Day 2 Doubles Lead To MIAC Success

ST. PAUL, Minn. (5/11/19)---Concordia head coach Garrick Larson knew that the second day of the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet would pay big dividends and his crystal ball proved prophetic. The Cobbers went from 13 points on Friday to 4x that number as they scored 55 points on Saturday and finished in seventh place in the final team standings.

The seventh-place finish is the highest for the Cobbers since the 2015 season when they placed fifth.

It was a double-up Saturday for the Cobbers with freshmen Jesse Middendorf and Cal Wright each scoring in two different track events and juniors Willie Julkes, Matt Bye and Will Berning giving Concordia a pair of Top 5 finishes in each of the 110-meter hurdles and javelin.

The Cobber 4x100-meter relay team got Day 2 started as they clocked a 43.25 and finished fifth. Their finishing time was a season best, the No.10 time on the school's all-time list and was made even more impressive by the fact that it came from the inside lane.

Berning and Bye kept the momentum going by earning All-Conference honors in the javelin with both athletes put up personal best distances. Berning finished second with a mark of 189-07 while Bye was third at 177-07. Berning's final distance was the fourth farthest in school history and the best since 2014.          

Bye then moved to the track where he earned his second Top 5 finish of the day by placing fifth in the 110-meter hurdles. He clocked a 15.09 which tied his season best. Bye was bested by teammate Julkes who sped to a 15.05 and earned All-MIAC honors with a third-place finish. Julkes' time was a PR and the sixth fastest in school history.

Middendorf started his daily double by placing sixth in the 1500 meters. He ran a 4:10.02 which was 1.07 seconds off a Top 5 finish. He would end his first conference outdoor meet with an All-Conference finish in the 800 meters. He clocked a 1:55.79 which was good for second place and only .49 of a second off the winning time.

While Middendorf was excelling at the middle distances, his first-year teammate Wright succeeded in the shorter races. He ran the fifth fastest 400 meter time in school history and finished fourth at 49.09. That time was a season best for Wright. He then capped his All-Conference Honorable Mention double by placing fifth in the 200 meters. He crossed the line in 22.56 which was .52 of a second away from All-MIAC honors.

The other individual point scorers for Concordia were seniors Sam Haley and Jacob Probst. Haley ended his conference career with All-Conference Honorable Mention honors in the pole vault. He placed fourth with a height of 14-03.25. Probst earned two points with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump. He came up with a mark of 42-03.25.

The most dramatic event of the entire competition came at the very end of the meet. Concordia's 4x400-meter relay team appeared to finish second in a time of 3:19.00 which would have been the fastest time by a CC relay unit since 2008 and the fifth fastest in school history. Unfortunately a judge spotted one of the Cobber runners step outside the lane line and disqualified the quartet. Instead of finishing second and getting eight team points which would have placed the Cobbers sixth in the final standings, Concordia earned zero points in the relay and finished seventh.

MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet Final Team Standings
1. St. Thomas - 212.5
2. Saint John's - 131
3. Gustavus - 98
4. Bethel - 94
5. Carleton - 89
6. St. Olaf - 74.5
7. Concordia - 68
8. Hamline - 43
9. Saint Mary's - 36
10. Macalester - 10
11. Augsburg - 1

MIAC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN
May 10-11, 2019

COBBER NOTABLES
MIAC ALL-CONFERENCE (places 1-3 + 1st place relays only):
1st - Decathlon - Matt Bye
2nd - 800 - Jesse Middendorf
2nd - Javelin - Will Berning 
3rd - 110M Hurdles - Willie Julkes
3rd - Javelin - Matt Bye

MIAC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION (places 4-6 & relay places 2-6):
4th - 400 - Cal Wright
4th - Pole Vault - Sam Haley
5th – 200 - Cal Wright
5th - 110M Hurdles - Matt Bye
5th - 4x100 Relay - Willie Julkes, Cal Wright, Tom Whiting, Colin Schuller 
6th - 1500 - Jesse Middendorf
6th - 4x800 Relay - Justin Kringler, Munir Isahak, Nolan Christenson, Dan Wilson  

PERSONAL RECORDS:
200 - Colin Schuller, 23.04
400 - Cal Wright, 49.11 prelim, #4
400 - Cal Wright, 49.09 final, #4
400 - Hayden Gagnon, 51.07
400 - Jake Svenby, 52.44
5k - Munir Isahak, 15:29.81
10k - Eric Wicklund, 32:35.73
10k - Noah Kneeskern, 32:55.20
HH - Willie Julkes, 15.04
HH - Matt Bye, =15.09
400H - Michael Miller, 60.59
400H - Logan Heinecke, 66.37
HJ - Hayden Gagnon, =1.86
PV - Sam Haley, 4.35 (14-3.25)
TJ - Willie Julkes, 12.26 (40-2.75)
JV - Will Berning, 57.78 (189-7)
JV - Matt Bye, 54.12 (177-7)

COBBER ALL-TIME LIST PERFORMERS:
400 - Cal Wright, 49.11 prelim, #4
400 - Cal Wright, 49.09 final, #4
400 - Hayden Gagnon, 51.07, #22
5k - Munir Isahak, 15:29.81, #10
10k - Eric Wicklund, 32:35.73, #9
10k - Noah Kneeskern, 32:55.20, #11
HH - Willie Julkes, 15.04, #6
HH - Matt Bye, =15.09, #7
PV - Sam Haley, 4.35 (14-3.25), #12
JV - Will Berning, 57.78 (189-7), #4
JV - Matt Bye, 54.12 (177-7), #13
4x1 - Willie Julkes, Cal Wright, Tom Whiting, Colin Schuller, 43.25, #10
4x8 - Justin Kringler, Munir Isahak, Nolan Christenson, Dan Wilson, 8:00.54, #16