Speedy Vickstrom Spurs Cobbers At MIAC Meet

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (5/10/14)—Ben Vickstrom won the 200 meters and was second in the 100 meters as he led Concordia to an eighth-place finish at the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet.

The Cobbers finished with 52.0 points which is 6.5 points better than last year's total of 45.5. CC also finished in eighth place in 2013 and has placed eighth in four of the past five seasons.   

Vickstrom was one of two Cobber athletes to earn all-conference honors at the meet. He clocked a 22.17 in the 200-meter final and won the event by .10 of a second. Vickstrom qualified for the finals of the 200 meters by coasting to a 22.28 in the prelims. He almost pulled off the 100-200 double but came up .16 of a second off the winner in the 100-meter dash. Vickstrom ran a 11.05 in the finals after racing to a 10.94 in the prelims.

Senior Connor Johnson was the only other Cobber to grab all-conference honors. He placed second in the javelin to record his third straight top 5 finish in that event at the conference meet. He won the javelin back in 2012. Johnson finished this year conference outdoor meet with a best mark of 189-01. That distance was produced in his very last attempt and vaulted him all the way into the top 3. It is the second farthest distance in Johnson's career.

The Cobbers had four other athletes, and a relay, earn all-conference honorable mention honors. Freshman Joe Hendrickson earned his all-conference honorable mention award at last week's MIAC decathlon. He had three field teammates follow his lead by garnering the honor at the championship meet at St. Olaf. The high jump competition produced two of the three field honorable mention award winners as Mark Goss and Nick Anderson finished fourth and sixth. Goss cleared 6-04.75 while Anderson posted a finishing height of 6-02.75.

Jackson Schepp capped a banner freshman season by earning all-conference honorable mention honors in the triple jumped. He soared to a distance of 44-05.50 and finished in fourth place. Schepp also earned all-conference honorable mention honors in the triple jump at the MIAC indoor meet back in March.

The Concordia 4x400-meter relay team of Alex Benzegala, Ethan Spittle, Jeff Fiebelkorn and Vickstrom ran a 3:21.05 and was sixth in the event. That time is the 10th fastest in school history and the quickest of the 2014 outdoor campaign.

Concordia will have a select group of athletes try and qualify for the NCAA Championship Meet by competing in the NCAA Last Chance Qualifier at the UW-La Crosse on Thursday, May 15.  The NCAA Division III National Championship will be held at Ohio Wesleyan near Columbus, Ohio on May 22-24.
   

Cobber Notables
MIAC Champion
200M - Ben Vickstrom

MIAC All-Conference
1st - Ben Vickstrom - 100M
2nd - Ben Vickstrom - 200M
2nd - Connor Johnson - JT

MIAC Honorable Mention
4th - Jackson Schepp - TJ
4th - Mark Goss - HJ
6th - Nick Anderson - HJ
6th - Joe Hendrickson - Dec
6th - Alex Benzegala, Ethan Spittle, Jeff Fiebelkorn, Ben Vickstrom - 4x400

MIAC Other Scorers
7th - Jamie Marrier - 110H
7th - Gabe Wright - Dec
8th - Gabe Wright - HJ)
8th - Dan McGuire, Ben Vickstrom, Mark Goss, Alex Benzegala - 4x100
8th - Ethan Spittle, Matthew Lillehaugen, Carl Wahlin, Tyler Pederson - 4x800

Personal Records
100M - Dan McGuire -11.69
110H - Jamie Marrier - 15.88
400H - Jeff Fiebelkorn - 57.59          

Season Best
4x400 - 3:21.05 - Alex Benzegala, Ethan Spittle, Jeff Fiebelkorn, Ben Vickstrom
4x800 - 8:08.70 - Ethan Spittle, Matthew Lillehaugen, Carl Wahlin, Tyler Pederson

Cobber All-Time List
10th - 4x400 - Alex Benzegala, Ethan Spittle, Jeff Fiebelkorn, Ben Vickstrom - 3:21.05