: There were a lot of records smashed at both events.

Concordia went Bill Veeck-wild as they broke five school records over the 2-day event. That's not a typo. The Cobbers broke the program records in the 300 meters, 400 meters, 500 meters, 3000 meters and the 4x400-meter relay. And oh yeah, they also had the second fastest time in the 60-meter dash.

All that school record frenzy helped Concordia finish in second place at the Bison Open. The Cobbers beat out teams from DI schools North Dakota and South Dakota State as well as DII squads from MSU Moorhead and Northern State.

You'll have to excuse head coach Garrick Larson this week if he seems to be floating around Olson Forum. The five school records are the most broken at single meet in school history.

Seniors Cal Wright and All-American Jesse Middendorf started the school-record parade on Friday when they delivered the goods in the 300M and 500M.

Wright busted out a 35.23 in the 300 meters which was good for sixth place in the event. His finishing time broke his own school record of 35.41 set in 2019.

Middendorf joined his teammate in Cobber lore when he raced to a 1:04.52 in the 500 meters. That time was over a full second better than the 21-year-old mark of 1:05.85 set by Erik Johnson in 1991.

Both Wright and Middendorf weren't through smashing records as they ran two of the four legs in the 4x400 relay.

Saturday saw athletes on opposite ends of their careers join Wright and Middendorf in the CC record book. Senior All-American Munir Isahak broke a record that was thought to be unbreakable, and freshman phenom Too-Fast Tommy Kern broke the school mark in the 400 meters for the second time in the first four meets of his college career.

Isahak was chasing the ridiculously-low time of distance guru Tom Sederquist in the 3K. Sederquist's record of 8:29.18 was thought to be untouchable, but that was before Isahak broke free in the fall and earned All-American honors in cross country.

Isahak has posted lightning-fast times in all his events to start the 2022 indoor season. He continued his upward trend by winning the 3K at the Bison Open in a time of 8:26.76. That's right, he broke the unbreakable by almost 3-seconds. He also beat four different scholarship athletes from NDSU in the event.

Kern continues to drop jaws in the low middle distances. He opened his college career by breaking the school record in the 400 meters with a time of 49.31. You knew that wasn't going to hold up for long. It lasted all of three meets. Kern clocked a 48.77 to win the event by .29 of a second. And yes, he also beat multiple DI and DII runners.

Kern's time is the fastest in the MIAC this year and third fastest in DIII this year. His mark is almost a shoe-in to earn him a trip to the national meet.

The 4x400-meter relay squad of Wright, Middendorf, Colin Schuller and Kern finished off the record-breaking free-for-all by running a 3:19.15 and finishing second at the meet. They beat the 'A' team from MSU Moorhead by a full 3-seconds.

Their time broke the school record of 3:20.47 set back in 2020. The time at NDSU is the fastest in the MIAC this year and No.3 in the nation.

Freshman sprinter Anthony Marsh nearly joined the record-breaking quintet when he posted a time of 7.05 in the qualifying round of the 60-meter dash. That was the fastest time of any athlete in the qualifying round. Marsh then bettered that time in the prelims when he ran a 7.01 and became one of only two non-Division I qualifiers for the finals. Marsh clocked a 7.08 in the finals and finished sixth.

Marsh's time of 7.01 was only .03 of second off the school record set by Ben Vickstrom in 2014. His time is also the fourth fastest in the conference this year.

Junior Wade Rhonemus earns the "overshadowed" award for the meet. Rhonemus had a pair of program Top 15 marks but go lost in the avalanche of school records.

Rhonemus recorded the fifth highest point total in Cobber history in the heptathlon. He earned 4,520 points which is No.4 in the conference this year. Rhonemus' other Top mark was put up in the pole vault during the heptathlon. He cleared 14-01.25 which pushes him into the Top 15 on the school's all-time list.

UP NEXT: The Cobbers will try to outdo their performance in Fargo when they compete against MIAC competition at the St. John's Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 11 a.m.