Perfect Weather For Personal Bests

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/26/16)—It wasn't the nicest day for the annual Cobber Twilight Meet but the fast times and solid field finishes warmed Concordia to a second-place finish at the meet.

Competing on a day with overcast skies and 40-degree temperatures, Concordia posted 26 personal best marks and finished with 118 total team points which was 40 behind meet champion MSU Moorhead.

Junior Mikayla Forness continued her breakout season as she recorded the only event win for the Cobbers. Forness won the javelin with a distance of 139-02 which was almost three feet farther than the runner-up from NCAA Division I school University of North Dakota. Her winning distance was shy of her season best of 142-11 which leads the MIAC this year and is seventh best in all of Division III.

The Cobbers had three other throwers record top 10 finishes in at least two different events. Senior Olivia Johnson was third in the shot put at 44-06.00, fourth in the javelin at 122-10 and seventh in the hammer throw with a mark of 148-05. All three marks are just under her season bests this year as she leads the MIAC in both events.

Fellow senior Ashley Thompson was sixth in the discus with a season-best mark of 135-10 and finished eighth in the shot put at 37-08.75. Her distance in the discus is a season best and currently the second farthest in the conference this season.

Junior Kristin Drechsel placed 10th in both the hammer throw (138-08) and discus (129-01). Both distances are season bests and both push her into the top 10 of the MIAC.

The Cobbers did have a track event winner as Sarah Curran won the 10K but all the participants in the race were from CC. Curran crossed the line in 40:51.72 which is a a season best and currently No.11 on the MIAC times list this year.

Maria West and Brianna Gruenberg had third-place finishes in middle-distance and distance events. West clocked a 2:23.26 in the 800 meters while Gruenberg crossed the line in 19:24.69 in the 5000 meters. West's time is the fastest by a Cobber this season and just outside the top 20 of the MIAC.

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will have two different meets at the end of the week. Some of the top athletes for the outdoor season will head to the prestigious Drake Relays while most of the team will compete at the Al Cassell Relays held at the University of Jamestown on Saturday, Apr. 30.

COBBER NOTABLES
Personal Records:
100- Gift Ben-Bernard, Paige McCullough;
200- Emily Payne
800- Maria West, Mel Uhrich, Liz Vought, Colleen Vought
5000- Sara Stanton, Shelby Kline
10000- Sarah Curran
long jump- Emma Gjesdahl
shot put- Anna Cassady
discus throw- Ashley Thompson, Bailey Hovland, Tresa Reuter, Missy Smith, Hailey Bruns
hammer throw- Kristin Drechsel, Bailey Hovland, Mandy Mercil, Missy Smith, Emma Gjesdahl, Tresa Reuter
javelin throw- Tresa Reuter, Marissa Andersen, Hailey Bruns.