Jensen Earns All-American Honors At NCAA Meet

CLAREMONT, Calif. (5/25/12)—Cobber junior Kaari Jensen's track and field resumé continues to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Jensen added to her list of outstanding accomplishments on Friday by earning her first-ever All-American award. Jensen amassed 4,825 points in the heptathlon at the NCAA National Outdoor Meet and finished in fourth place. She was a mere five points shy of breaking her own school record.

The fourth-place finish for Jensen is the highest for a Cobber athlete at the NCAA National Meet since Leah Kay finished second in the heptathlon in 2010. Jensen becomes the 16^th different Cobber women's athlete to earn All-American honors in the past 20 years.   

Jensen, seeded second in the event heading into the meet, started the competition with a pair of personal bests and scored over 600 points in six of the seven events. Her highest-scoring event of the meet came in the very first competition where she sped to a 15.09 in the 100-meter meter hurdles and collected 830 points. She also scored over 700 points in the high jump, 200 meters and 800 meters. Her height of 5-01.75 in the high jump was also a personal best for Jensen.

Jensen broke the MIAC record in the heptathlon at the conference meet three weeks ago with a final score of 4,829 points. She entered the final event of the competition with a chance to break the conference record but ran a 2:27:08 in the 800 meters and finished with 4,825 points.

Jensen finished the first day of competition with 2,851 points and was in fifth place. She climbed into fourth place after the long jump and javelin events and barely missed breaking into the top 3 in the final standings. Jensen was 74 points out of third place and just 95 points away from the winner of the event.

Final 2012 NCAA Heptathlon Standings
1. Alexis Arnold, So., George Fox - 4,920
2. Emma Dewart, Sr., Ithaca - 4,917             
3. Ashley Bault, Sr., Marietta - 4,899            
4. Kaari Jensen, Jr., Concordia - 4,825             
5. Kelly Curtis, Sr., Springfield - 4,811             
6. Elizabeth Krug, So., Hendrix - 4,726           
7. Sarah Thompson, Sr., Carthage - 4,698          
8. Jessika Smith, Jr., UW-Stout - 4,691           
9. Allie Boudreau, Fr., Illinois Wesleyan - 4,596           
10. Kim Bingley, So., Defiance, 4,506               
11. Michelle Baranek, Sr., UW-Eau Claire - 4,494        
12. Anne Guthrie, Sr., UW-Stout - 4,485 
13. Caitlin Wilson, Sr., Central Coll - 4,474 
14. Charity Arn, Fr., George Fox - 4,398 
15. Brandi Miller, Sr., Willamette - 4,391 
16. Erin Hollinger, Sr., Case Western - 4,388 
17. Taylor Hudson, Fr., Cortland St. - 4,364 
18. Amanda Rissmeyer, So., Ithaca - 4,330 
19. Megan Stringer, Jr., Illinois Col - 4,318 
20. Clarissa Holz, Sr., La Verne - 4,207 
21. Elizabeth Michalak, Sr., Geneva - 4,173 

RECENT COBBER NCAA OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS
2012 - Kaari Jensen
2010 - Leah Kay
2009 - Leah Kay
2008 - Leah Kay
2007 - Heather Schuster
2006 - Angie Pfeiffer, Natalie Hanson
2005 - Nicole Plante
2004 - Angie Pfeiffer, Amy Ravenhorst, Alissa Bilden, Kelly Olson
2003 - Angie Pfeiffer
2002 - Kelli Tranby
2000 - Maria DeBoer
1999 - Maria DeBoer
1998 - Maria DeBoer, Laura Utke, Becky Kearns
1997 - Renee Erickson
1996 - Renee Erickson
1995 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten
1994 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten, Merrilee Rutherford

CLAREMONT, Calif. (5/26/12)—The four Concordia athletes competing in their very first NCAA National Outdoor Meet completed the national outdoor track and field meet on Saturday. None of the Cobbers placed in the top 10 of their event but all gained valuable national experience.

Hilary Birchem, Megan Hoffman, Chelsea Klemetson and Hilary Thompson all qualified to compete in the national meet during the lengthy outdoor season. All four were competing in their very first national outdoor meet while Klemetson was making her second trip to nationals after competing in the NCAA National Indoor Meet in March.

Birchem qualified in the discus with a throw of 142-10 in the final "regular season" meet of the year. Her best mark at the national meet was 139-03 in the first preliminary flight. She finished eighth in her prelim flight and did not qualify for the finals.

Hoffman was Concordia's lone track representative. She qualified in the 400-meter hurdles after winning the event at the MIAC Championship Meet. Hoffman qualified with a time of 1:02.53 but then ran a 1:05.32 at the NCAA Meet and failed to qualify for the finals.

Klemetson had a season-best height of 5-05.25 in the high jump. She cleared 5-04.25 at the NCAA Meet and placed 14^th. That was a distinct improvement from her showing at the NCAA Indoor Meet where she failed to clear a height.

Thompson was the final member of the Cobber first-time quartet. She had a terrific year in both the triple jump and long jump and qualified for nationals in the triple jump. Thompson's season-best mark was 38-06.75, which she set in one of the very first meets of the season. Thompson's best distance at the national meet was 37-01.75. She finished ninth in her prelim flight and failed to qualify for the finals.