56-Day Break Ends Across 8th Street

MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/14/17)---Concordia didn't have to go far to get back into action after a 56-day break. The Cobbers opened 2017 by traveling across 8th street to compete in the two-day MSU Moorhead Dragon Invite.

Concordia posted six top 10 finishes and finished in sixth place in the team competition at the meet that was dominated by NCAA Division II competition. Sophomore Ciara White and senior Libby Hardwick both had a pair of Top 10 finishes at the meet to pace the Cobbers.

White recorded the highest finish by a Concordia athlete. She placed fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 2:36.90. White's finishing time puts her into the Top 15 of the conference.

White also placed seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke. She touched the wall with a mark of 1:12.90 in the prelims and then was just off that pace at 1:12.95 in the finals. Both of her times in the 100-yard breaststroke at the meet push her into the No.15 spot on the conference's season ranking list.

Hardwick pulled the Top 10 double in the 50-yard backstroke and 100-yard backstroke. She finished sixth in a highly competitive 50-yard backstroke by posting a time of 31.01. She qualified for the finals with a season-best time of 29.91 in the prelims. Hardwick then went out in a time of 1:07.29 in the 100-yard backstroke and finished in 10th place. Like the 50-yard backstroke her time in the prelims was a bit faster. Hardwick qualified for the finals by swimming a 1:05.42 in the preliminary heats.

Jordyn Templeton and Sarah Nelson owned the other Top 10 marks for Concordia at the opening meet of the New Year.

Templeton earned team points for the Cobbers by scoring a 10th-place finish in the 50-yard breaststroke. She qualified for the finals with a season-best time of 36.99 and then swam a 39.27 in the finals to capture her lone Top 10 finish of the meet.

Nelson had success in several events but cracked the Top 10 in the 100-yard freestyle. She had the final qualifying time for the finals in the prelim heats with a 1:00.21 and then knifed through the water in the finals to beat her prelim time with a mark of 59.62.

Teammate Joleen Plekkenpol also made the finals in the 100-yard freestyle. She put up her best time in the meet in the prelims with a 59.76 and then swam a 1:01.21 in the finals.

Nelson was also 11th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:29.63 which is less than .50 seconds off her season best mark. Nelson barely missed making the finals in the 100-yard butterfly. She posted a time of 1:04.08 in the prelims which was .09 of a second shy of getting into the finals.

Alaina Dehnke was the final Cobber to record team points by earning a spot in the finals. She swam a 1:08.04 and was the final qualifier in the 100-yard backstroke. She then finished 12th in the event with a mark of 1:08.16.     

Katrina Tesky just missed out on a Top 10 finish. She clocked a 20:50.90 in the 1650-yard freestyle and placed 11th.  

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will stay in Moorhead and host its final home meet of the season. The Cobbers will square off against Minn.-Morris on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. The two teams battled in the opening meet of the year with Morris holding on to edge the Cobbers 136.5-99.5.