Runners Heat Up Outdoor Opener
Concordia had seven Top 5 finishes in track events and placed third at the outdoor opener at St. John's.
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (3/25/17)--- Matthew Lillehaugen and David Supinski captured event wins and Concordia used seven Top 5 finishes in track events to finish third at the St. John's Outdoor Invitational.
The Cobbers finished with 90.0 team points in the outdoor opener. That total was only nine shy of Division II Minn.-Duluth who placed second with 99.0 points. Host St. John's won the meet with 178.0 points.
Lillehaugen started his outdoor campaign by winning the 1500 meters. He recorded a time of 4:09.33 which was more than 2-seconds faster than the second-place time. His finishing time is also 3-seconds faster than the mark he recorded last year at the same meet when he finished in fifth place.
Supinski added distance in the outdoor opener but still won his event. Racing primarily in the 400 and 600 meters indoors, Supinski raced to a 1:59.85 in the 800 meters and won by .84 of a second. His time is a collegiate best for the sophomore who finished second in the 600 meters at the conference indoor meet.
The sprint tandem of Zach DeClusin and Tom Whiting posted Top 5 finishes in both the 100 and 200 meters. DeClusin finished third in the 100 meters with a time of 12.04 and was fourth in the 200 meters at 24.20. Whiting was second in the 100 meters at 12.00 and went 24.53 in the 200 meters to claim a fifth-place finish.
Sophomore Cole Vlasak had the other Top 5 finish in the track events for the Cobbers. He finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 54.25.
Concordia's throwing crew recorded the top finishes in the outdoor opener. Senior Alec Boike and junior Adam Frazier went 2-3 in the shot put. Boike continued his stellar senior year by putting up a distance of 46-02.75 His mark is a career best and pushes him into the Top 15 on the program's all-time list. Frazier also had a career best mark as he came through with a throw of 41-07.75 on his third attempt.
Boike also placed sixth in the discus with a career-best mark of 129-06.
Freshman Matt Bye recorded a third-place finish in the javelin. He posted a distance of 131-02 on his third attempt.
WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will hope for a continued warm up for the start of the outdoor season when they head to St. Paul to participate in the Hamline Invitational on Saturday, Apr. 1.