Second Verse, Same As The First
For the second straight meet in 2019 Concordia was led by a group of first-year track athletes.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (1/26/19)---Concordia's freshmen continue to be the story line for the Cobbers at the start of 2019. Concordia hit the road for the first time this season and once again it was a first-year athlete who came away with the only even win at the UND Indoor Open.
Jesse Middendorf backed up his win in the 600 meters at last week's Cobber Open by claiming the title in the mile in Grand Forks. Middendorf paced himself to a 4:31.57 which won the race by a mere .01 of a second over freshman teammate Nolan Christenson. The two young Cobbers were able to feed off each other and pull away from the pack of runners as they finished 2-seconds ahead of the next finisher. Middendorf and Christenson's times are both in the Top 15 of the MIAC this season.
The other big news on the track came from the all first-year 4x400-meter relay team of Cal Wright, Hayden Gagnon, Jake Svenby and Middendorf who clocked a 3:24.36 to finish second in the event and beat teams from NCAA Division I and II schools. Their finishing time is the fastest by any relay squad in the conference this season.
Wright also went on to finish sixth in the individual 400 meters. He was just a tad off his pace in the relay as he clocked a 50.46. His 50.46 is the fastest time in the MIAC this year. His converted time on the 300 meter track is 51.27 which is the 10th fastest in school history.
Not to be outdone by their younger teammates, Concordia had a trio of upperclassmen post Top 6 finished and another continue to climb the school's all-time performance list.
Junior Matt Bye was sixth in the 60-meter hurdles. He qualified with a season-best time of 8.57 in the prelims and then finished sixth in the finals with a mark of 8.65. Bye's time in the prelims is second fastest in school history and No.2 in the MIAC this year.
Bye was joined by fellow Cobber sprinter Jacob Probst who qualified for the finals with a time of 9.43 and then finished eighth.
Bye also had a MIAC Top 6 mark in the high jump. He finished eighth in the meet but his height of 6-02 is No.6 on the league list this year.
Probst went on to record a sixth-place finish in the triple jump. He put up a distance of 41-00.25 on his third attempt and placed sixth. That is a season best mark and No.12 in the MIAC this year.
Junior Eric Wicklund posted his Top 6 finish in the 5000 meters. Wicklund crossed the line in a time of 15:38.04 which earned him a fourth-place finish and is the fifth fastest in the conference this year. His converted time is 15:48.08 which is the 10th fastest in school history.
Sophomore Jake Steiner continues his climb up the Cobber throw charts. Steiner posted a distance of 49-08.25 in the shot put which is No.7 on the school's all-time list. He finished eighth in the meet and is also eighth in the conference this year.
UP NEXT: Concordia will continue with their early-season meets against NCAA I and II local competition when they participate in the NDSU Bison Open on Feb. 1-2.
COBBER NOTABLES
Personal Bests
Relays – Indoor Season Bests
4x200 - Tom Whiting, Cal Wright, Hayden Gagnon, Colin Schuller, 1:34.35
4x400A - Cal Wright, Hayden Gagnon, Jake Svenby, Jesse Middendorf, 3:27.63c (3:24.36o)
4x400B - Connor Haugrud, Justin Kringler, Olsen Pancoast, Luke Lindhorst, 3:48.67
Indoor Personal Records @ UND Open, Sat, Jan 25-26, 2019
60H - Matt Bye, 8.57
60H - Jake Probst, 9.43
60H - Zach Paustian, 10.86
400 - Jake Svenby, 53.61c (52.76o)
600 - Evan Borgen, 1:42.35c (1:40.83o)
800 - Tom Froland, 2:18.17c (2:16.22o)
Mile - Nolan Christenson, 4:35.06c (4:31.58o)
Mile - Michael Kraimer, 4:47.82c (4:44.18o)
Mile - Luke Lindhorst, 4:47.86c (4:44.22o)
5k - Eric Wicklund, 15:48.08c (15:38.04o)
5k - Noah Kneeskern, 16:25.34c (16:14.90o)
HJ - Matt Bye, 1.88 (6-2)
HJ - Willie Julkes, 1.73 (5-8)
SP - Jake Steiner, 15.14 (49-8.25)
SP - Kevin Wolfe, 13.21 (43-4.25)
SP - Jacob Kerzman, 11.51 (37-9.25)
WT - Benjamin Schelske, 13.86 (45-5.75)
WT - Zach Synstelien, 9.79 (32-1.5)
DS - Benjamin Schelske, 37.58 (123-3)
DS - Kevin Wolfe, 37.00 (121-5)
DS - Jake Steiner, 36.63 (120-2)
Cobber All-Time Top 25 @ UND Open, Sat, Jan 25-26, 2019
60H - Matt Bye, 8.57, #2
400 - Cal Wright, 51.27c (50.46o), #10
400 - Hayden Gagnon, 52.55c (51.72o), #24
Mile - Jesse Middendorf, 4:35.05c (4:31.57o), #20
Mile - Nolan Christenson, 4:35.06c (4:31.58o), #21
5k - Eric Wicklund, 15:48.08c (15:38.04o), #10
5k - Noah Kneeskern, 16:25.34c (16:14.90o), #23
4x400A - Cal Wright, Hayden Gagnon, Jake Svenby, Jesse Middendorf, 3:27.63c (3:24.36o), #11
SP - Jake Steiner, 15.14 (49-8.25), #7
DS - Jacob Kerzman, 40.24 (132-0), #1
DS - Benjamin Schelske, 37.58 (123-3), #2
DS - Kevin Wolfe, 37.00 (121-5), #3
DS - Jake Steiner, 36.63 (120-2), #4
DS - Howard Zuniga-Arias, 29.49 (96-9), #8
DS - Zach Synstelien, 28.50 (93-6), #9