Confident Cobbers Use Cornflower Theory To Beat Minn.-Morris

MOORHEAD, Minn. (01/28, 22)---The thing about confidence is that it's like a cornflower – feed it and it will grow very quickly.

The Cobbers used the confidence they gained from last weekend's back-to-back meets and fed the cornflower theory until it grew into a 109-93 win over Minn.-Morris. 

The win avenges a loss to the Cougars in a dual meet earlier in the season. Concordia fell 121-81 in the very first competition of the year on Nov. 6. The victory is the first dual win over Morris since the 2011-12 season.            

Kaitlin Cramer and Jess Bray proved to be the biggest gardeners for the Cobbers on Friday. The duo each won two events to combine for four of the team's six individual event victories.           

Cramer got the Cobbers rolling when she pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the first event of the night – the 1650-yard freestyle. Cramer trailed the leader by 12-seconds at the 1000-yard mark, but then slowly started to get stronger and erased the lead yard-by-yard. Cramer caught the leader from Morris with 250 yards to go and then hung on for the win. Her finishing time of 20:19.24 was a season best.

Bray, combined with sophomore Rachel Andersen, put Concordia's confidence flower in full bloom in the very next event. The pair combined for the only 1-2 finish of the meet for the Cobbers in the 200-yard freestyle. Bray captured the win with a time of 2:10.79 which was almost a full 3-seconds fasster than her previous season best in the event. Andersen also posted her fastest time of the year with a mark of 2:15.36.

Freshman Hailey Jaeger made it three straight individual event wins to start the meet for CC when she raced to a time of 25.57 in the 50-yard freestyle and won by almost 2-seconds. Her time of 25.57 is a season best and only .60 of a second off the school record in the event.

Emily Oswald and Lindsey Biebl posted Top 5 finishes in the event to help the Cobbers outscore the Cougars in the 50-yard freestyle. Oswald was third at 28.99 and Biebl was fifth at 32.52.

Freshman diver Kiernan Darling stepped into the Cobber garden and won both of the 1-meter events to give Concordia crucial team points.

Bray would earn her double in the 100-yard freestyle where she clocked a season-best time of 59.41. Brienna Timm was third with a mark of 1:02.63.

Not to be outdone by Bray, Cramer followed with her second win of the meet. She swam a season-best time in the 100-yard backstroke when she touched the wall in 1:06.82. Camille Gunderson was third at 1:10.81.

Concordia entered the final event needing to post a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the quartet of Gunderson, Bray, Jaeger and Cramer didn't wilt under the heat. They went out and clocked a 1:47.23 to win the race by 1.56 seconds. 

UP NEXT: Concordia will now head into the taper part of the season as they train for the MIAC Championship Meet. The Cobbers will have a 2-week break before heading for the University of Minnesota to compete at the conference meet on Feb. 16-19.

COBBER MEET HIGHLIGHTS