Field Crew Flourishes In Florida
Concordia used the strength of its field crew to post a ninth-place finish at the Embry-Riddle Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (4/4/26)---Concordia used its holiday break to take a group of athletes to Florida to compete in the 2-day Embry-Riddle Classic in Daytona Beach. The Cobbers used the depth of their field crew to place ninth in a meet that featured 38 teams.
Concordia scored 25 team points and 20 of those came from field athletes.
The top track finish was turned in by sophomore Ashley Nelson, who clocked an 18:15.02 in the 5000 meters and finished in fifth place. Her finishing time is a career best and the second fastest in the MIAC this season. The mark also moves Nelson into the No.9 spot on the school's all-time list.
Junior Abby Lovelace set the tone for CC in the Sunshine State by recording the top finish by any Concordia athlete at the meet. Lovelace opened the meet by placing second in her first collegiate heptathlon in maroon and gold.
Lovelace finished the seven events with 4,322 points which is the top mark in the MIAC and the eighth best in all of Division III.
The other top-scoring event for the Cobbers came in the javelin where former conference champions Genevieve Gruba and Kaia Gack both came away with team points. Gruba was sixth at 122-11.00 and Gack was seventh with a mark of 122-02.00.
Gack's distance is a season best and puts her in the No.2 spot in the MIAC. Gruba continues to lead the conference in the event with a mark of 123-01.00 which she posted last week at the St. Benedict Optimistic Meet.
Concordia also had multiple team-point award winners in the discus where Ellie Welch and Chloe Mueffelmann went 7-8. Welsch was seventh with a distance of 123-01.00 and Mueffelman was eighth at 121-0.00.
The two marks push the pair into the Top 5 of the MIAC this year.
Mueffelmann also scored team points in the shot put. She claimed fifth place with a distance of 41-09.25 which is the second farthest distance in the conference this year.
Concordia will return to Minnesota and hope to compete in the NDSU Spring Classic on Saturday, Apr. 11 at 1 p.m.