Peterson & Forness Are All-Americans

GENEVA, Ohio (5/26/17)---One Cobber continued her All-American honor shopping spree while another added her second of this year's NCAA National Outdoor Meet and a third saw her All-American dream fall short on a judges' decision.

Seniors Emma Peterson and Mikayla Forness both earned All-American honors on Day 2 at the national meet. Peterson captured her third straight All-American award in the high jump while Forness added a Top 8 finish in the heptathlon to her All-American honor in the javelin which she earned on Thursday.

The two All-American honors add to the tradition of Concordia at the outdoor national meet. The Cobbers have now had at least one All-American in 15 of the past 16 seasons and have had at least two All-Americans in five straight years.  

Fellow senior Mandy Mercil tied for the last spot in the finals of the shot put but lost out on a tie breaker and didn't have the chance to better her mark with three more attempts in the finals.   

Peterson's All-American honor was less dramatic than Forness' who waited until the seventh, and final, event in the heptathlon to move from 10th place all the way to sixth place.

Not only did Peterson earn her third All-American honor but she also set another school record and posted her highest finish at an NCAA National Meet.

Peterson finished in second place in the high jump after clearing 5-08.00. Her height breaks her own school record of 5-07.75 which she set at the year's Drake Relays. Peterson was the first athlete at the national meet to clear 5-08 which at the time was a new track record.

Peterson was one of three competitors to clear the bar at 5-08. Unfortunately she wasn't able to get over the next height at 5-09.25 and finished in second place.

Peterson completes her trio of All-American awards in the high jump. She was seventh in the event at last year's NCAA National Outdoor Meet and then climbed to fourth place at the national indoor meet in February.

Forness backed up her fifth-place finish in the javelin on Day 1 of the meet with a sixth-place finish in the heptathlon. She was in 10th place after six events, and trailed All-American honors by 30 points, but then ran a 2:21.66 in the 800 meters to grab 801 points which vaulted her all the way to sixth place in the final standings.

Forness finished with 4,631 points which was 90 points shy of the total she posted to win the MIAC heptathlon.

Forness' 801 points in the 800 meters was her top point total of the seven events. She scored 724 in the 200 meters with a time of 26.86. Forness also recorded scores of over 650 points in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump and javelin. Forness won the javelin competition among the 22 competitors. The two-time MIAC javelin champ had a distance of 132-04 which won the event by over four feet.

Mercil was the hard-luck athlete of the Cobber contingent at the NCAA meet. She had a distance of 44-10.25 on her first attempt which ended up tying for the ninth best mark in the prelims. The Top 9 athletes move into the finals and Mercil had to settle for 10th place after a referees tie-breaking decision.

NCAA High Jump Top 10 Final Results
1. Emma Egan, FR, Williams - 5-09.25
2. Emma Peterson, SR, Concordia-Moorhead - 5-08.00
3. Cirrus Robinson, FR, Ohio Wesleyan - 5-08.00
4. Hannah Hall, JR, Denison - 5-07.00
4. Molly McGraw, JR, Illinois Wesleyan - 5-07.00
6. Summer-Solstice Th, FR, Williams - 5-07.00
7. Chelbi Graham, FR, John Carroll - 5-05.25
7. Meghan McGowan, SR, Salisbury - 5-05.25
7. Helene Hall, JR, Williams - 5-05.25
10. Reilly Wagner, SO, Misericordia - 5-05.25

NCAA Heptathlon Top 10 Final Results
1. Kylee Bartlett, SO, Rochester – 5020
2. Annie Wright, SO, George Fox – 4779
3. Jenna Degen, SO, St. Benedict - 4729
4. Libby Schnoor, JR, Cornell College - 4661
5. Shayna Held, SO, SUNY Geneseo - 4651
6. Mikayla Forness, JR, Concordia-Moorhead - 4631
7. Courtney Sowle, SR, Wartburg - 4580
8. Alison Rich, JR, Hope - 4574
9. Alison Smith, SR, Redlands – 4545
10. Briana Sutton, JR, Christopher Newport - 4524

NCAA Shot Put Top 10 Final Results
1. Tanasha Atwater, JR, Dubuque - 49-06.25
2. Morgan Young, SR, Carthage - 47-11.25
3. Victoire Kothor, JR, Brockport St. - 47-07.25
4. Addisen Knetzer, JR, Waynesburg - 47-00.25
5. JoHannah Theisen, JR, Wis.-Eau Claire - 46-07.50
6. Kendra Antony, SR, Wis.-La Crosse - 46-04.75
7. Brandy Smith, SR, Ithaca - 46-01.25
8. Hannah Shoemaker, JR, Christopher Newport - 45-09.00
9. Naeisha McClain, FR, Oberlin - 45-03.50
10. Mandy Mercil, SR, Concordia-Moorhead - 44-10.25