An All-American Finish
Munir Isahak became only the third All-America in Concordia men’s cross country history by virtue of his 21st -place finish at the NCAA Championship Meet at the E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (11/20/21)---In 2021, Munir Isahak (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South HS) worked his way to success at the local level, and then at the state and regional levels before finally proving it on the biggest stage of all.
Isahak became only the third All-America in Concordia men's cross country history by virtue of his 21st-place finish at the NCAA Championship Meet at the E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. He is the first Concordia All-American since 1987 and his 21st-place finish is second highest by a CC harrier.
If earning All-American status weren't enough, Isahak closed out his cross country career by running the fastest 8K in program history and bettering his own personal record by 42 seconds.
Isahak covered the 8K course in a time of 24:08.6. To put that into perspective, Isahak's winning time at the MIAC Championship Meet was 24:50.2 – and he won that race by almost a full 9 seconds.
Isahak was the top finisher among all the runners from the MIAC at the NCAA Meet. He also posted the third fastest time from any athlete in the NCAA North Region. Isahak finished 14th at last week's regional meet in Wisconsin.
One of the key factors for Isahak was the weather. The temperature at race time was 47 degrees which was similar to the weather at the MIAC Meet.
Isahak used the warmer temperatures to his advantage just past the 1-kilometer mark. He opened the national meet by running a 3:08.6 in his first kilometer. Isahak then made his move to get into the lead pack.
"As soon as we hit the first mile I just knew I was in a good place to make a move and I just kept passing people," Isahak said. "I stayed on the edge and just kept passing people until I got into the open."
Isahak soon found himself with the Top 20 runners in the race and stayed there until the finish line. The 8K was laid out so that the runners had to cover the course in two laps. Isahak found his stride at the start of the second lap and never slowed down. His fastest kilometer mark was between the 3K and 4K mark where he clocked a 3:04.7.
Isahak knew he was in perfect position to claim All-American honors as he entered the final stretch.
"That was the fun part," Isahak added. "I knew I had to just sprint for another 400 meters…I just knew that the finish line was right in front of me."
Isahak sprinted through the last 400 meters and finished in a pack of four runners before falling to the ground past the finish line.
Isahak's list of awards in 2021 include MIAC Athlete of the Week, MIAC Champion, NCAA North All-Region winner and NCAA National All-American. He is the only athlete in the history of the program to earn four of those honors.
Munir Isahak NCAA National Meet Split Times
1K: 3:08.6
3K: 9:03.8
4K: 12:08.5
5K: 15:20.4
6.4K: 19:18.6
8K: 24:08.6
Cobber NCAA Cross Country All-Americans
2021 - Munir Isahak - (21st)
1987 - Mark Lingle (11th)
1979 - John Mutschelknaus (23rd)